Chapter 17 - vs. Rey

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Celeste stood on one side of the small beachside battlefield. As usual, Aria was by her feet, ready to take down the world.

The day had started good. She woke up confident. Got breakfast, saw nurse Joy and went to the beach for the battle. It was only when she saw the small crowd waiting around that her heart decided it wanted to leave her body. Usually she wouldn't care for the crowd, but today was anything but a usual day.

"You don't mind the public, do you, Celeste?" Rey said, putting an arm around her back. His smile was smug and his eyes glinted. "Mother and I are trying to attract more trainers to our shop, so we are doing some demonstration battles with discounted ice cream. A great trainer like you can handle a few spectators, right?"

The girl looked at the crowd lazily forming around the arena and bit her lip. She could definitely, a thousand per cent, handle it… right?

"I mean, if it's too much, we don't need to battle. You can always apologise, dear. You friend's job will be safe and…" Rey pulled her closer and whispered in her ears, "I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me."

Celeste opened her mouth, but closed it again, choosing instead only to wiggle herself away from the boy. "Lets just get this over with… dear."

Rey snorted as he turned to his designated area.

The public around was loud. But they didn't seem to be paying that much attention to Celeste, or Rey for that matter. Still, she saw Delia in there, and, surprisingly, also Luan.

"I'll referee," Olga said matter-of-factly as she emerged on to the battlefield. She looked as imposing as a salamence and somehow, so did the vanilite behind her. "This will be a three on three battle. No switching. Whoever defeats all the opponent's pokémon first is the winner."

She looked at Celeste for a moment, waiting for some confirmation of sorts. But the girl was just frozen.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Even though she had been with Aria for a while, they had only battled against another trainer once. It was back home, against her friend Rai-Rai and his trapinch. They lost, obviously. But it was alright. The only person watching them had been professor Magnolia, and it was just for fun. Losing didn't cost anyone's job, and she didn't feel like a fool. In the end she had only lost her control over the TV and was forced to watch stupid Lyra and her raboot's match against gym leader Kabu.

"Celeste!" Olga's voice was impatient and stern. "Do you agree with the terms of this battle or not?"

Her face turned red as she refocused on her present situation. She nodded slowly. Somehow, she didn't feel like arguing for an easier setup in front of the people around.

"Very well," Olga turned to her son this time, and her frown deepened. "No funny business, understood?"

Rey laughed, and Celeste cringed.

"Don't worry, mother. It will not take much for me to defeat her." Rey reached to his belt and chose a pokéball. "But I shall put on a show for our dear costumers. To compensate for my opponent's… shortcomings… I will choose my pokémon first."

Celeste gritted her teeth as the audience unenthusiastically clapped. She looked at Rey, spinning his pokéball from one hand to another before throwing it into the air with some flair.

She laughed nervously.

No one around seemed to give a damn about this battle, at least.

Breathe iiiiin. Breatheeee ooooout. Breeeeathe in. Breatheeee ooooout.

On Rey's side of the battlefield, the pokéball's light faded, revealing a tiny green pokémon. For some reason, she imagined Rey would train some sort of powerful monster, not an adorable plant. Especially one that seemed so… unthreatening. The pokémon didn't even have arms! And if that wasn't cute enough, it was skipping around excitedly, making the leaves around its neck and the flaps of its eggshell like hat ruffle.

"Capsaa," it cried, showing off the single teeth coming out of its beak.

A grass pokémon that looked like a baby… Celeste's hand moved to Powder's premier ball. It was cold to the touch. That would be the perfect opponent for the vulpix… But should she risk it? Powder wasn't ready for a battle yet…

The trainer looked at the eevee by her side and nodded. Aria could do this. She was great. Maybe she could win the whole thing by herself. Powder would get her chance later, after more training.

Once the eevee hopped into the battle field Olga nodded to both sides and put her hands up. "Battle…" she yelled and with a swift movement down finished, "begin!"

Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. Breatheeee.

"Moody, use Sunny Day," Rey told his partner, not wasting a second. His pokémon twirled as its body was enveloped by a golden glow. With another twirl, the light shot up to the sky, making the sun somehow look brighter.

