VI

Simon stared at the battles which took place in the arena, but he didn't really see them. His mind was too distracted with other, unrelated, and unhelpful thoughts.

Shiri had smelled so good when she hugged him. Like cocoa butter and rawst berries. The scent lingered on the shirt he'd been wearing, and that silly, sentimental part of him which he had inherited from his mother wanted to never wash that shirt again.

In a different life, Simon would have made his interest in Shiri more obvious. He would have asked her out, maybe tried to impress her with his battling skills. He would try to channel the smooth charm and charisma that came easily to the people in his family. If only he'd met Shiri eight years ago.

But the circumstances of his life and work made that impossible.

He shifted uncomfortably on the metal bleacher, then stood up to stretch out his stiff limbs. He spied the girl who had been the first victor yesterday sitting in the front row, her raichu sat obediently beside her. Since her victory, there had been three more winners. Three more pokémon had been awarded to those talented children.

The current challenger provided a much more interesting battle for Liam. This trainer had been through the gym challenge in Johto and was now working his way through the Kanto gyms. As a result, the trainer and the gym leader were using more advanced teams, more complex strategies. The battle had drawn more people to the stadium; over half the seats were occupied by spectators, and the other half by trainers looking to battle Liam themselves.

Across the arena, a pair of young people were shimmying toward a gap in the seats which they could occupy. Simon watched them, the movement drawing his attention, and his chest tightened. It was Shiri and Ashton. A pachirisu was perched on Ashton's shoulder, its fluffy tail sticking up behind his head.

Sinking back down into his sear, Simon slid his sunglasses over his eyes and lowered his head, pretending to look at his cellphone. He hoped they wouldn't notice him. Their attention would be on the battles. He would just have to look inconspicuous until they left.

The crowd around him erupted in cheers, and Simon glanced up to watch the challenger's tyranitar land a crushing blow to Liam's dugtrio. The three heads struggled against the damage, but ultimately sagged, and Liam withdrew the pokémon from the battlefield.

"The winner is the challenger, Lawrence!" came the booming voice of the announcer from the speakers. The crowd cheered again as Lawrence raised his hands in victory, a grin plastered on his youthful face.

The raichu's owner was on her feet, jumping up and down in excitement. Perhaps she knew Lawrence, or perhaps she was just excited to watch a more advanced battle. Lawrence crossed the arena to join Liam by the computer to claim his prize.

Simon glanced across to Shiri and Ashton. They were chatting to each other, laughing, and Shiri playfully hit Ashton on the arm. He retaliated with a nudge of his elbow into her ribs, causing her to laugh again. Simon could hear her laughter like music carried by the wind. Ashton handed a treat to the pachirisu on his shoulder, which eagerly received it.

Down below, Lawrence held up the cherish ball with his new pokémon. He released the creature so that the crowd could ogle at his triumph. A magmar appeared from the ball, blinking at the bright lights and shrinking back from the loud cheers.

Liam repeated his words of congratulations to Lawrence, a hint that it was time for Lawrence to leave so that the next trainer could get on with their battle, but Lawrence, it seemed, loved to impress a crowd. He walked out onto the battlefield, pointing out toward the center. "Let's see what it can do!" he cried out. "Magmar, flamethrower!"

The magmar, however, looked reluctant to perform. This gave Simon some concern. The program these pokémon underwent was supposed to make them obedient. Even with no opponent, there was no reason for the magmar to hesitate in using that move.

"Magmar," Lawrence said, sounding irritated. The magmar gazed up at its new trainer. "Use flamethrower! Show the people what you can do!"

The magmar's mouth opened, and Simon realized what was about to happen, his body running cold as the fire erupted from the magmar's mouth. He was on his feet, the poké ball which held his houndoom in his hand, but he was too far to stop what was in motion.

Thankfully, Liam also saw what was happening. He lunged forward and slammed his body into Lawrence's, knocking the both of them to the floor just as the magmar's flames shot out at the place Lawrence had been standing. The cheers turned to gasps and cries, as many people couldn't see exactly what had happened.

Simon raced down the metal steps of the bleachers, throwing his poké ball down into the arena. Houndoom appeared on the battlefield as Simon reached the front row. "Houndoom, Take Down!" he commanded, his voice booming through the stadium.

Houndoom raced towards the magmar, slammed into it and knocked it off its feet. The magmar hit the ground hard, but rolled over, the flame on its tail scorching the ground as it stood back up. It ran back toward Houndoom, claws extended, and landed a decent Slash on Houndoom's chest.

During this exchange, Liam had pulled Lawrence out of the arena and ushered him back into the employee-only area. The announcer's voice boomed out again, telling the crowd to remain in their seats and stay calm.

The magmar came at Houndoom again and again, trying to land more Slashes. Houndoom crouched down and leapt out of the way, but the magmar was relentless in its attacks.

"Houndoom, Crunch!" Simon called. Houndoom obeyed, evading another attempted Slash before closing her jaws around the magmar's extended arm. It cried out, releasing another flurry of Flamethrower directly into Houndoom's face.

