Psychologue Two: Amara's Gym Battle
Amara made her way to the practice field. She mused to herself that she was coming around to Nemona, but Nemona was still a little creepy. "Let's put her out of mind for a minute and get training." She muttered and pulled out two Pokéballs. "Meowscarada, Armarouge, to battle." The two Pokéballs opened for the two Pokémon. "Meowscarada, take the opponent position. Armarouge, here with me. We're going to do a warm-up scrimmage before the gym battle." The two Pokémon squared off with one another, and after Amara's whistle, Armarouge lunged forward at Meowscarada.
"Armarouge, slash. Take out the legs!" Amara called as Armarouge flipped onto its back and sliced at Meowscarada's back legs. The attack hit and Meowscarda fell. "Now, Armarouge, go ahead and hit him with flamethrower." Armarouge began building up power to launch at Meowscarada when Amara whistled again. The battle stopped and Amara jogged over and helped Meowscarada heal up with some potions and a cup of berry juice.
"Are you alright, Meowscarada?" She asked as the wounds on his legs began to heal over. Meowscarada gave a tired, "Meow" and laid down on the battlefield. Amara laid down beside him. "It's ok to not win every battle, you know." She paused as Armarouge came to sit beside them. "That's something my dad never taught me, but sometimes you do everything right and still get bodied. You're a good battler, Meowscarada." Meowscarada let out a long breath and looked to Armarouge. The two seemed too have a light conversation before Armarouge laid on its back on the battle court.
"Yo, 'Mara!" Nemona jogged up to the three of them. "I thought you were training." Amara pulled a vape out of her bag and took a huge hit. Then she passed it to Meowscarada, who also had a long hit before letting the vapor rise from its leaves. "This is part of training too, Nemona. Resting matters, and Meowscarada just got fuckin' bodied." Nemona nodded and sat down with the three of them.
"So, potential rival, what's your story?" Amara took another hit and offered the vape to Nemona, who politely declined. "I'm just a girl who loves Pokémon battles, so I'm really invested in finding someone who will actually battle me. Most of the other students just scamper away when I ask them to battle me these days." Amara smiled at her and took another hit of the vape. "Let me finish getting my team together and we'll go at it like we're at the PWT." Amara returned to watching the clouds roll by as the two girls just relaxed on the practice court. "I'm glad we met, Nemona." Amara said as she pulled Rotom out of her pocket. "It's like 2:30. We're going to go grab some carbs and sugars and then have our battle. "You gonna watch?"
"Fuck to the yes." Nemona exclaimed as the two stood up and Amara returned the two Pokémon to their balls, put her vape away and shouldered her bag. The two made their way through the town and stopped to get a few lemonade cans from a vending machine. Amara tossed Meowscarada and Armarouge out of their balls and gave each of them a lemonade. "Meowscarada, you know that you're at a disadvantage. It won't be as rough as in practice because of your other moves, but we'll need to be careful you don't get hit too hard. I want you to focus on staying fast on your feet, hit light and fast. Armarouge, you're our heavy hitter. You'll be able to take the hits and shrug them off. We'll use that to our advantage." The group found themselves climbing the stairs to the gym leader's arena, where an older woman in a chef's hat stood, waiting.
"Hello, you must be my 3:00. How are you doing, honey?" Amara smiled back at the woman. "I'm feeling fine and ready to win a gym badge. Do you know someone I can talk to about that?" She asked, then chuckled as she went to shake hands with the woman. The two shook hands, then took their places on the court. Armarouge took its place in front of Amara, and as soon as the gym leader threw out Heracross, the battle began.
"Armarouge, Start with pattern A." Amara shouted as the Pokemon leapt to one side of the court. "It's not pure bug type, be careful. That thing has some power!" Armarouge started winding up for a Fire Punch when Heracross feinted, doubling back and pulling itself out of Armarouge's reach. As Armarouge punched, Heracross caught its arm in his horn. Amara cursed. "Turn it into a seismic toss!" Armarouge used Heracross's horn to balance as it flipped into place to heave the bug over its head. He leapt a short distance into the air and threw Heracross into the ground. Heracross lay flat for a moment before moving to stand. Armarouge took the opportunity to unleash a torrent of flame, knocking Heracross out.
"Good job, Armarouge. Now fall in and take a breath." Armarouge moved back toward Amara as the gym leader tossed out her next Pokémon, an Ariados. Armarouge took a defensive stance as Amara turned over her strategy. "Armarouge, Keep up the flames." The Pokemon squared off against one another, and as Armarouge began to charge, Ariados launched sticky webbing all over the arena floor. Armarouge's feet got stuck in the webbing, leaving Ariados an opening. The bug launched itself at Armarouge and landed on its chest. As Armarouge struggled, Ariados began to spin more webbing. After a few minutes, Ariados had Armarouge restrained in web.
