"Now for the official gym battle between the challenger, Flint Stone, and the gym leader, Reggie! This battle will have the same conditions as the previous. And, begin!"

"Staravia, I choose you!" Flint hesitated, letting Reggie first on the draw.

It only took him a split second to choose a pokemon. "Buneary, let's go!"

Honestly, I had no idea Flint even had a Buneary...but, man, was that bunny rabbit cute.

"Buneary?" Tess muttered. "But Drifloon did so well against Crasher Wake..."

"But Staravia would kill Drifloon with speed," Riley pointed out matter-of-factly. "Even if normal-type attacks can't hit it, a few good Wing Attacks definitely could."

Staravia wasn't nearly as bulky as, say, Drapion, so I thought Buneary had a good chance.

"Buneary, use Hi Jump Kick!"

Buneary leapt up in the air, foot sticking out, to hit Staravia. The bird pokemon didn't even need to be told to dodge; Buneary crashed into the ground all in her own.

Lee cupped his hands around his mouth. "Boooo, kid."

Flint flushed in embarrassment, trying to shrug it off. "Again! Try Dizzy Punch!"

Finally, Reggie decided to join the battle. "Staravia, use Wing Attack! Don't let Buneary land a hit!"

"Bun!" Buneary jumped up, lunging at Staravia with one of her rabbit ears. Staravia swatted her away with his wing, grunting.

Again and again, Buneary lept up, trying to smack Staravia with her wing. Staravia continued to parry the barrage.

Then, Buneary flipped backwards and smacked Staravia's wing away with her feet, and flipped herself back upright to punch Staravia out of the air.

"Atta girl, Buneary!" Flint cheered.

I whistled a short note as Staravia got back up. "Damn, baby, that's some acro." Max nudged me angrily with his foot.

Buneary didn't frighten Reggie, or Staravia. "Staravia, use Tackle!"

Staravia tucked his wings in, lunging at Buneary from the air. Buneary tried dodging, but Staravia was too quick. Staravia blitzkreiged her right into the dirt.

Buneary got up, looking a little ragged. Behind me, Tess clapped her hands encouragingly.

"C'mon, Buneary!" She squealed. "C'mon, Flint!"

Reggie wouldn't take that nonsense. "Use Tackle again, Staravia!"

"Get outta the way, Buneary!" Flint ordered. "Use Dizzy Punch again!"

Staravia nosedived at Buneary again, but she hopped out of the way before she could be hit again. She hopped up, and batted at Staravia with her ears.

I caught Reggie flaring his nostrils. Was he just as competitive as Aaron? No wonder they'd teamed up.

"Enough playing around, Staravia!" Reggie announced. "Let's end this! Use Brave Bird!"

Staravia tucked his wings in, soaring up to the ceiling. He came down to Buneary at a nosedive, practically flaming with the speed he soared at.

Buneary had no chance. I balled my paws into fists.

Come on, Buneary, dodge!

"Get out of the way, Buneary!" Flint cried in desperation.

He said it too late. Buneary hopped up in time to get smashed in the stomach by Staravia, beakfirst. Aaron, behind us, seethed.

I think I saw literal hope drain from Flint's eyes as Maylene confirmed the KO.

Riley.

We spent about three hours at the gym, with not one gym badge earned.

Tess and I both suffered defeats just as humiliating. The fact that Lee was right there, watching, made it much worse.

The four of us slumped out of the gym, and the collective bad mood made me feel sick. Aaron, practically giddy, stayed inside the gym to talk to Reggie, who sent Max home with us.

Lee and Mark followed us out, with Lee pulling out a pack of cigarettes before we were fully out the door. He really was a bad smoker.

Before we could walk to the Pokemon Center to heal our pokemon in a shameful silence, someone put a hand on my shoulder.

"Wait." It was Mark.

Lee tore his attention from his cancer stick. My friends watched the two guys carefully, Astro especially. His mouth was turned down in a scowl.

Mark glared at the others. "I'm not gonna kill 'im. Scram."

I nodded nervously. "Uh...I'll meet up with you guys at the Pokemon Center. Promise."

Never felt so much damn tension in my life. They left me with Lee and Mark, with Amber and Astro leading their little siblings by the hand.

"Hey, Smokey the Bear!" Mark hit me in the shoulder, glaring at Lee. "You gonna introduce me to baby Jesus here, or just puff like a chimney?"

"Um, actually, i-it's Riley, sir..."

Lee frowned. "Hey, screw you, Mark. You're the one that got me hooked again." We patiently waited for him to finish smoking.

Finally, he dropped the butt to the ground with a sigh. "I needed that."

Mark rolled his eyes. "What you need is help. Is this the kid you been ranting and raving about, or no?"

'Ranting and raving'? I felt...a little flattered, actually.

Lee nodded. "Yeah, this is Riley, alright." He glanced at me, then nodded to Mark. "Riles, this is my gay best friend, Marcus Lowe. Hell of a guy, I've known him for forever."

It took a moment or two for Lee's introduction to sink in. Mark's tan face flushed an angry shade of red.

"Leon Higgins!" He barked at Lee. "You can't just tell kids I'm gay!"

Lee laughed. "You were the one who said you wanted to be more open. And Christ, man, you really think he's that young? Riley's thirteen, not ten."

I had the distinct feeling that my time was being wasted. I took a step back. "I, uh..." I took a second step back. "I'm gonna catch up with-"

"Wait!" Lee and Mark snapped their attention back to me.

Lee shook his head. "You said that you'd meet up with your friends at the Pokemon Center, right? It's getting late. Let us walk you."

It really was starting to get late, but I shook my head. "No, I...I'm good. Really, I'm a big kid, Lee." I added a nervous chuckle.

Mark frowned. "No, let us come with you," He ordered.

That's how I was coerced into walking the streets of Veilstone with a sociopath in a leather jacket, and his ginger friend.

{I...I'm not ginger. Strawberry blonde.}

No, Mark, Cynthia's strawberry blonde. You are straight-up ginger.

AOF: Sorry this chapter is so short. And terrible. I didn't see fit to include Riley and Tess' battles with Reggie, because they all ended the same anyway.