"GO, Ponyta!"
Erin released her first pokémon to the battlefield. It reared on to it's hind legs and kicked at the air in front of it. I sent out Rae in response.
"You can do it, buddy! We prepared for this!"
Rae turned back to look in my direction and flashed me a quick thumbs up. His bicep flexed and I noticed how much he had really grown just from our training in the morning. His previously scrawny build had filled out to be toned and strong. We can really do this, I thought.
Erin and I shouted instructions to our pokémon who traded blows back and forth. I kept an eye on Rae's condition, just in case he needed a Potion to get him back into fighting shape. Rae took down her ponyta with a few well placed Mach Punches, and didn't seem to be feeling too much from the few Tackles it had dished out.
"You've been training!" She called to me. "I can tell."
"Rae's a lot stronger now," I said in response.
"Not him!" She said. "You! Your eyes are different. Those are the eyes of a winner." She furrowed her brow and smiled a toothy grin. "Don't worry though. I got eyes like that too, and there can't be two winners here!" With that, she released her second pokémon, the pikachu again.
I remembered from last time this pokémon wasn't as strong as her ponyta. Rae's hard hitting punches would be devastating enough, but maybe we could take it down in just one hit? I called out to Rae.
"What do you think, Rae? Can we pull off a one hit wonder? Let's try a High Jump Kick!"
Rae flashed his thumbs up once more before shooting into the air above Erin's pikachu. His foot kicked out, with his heel pointed right at the yellow sparking mouse. He decended like an arrow towards the opponent, but at the last moment, right before the hit landed, the pikachu dodged out of the way.
With a thud, Rae hit the ground hard and tumbled across the battlefield. Erin didn't waste time with the counter.
"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"
Lightning from Pikachu's cheeks struck Rae's body while he was vulnerable. It didn't look critical, but Rae clearly was hurting. I ran over to him and pulled the last Potion from my pack. As I sprayed the healing salve over Rae's purple skin, Erin spoke up.
"Like I said before, there can't be two winners, dude! You're going to have to do better than that if it's going to be you!" She let out a loud laugh.
The Potion ran out and I looked Rae in the eyes.
"You okay, buddy?"
"Ro!" He grunted and gave me a strong thumbs up, then he was back on his feet and ready to roll.
"The two of you good over there?" Erin yelled to us. "Because I have a battle to win here, and you're holding me up!"
"Ro! Rorogue!" Rae grunted loudly in response to Erin's taunting.
"About time!" she said. "Pikachu, time for a quick attack!"
"Piiiika!" Suddenly, Pikachu zipped toward Rae, almost faster than you could see. It swiped at Rae as it dashed past him. The hit was clean, but thanks to Rae's now solid body, he didn't seem to be fased by it. The pikachu was quickly circling back around to it's position on the field when I called out to Rae.
"Wait until it's almost there...! And High Jump Kick!"
A small cloud of dust puffed up from the ground as Rae took off. Erin's pikachu was planting it's feet to prepare for it's next attack when the purple heel of Rae's foot planted into it's back.
"Chaaa...!" The pikachu whimpered from the impact. Rae bounced off the mouse and landed back into position. It worked! We got a one hit KO, despite our previous failed attempt.
"Not bad," Erin said as she returned her pikachu to it's pokéball. "But it's not over yet. Ponyta, burn them to a crisp!"
This was it. We came this far before and lost, but this time we were stronger. Rae stood at the ready, waiting for my instruction. I saw him standing strong, facing off with Erin's second ponyta, not weighed down by the last two fights. That's when I knew we could win.
The battle from that point on seemed to play out in slow motion, but somehow it was over before I realized it. Rae threw Mach Punch after Mach Punch, all solid hits to the ponyta's body, while taking blows from the opponents Tackles.
When the battle was over, Erin's eyes glowed brighter than I had seen before. After our pokémon returned to their pokéballs, she came over and started talking to me, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. It was like I was underwater. Slowly her words began to reach my ears.
"Hello, you in there? I said congratulations."
"Wha- huh?"
"You did well! The way you adapted to Pikachu's speed and landed that knock out hit was really impressive! And after that miss, you didn't try for another kick, because you couldn't take the damage if you missed. Smart move."
"Thanks..."
"It really made me angry to lose. But now I have a reason to work harder and get better," Erin tapped her PokéGear against mine and I heard a small chime. "Here's my number - don't hesitate to call if you want another rematch. And congrats again! You won fair and square!"
I won. I won...
I WON!