Celeste blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her sight to the new light. She needed to focus and not waste time. "Aria, use Swift," the girl commanded. The opponent was adorable, but she was not underestimating it. If Aria kept her distance, she would be safer, surely.

"Moody, counter with Bullet Seed," Rey ordered immediately.

In response, the grass pokémon spit little seeds right into Aria's star shaped move, generating a small explosion that lifted a cloud of sand over the trainers and audience.

Damn. First light, now sand? How could she figure out her opponent without seeing it properly? Well, it was a capsakid. Did she remember anything useful about it? She remembered seeing it before… on packages of Capsakid Seasoning. Her dad loved to cook with it. That is not useful information.

"Again!" Rey yelled. He wasn't waiting for the sand to clear.

On cue, Moody, the capsakid, shot another array of bullet seeds at Aria. Celeste heard a cry that snapped her back into focus. The eevee needed her trainer's full attention.

When the sand cleared enough, she saw Aria was bruised from the Bullet Seed. But otherwise, she was fine.

Breathe. In. Out. Breathe. In. Out. In.

"Aria, use Quick Attack, as fast as you can." Fuck caution. She was taking this thing down by force. It couldn't be sturdy.

"Take the hit, Moody. Then look into her eyes."

The capsakid stood still, bracing for the hit. Just as the Quick Attack connected, the grass type carved its feet on the sand and didn't budge. It smiled and looked up at Aria. Its leer was menacing and unpleasant. The eevee stepped back with uncertainty.

Rey smiled. He was relentless in his attacks. "You know what to do. Don't let go."

Without breaking eye contact, black smoke formed in the capsakid's mouth as it launched itself forward and bit down Aria's neck.

The eevee let out another cry. The capsakid wasn't that strong, but Rey kept commanding one attack after another and Celeste didn't even have time to think.

"Aria, remember our training on the beach?" Celeste yelled, desperately trying to come up with a plan. "Drag it down with you."

The eevee twitched her ears and huffed through the pain of the ongoing bite. She took a deep breath and held on to it as she started digging into the sand.

Rey let out a laugh. "Your big plan is to use Dig? Might want to check out your type matchups, Celeste."

The girl ignored him as she watched the two pokémon disappear into the sand. As she expected, the hole collapsed on top of them. Yes, ground moves wouldn't be effective, but being buried wasn't good for battling. At least if you didn't know what you were doing.

"Dig out with Quick Attack."

In a flash, Aria shot up from the sand, throwing the capsakid out with her.

Rey groaned. "Bullet Seed again. Do. Not. Waste. Time."

Before the spicy pokémon even hit the ground, it recovered and was already shooting down the seeds. But this time they missed. Celeste smirked. The sand must have got to the pokémon's eyes, making its accuracy fall.

"Once it is on the ground, hammer it with Swift as much as you can. Don't let it stand up!"

She could be relentless, too.

Celeste watched Aria launch her stars again. Of course, she knew Aria wouldn't be able to hold it for too long. She only hoped it would be long enough.

Moody squirmed on the ground, trying to get free from the Swift, while Rey only looked at his pokémon in discontent. He did not command any move nor did he recall Moody. He simply… watched as his pokémon contort itself and waited for it to faint. Which took about twenty excruciating seconds.

On one side of the battlefield, Aria was panting heavily. On the other, Olga checked the grass type before announcing in an emotionless voice. "The capsakid is unable to battle, eevee is the winner. Rey, choose your next pokémon."

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Some people clapped to girl's victory. No one seemed very enthusiastic, except for her two cheerleaders, Delia and Luan. It was sweet that they had both come and even sweeter that they were loudly celebrating her win.

She shyly waved to her friends, trying to contain her grin. Aria was happy as hell, too. This felt better than when they won against the spearow.

Rey eyed the crowd in contempt and turned to Celeste as he picked a green pokéball with some red markings on it. "Hope you enjoy the victory. That is as far as you go."

He threw his next pokéball with even more flare. It spun in the air twice and opened, releasing the creature inside.