"Good job, my red princess." The gym leader called to Ariados. "Now, Unleash your full strength. Foul Play!" Amara thought for a moment, then pulled out her Tera Orb. As Ariados lunged forward, she tossed the orb into the air, and crystals began to harden around Armarouge. After a second, the crystals faded and Armarouge stood, webbing burned away, with a beautiful Tera Jewel on its head. "Armarouge, armor cannon, ruin this bug's whole career!" Armarouge's armor lit aflame, and it pulled off one of its gauntlets. The gauntlet erupted in flame as Armarouge lunged forward and thrust it into Ariados, searing the bug, causing it to let out a scream. After a few seconds the bug fainted.
"Comeback of the year, Armarouge, now, let's see what she has in store for us next." The gym leader paused, then pulled an Ultra Ball from her belt. "You know, I haven't even considered using this boy in battle in a long time. Ursaluna, come out, my darling." The bear burst from the ball and let out a grunt. Armarouge staggered backward. "Armarouge, we are going to Pattern B!"
Armarouge tore some of its armor from its body, leaving only the chestplate. "Alright, you've got this! Move in for Slash. Take it down, just like we practiced!" Armarouge picked up its helmet and pulled the plume from it, revealing a small blade. It quickly dodged Ursaluna's bite and rolled behind it. Armarouge delivered two quick slashes to the backs of Ursaluna's legs. Ursaluna fell onto its underbelly as Armarouge stood over it, readying a flamethrower. "Ursaluna, Earthquake! Bring it down!" Ursaluna began to slam its forepaws into the ground, causing the earth to shake and break under Armarouge. As it fell, Ursaluna slammed the ground again, causing a large stone to erupt forth, directly into Armarouge. Amara let out a gasp as the Tera Jewel shattered and Armarouge fell.
She pulled the Pokémon back into its Pokéball and pulled the other ball from her belt. "Meowscarda, to battle!" The ball burst forth and Meowscarda took on a lightfoot stance. "We need to take it down, and soon. Flower Trick!" Meowscarada sauntered to the downed Ursaluna and stuck a flower on its head. As Ursaluna went to bite Meowsarada, it leapt back and clapped, causing the flower to burst and send shards into Ursaluna's eyes. It let out a roar and the gym leader gasped. She pulled a Tera Orb from her belt. "Hold on, Ursaluna! I can fix those eyes!" She threw the Tera Orb and as Ursaluna crystalized and burst out with an antennae shaped Tera Jewel adorning its head, Amara took note of its new compound eyes.
"Fuck." Amara balked as Ursaluna stood. It moved more slowly than before, but it was hardly immobile any longer. "Shall we win the battle, Ursaluna? Use Close Combat!" Meowscarada was able to leap out of Ursaluna's way in the nick of time and unleash a round of Razor Leaves.
"Please be enough. Please be enough. Please be enough." Amara muttered under her breath as the leaves flew. As they struck home, the Tera Jewel shattered and Ursaluna collapsed, unconscious, sealing Amara's win. "Thank fuck." The two trainers returned their Pokémon to their balls and made their way to the center of the court. The gym leader pulled a badge from her pocket. "Who the hell taught you how to battle?" She asked as she tossed the badge to Amara. "I've never seen a battle so dirty. You did good though. I can't deny that." Amara took the badge and held it up as Rotom took a photo.
"I'm sorry. My dad taught me how to battle." She said sheepishly as she turned and shook her head. "I'll get out of your way now." The gym leader put her hand on Amara's shoulder. She turned back around. The gym leader had a small smile on her face. "You didn't actually break any rules, honey, and my Pokémon will have a good rest and be good as new by morning." Her smile grew a bit wider. "I need to remember some of your more unconventional strategies in case I see them again." Amara smiled back at the woman and turned to leave again. She grabbed Nemona and led her down the stairs and back to the ground.
"Yep, that was definitely you I battled in the backyard. You don't battle like a league trainer." The two women stopped at a bench on the way out of town. "My dad taught me how to battle. He wasn't exactly teaching me to play fair." Amara pulled her vape from her bag and took a huge puff. "Mostly just wanted me to win, ya' know?" Nemona shrugged.
"There's clearly a lot more to your dad than what he showed off over winter break." Nemona muttered. Amara nodded in assent, then gave a sad smile. "Despite outward appearances, my father isn't a great man." Amara's body went limp on the bench and after a few seconds, Elaina blinked and looked up at Nemona. "How was Amara?" she asked.
"Sad but determined. She won the gym badge by the way."
"Awesome." She put her arms on the back of the bench and stretched. "I wonder what Arven is up to."