The level of aggression in this magmar was far too high. Jumping over the barricade, Simon landed in the arena, a shock of pain shooting up his heels and into his shins. He ignored it and ran toward the battling pokémon, pulling his gloves on.

This would require containment.

"Take Down," Simon commanded as he reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out an ultra ball. With its jaws still in the magmar, Houndoom planted her feet and then lunged, pushing all her weight and strength into her opponent and knocking it off its feet. The magmar landed hard on its back, crying out again.

Simon pressed the center button of the ultra ball, holding it down for a couple of seconds until the button glowed a distinctive purple. It was the visual indication that the programming of the ultra ball which would normally be unable to catch a pokémon which was already owned was overwritten.

"Back off now," Simon called, and Houndoom released the magmar and leapt out of the way. Simon only distantly heard the crowd's gasps as he threw the ultra ball at the magmar, the pokémon disappearing within. As if it were a wild pokémon, the ultra ball shook violently a few times before going still, the button turning back to white.

Without a command, Houndoom bounded to the ultra ball and picked it up in her jaws, returning to her trainer's side as Simon turned toward the crowd. He was almost panting, his heart pounding in his ears, as he gazed back at the multitude of eyes on him. He hadn't been in the spotlight like that in a very long time, and although he opened his mouth to try to tell them something—to leave, to ignore what they just saw, anything—he found his tongue paralyzed.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Liam's voice spoke behind Simon, startling him. He hadn't realized Liam was even there. "I deeply apologize for this incident. We will have to shut down the gym for the remainder of the day. Please carefully make your way to the nearest exit."

Murmurs rose up from the crowd as Liam turned to Simon, his eyes flashing with anger. He only nodded toward the employee entrance and started to walk over to it, and Simon followed. He glanced to where Shiri and Ashton were sitting. He spotted them on their feet, exchanging words he couldn't hear, and Shiri met his gaze. Her face was full of questions.

A feminine scream erupted behind Simon, and he whipped around to find the first victor trying to climb over the barricade. Her raichu was on her back, its claws extended, its tail whipping around violently, terrible hissing coming from its open, toothy mouth.

Simon spat some swear words as he and Houndoom raced down the arena to the girl as she fell over the top of the barricade. She landed hard on the arena floor, but the impact was enough to knock the raichu off her back.

"Houndoom, Take Down," Simon commanded as he ran toward the girl. Houndoom raced toward the raichu and slammed into it, putting more distance between it and the girl.

Simon knelt down by the girl as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. Her face was smeared with tears, her chest heaved in fear. She cradled her left arm, her whole body shaking.

"Are you okay?" he heard someone call from right above them. He looked up and saw Shiri's face peeking over the barricade, Ashton beside her. The pachirisu was gone, probably safely in its poké ball.

"I-I don't know," the girl said, looking between Shiri and Simon in confusion.

Ashton lithely leapt over the barricade and knelt down by the girl, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder. Simon turned his attention back to this new battle at hand, pulling out another ultra ball.

At her trainer's command, Houndoom's Crunch landed on the raichu's belly, and Houndoom dragged it to the ground. The raichu's cheeks sparkled, and Simon commanded Houndoom to release it.

Houndoom did as she was told, but she still received a full Thunderbolt. She cried out, her legs faltering, and she crumpled to the ground.

Simon grabbed another poké ball from his pocket and released Sandslash. "Slash!" he commanded, and Sandslash sped toward the raichu and landed a deep blow against its back. Its movements slowed.

He threw another overwritten ultra ball at the raichu. It struggled against the ball for what felt like an eternity before going still.

Simon returned both of his pokémon to their respective poké balls as Ashton helped the girl to her feet. Liam ran over, his attention on the trainer.

"You're injured," he said, his gaze on her wrist which had swollen to three times its size.

"I landed on it when I fell," the girl said between shaking breaths.

"I'll have to call an ambulance," Liam said, pulling a cellphone from his pocket.

"Hey, I can take her to the hospital," Ashton offered, and Liam eyed him distrustfully. "I got a car outside," Ashton added.

"And just who are you?" Liam snapped.

"He's a friend of mine," Simon spoke up, drawing Liam's glare to him. Ashton's eyebrows peaked up.

"Are you okay with that?" Liam asked the trainer.

She sniffled and nodded. "What about my raichu?"

Simon stepped forward. "We'll have to figure out what happened with it. I'm going to need your contact information. Is that alright?"

"Of course," she said. She gave Simon her name, Courtney, and her phone number.

By then, Shiri had joined them on the arena floor. She put a comforting arm around Courtney's shoulders and helped her walk out toward the exit doors. Ashton moved to follow them, but Simon gently grabbed him by the shoulder.

Pulling one of his seldom-needed business cards from his pocket, he slipped it into Ashton's hand. "Keep me updated," Simon told him, releasing him from his grasp.

Ashton glanced down at the card, then met Simon's gaze again, a half-cocked grin on his lips. "You got it, friend," he said, putting emphasis on the last word. Simon watched him leave.

"We need to have words," Liam said behind Simon.

Simon released a deep exhale. "Yeah."