Celeste and especially Aria looked in shock as the pokémon materialised in the ground. She did not expect this one at all. Brown fur, only marginally lighter than Aria's, with a creamy furry collar and a fluffy tail. Long years twitching and a grin as smug as that of its trainer.

"Mag, let's show them what a real eevee can do."

In front of her, Aria was growling at her newest rival. The other eevee… Mag… wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

Aria wanted to be the greatest eevee around, didn't she? How would she handle battling another pokémon of the same species?

Olga looked at both trainers and gave the signal for the battle to resume.

Rey smirked and nodded to his eevee. "Do your thing."

Mag snorted and ran toward Aria, tackling her right away.

"Aria, Quick—." Celeste tried talking. But Mag was faster, and the lack of commands from Rey confused the trainer. Before Aria could recompose herself from the tackle or do anything, Mag jumped over her opponent and pinned her down. Finally, she ended her combination with Bite, aimed at the same spot the capsakid had already injured.

"Veeee," Aria cried. At least this time, her opponent didn't stick to her neck. However, Celeste noticed the dark energy forming on the opposing eevee's mouth once more. She was going for another Bite, and Aria was pinned down to the floor without hope of escape.

Breathe out, in, out, in, in, out.

"Aria, use Sand and Quick Attack. Do it like Dig."

The eevee cried as she got hit with another Bite. But followed her trainer's commands. She tapped her rear paws on the floor and a cloud of sand started to form.

Rey snorted. "Do you seriously think this silly plan of yours will work twice? Get out of there."

Mag jumped back at her trainer's order and avoided the sand altogether. That at least gave Aria a chance to get back up. They couldn't waste it. "If you can see her, Quick Attack. Both ways."

The boy frowned. But said nothing as Aria used her hind legs to propel herself inside what was left of the sandy cloud. On the other side, Meg braced herself, and, as soon as her opponent emerged, she launched herself up too.

The two eevees collided midair.

Both ways. That was the command, and Aria got it. Celeste wanted her to use a Quick Attack to hit Mag and one to escape. But Aria was taking it up a notch. Since she was in the air, she would need a stepping stone to get away.

Celeste's eevee quickly grabbed her opponent's head with her front paws and put the back ones on Mag's back. With all the strength she could muster, Aria launched herself away, throwing the other eevee down to the ground.

Rey frowned at his own eevee. "That is not how this was supposed to go."

Mag looked back with her ears down. But didn't waste much time, as Rey gestured back to the battlefield.

"Don't mess it up this time," the boy said from under his breath. "Double kick."

"Aria!" Celeste shouted as her eevee tried to dodge. But she was too tired already. She got hit in the face by the first kick but stood her ground. The second was too much, however. She got hammered into the ground hard.

For a moment, Aria struggled and tried standing up. But in the end, she was out.

"Celeste's eevee is unable to battle," Olga said and the girl's heart skipped a beat.

Breathe. Breathe.

Celeste felt like crying. She just wanted to cradle her Aria. Maybe she should just forfeit. Her strongest pokémon got beaten. What else could she even do? Could Pat beat this other eevee and whatever was next? Should she submit Powder to that?

When she motioned towards her eevee, ready to pick her up and run away, Aria weakly held its face up and shoot her trainer a meaningful glance.

Celeste nodded and tried to muster a confident smile as she picked up Aria's ball and recalled her. "Thank you, you were fantastic."

On the other side of the arena, Rey seemed pleased with himself as the audience cheered his win a little more effusively than Celeste's.

"Pat, your turn," Celeste tried to sound positive as she let the ball slip onto the floor, releasing her slowpoke.

Patrick, as usual, stared and blinked.

With another signal from Olga, the battle was set to continue. But this time, Rey didn't act fast. He just laughed, and his eevee imitated him. "A slowpoke? You can't be serious."

Not bothering to answer, Celeste decided that this time the lead was hers. She was not confident in the slightest, however. "Pat, Water Gun!"

A few seconds passed and… nothing.

Of course.

"You are a really shitty trainer," Rey continued, laughing louder.

Breathe in.

Celeste pressed her lips together. Right now, she had a chance. Rey and Mag were too distracted, but once they got back on the offensive, there would be trouble. After all, the opponent was fast and Pat didn't always like to move…

No time for that now. Focus.

She needed time. And there was one way to get it. No eevee could attack in their sleep. "Pat, use Yawn!" Celeste yelled with urgency.

Still amused, the boy commanded, "Let's finish this joke, Mag. Bite. And keep biting until the slowpoke is down."

The eevee snorted and made her way to the slowpoke, but, just before she made contact, Pat let out a loud bubble filled yawn. The glowing bubbles burst into Mag's face, but it did not faze her. She bit the slowpoke hard and kept biting violently, releasing a dark smoke every time she did so.

After a few moments, Pat wailed in pain. There was no way to escape this, and he was getting too hurt… Celeste's grip tightened around his pokéball.

Breathe.

"Pat return." On Celeste's trembling hand, the pokéball gave off a red streak of light. She would not stand around watching her pokémon get hurt and faint. "Sorry I let you down, buddy."

Celeste tucked Pat's ball back to her pouch and took Powder's. What should she do now?

She glanced at Rey. Some people were clapping, and he seemed to revel in the attention. Even though no one was too excited, he waved at the audience and promised them the next battle would be more exciting. "We will find real trainers to show off their skills against me next time."

She might not be a good, strong trainer yet. But her pokémon trusted her. She owned it to them to at least finish the battle.

"Powder, your turn."

Rey turned around to see what Celeste had brought out this time.

"Cute," he said with a smirk. And then someone squeed. "Huh…?"

The unenthusiastic audience became louder. "Look at the curly hair on its forehead. It looks like snow," a man said.

"That is the cutest pokémon I have ever seen!" Another person added.

"It's a vulpix, isn't it?" a third one said. "But it's nothing like any vulpix I've seen before."

And soon all the e spectators talked about was the unusual vulpix wiggling her tail on the battlefield. And Rey didn't like it one bit.

"Mag, double kick! Make sure it goes down in one hit." the boy commanded as soon as his mother gave the go ahead.

But this time, Mag didn't act on cue. She stepped forward and then tumbled. Her eyes were closed and her breath was rhythmic.

She had fallen asleep. The Yawn had finally affected her.

Celeste had a chance.

"Powder Snow!" the girl yelled from the top of her lungs. But before Powder could do anything, the light from Rey's green pokéball enveloped the sleeping eevee.

"Useless", he said under his breath as he tucked it away.

The vulpix looked confused at the arena, and then back at Celeste. She tilted her head. And in her high pitched voiced, yapped, "Pix?"

The audience cheerfully clapped for Powder.

"Go, cutie, you can win this!" someone yelled.

"We believe in you Powder!" a second voice said. Celeste recognised it to be Delia's.

She smiled at them. It was nice to have support. Even though the victory had been Pat's.

Things weren't so bad. Both Celeste and Rey won against a pokémon and recalled another. Now it was one on one. Could Powder do it?

Rey was laughing again. "I'm glad you all enjoyed the show so much." He turned to Celeste. "Why don't we end this with fireworks?"

The girl blinked at his opponent, but he kept talking as he picked a pokéball.

"Since you all seem so psyched about this battle," his voice was cracking. "I want you all to cheer for my most beautiful pokémon. The one who ignites my passion…"

Olga frowned at his son while he pressed the release button of his ball. No fancy throw this time.

"Flamer, we will show them. Won't we?" Rey said as he ran his hand through his silver hair. He was grinning expectantly at the public as the pokémon emerged from the light.

But there were no cheers. People only stared silently at the bug that stood in the middle of the battlefield. The still overly bright sunlight reflected in its blood red horns and glistening white mane and its blue eyes were unreadable. She wouldn't call this the most beautiful pokémon, though. But it looked cool.

"Flamer…" Rey started saying while glancing at Powder with disdain. Then, with a chilling calmness, he continued. "Overheat."

Breathe in.


A/N: Writing battles is scary. Hope I managed to make this entertaining, though.

NEXT CHAPTER: Overheat