NSO Chapter 24
(Day 2, Part 1)
I don't own Pokemon.
Zenith was heading to Cleo's house once again. It had somewhat become a routine across those school-filled months, with the Umbreon leaving to meet his girlfriend at her house at noon, coming home in the evening or staying over. The fight yesterday had strengthened the bond between the duo tremendously, and with all the spare time they had spent together before, the chemistry between them now was incredible.
Cleo was already sitting on her front porch, waiting for him.
"You're later than usual."
"I had... something to do first." Zenith's thoughts flashed back to his workshop in the garage, and the product that had he had yet to complete. "Anyways, I'm here now."
Cleo stretched lazily; jaws wide open in a yawn. "So, what do you want to do today?"
"You know those sync moves we've seen on TV, right?"
Those two words caught the Vaporeon's attention. Her slouched position shot up straight along with her frills, curiosity piqued. She always loved watching all those flashy, powerful moves being used in the Pasio tournaments. "Yeah…?"
"So, I thought we could practice team moves, so we can have each other's backs if we get into another battle."
"Ooh, that sounds fun."
"I hope it'll be. Wanna begin?"
A few hours later, and Zenith launched himself into the air with a Dark Pulse, landing neatly on the lawn. "I think we can stop here. We've practiced enough, and I'm pretty confident in these 5 team moves we have. Want to take a well-earned rest."
Hearing the Umbreon's words, Cleo flumped backwards to lie on the grass, chest rising and falling heavily from the exertion her body experienced in the past few hours. Zenith soon joined the Vaporeon, sitting next to her on the lush green grass, propping himself up with his front paws, Together, they watched the slow descent of the sun as it disappeared from view, dipping behind the buildings of the city, illuminating the sky in a reddish glow as it did so. While looking into the distance, Zenith heard Cleo prop herself up into a sitting position as well, before laying her head to rest against Zenith's shoulder. Together, they stared at the sky as it gradually turned from a red evening hue into a pitch-black night, revealing the multiple shining stars concealed during the day.
The duo stayed in that position for quite some time, enjoying each other's company in silence. Suddenly the both of them were forced to shield their eyes as a pair of headlights shone onto them, bathing the two in blinding white light as their vision adjusted to the sudden change in brightness.
"I think your sister's home."
The light-blue Pokemon got out of the car as it backed into the garage, walking towards the two Eeveelutions. "Well, look who it is! My favourite sister with my favourite Umbreon!"
"I'm your only sister. And likewise, for Zenith. How was work?"
"Work was killer. We had to handle annoying customers, and now we're all stressed out. Hope you guys had a better day than we did."
"Well, Zenith and I practiced battle moves. It was tiring, but I guess it can count as a better use of our time."
"Battle moves?" All three Eeveelutions jumped at the sudden voice, the Lucario just appearing behind them, now visible in the warm glow of a porch light. "Why not put them to the test in a little friendly battle?"
Zoey gave an indifferent shrug. "I'm fine with it. It'll allow us to unwind and remove stress from work."
Zenith sprung to his feet and nodded in agreement. "Sure, but if only Cleo's okay with it too."
This just left the Vaporeon, who was sweating under the expectant stares of the other three Pokemon. She looked nervously to Zenith, who gave a paws-up and an encouraging smile. Sighing, she got onto her paws slowly, shaking out her body to remove any dirt or grass, along with her anxieties. "W-well, I guess it does sound... fun…and even if I disagree, I'm vastly outvoted."
"You know, Cleo, are you sure you want to do this?" Noticing Cleo's nervous behaviour, Zenith stopped mid-stride as Zoey and Julley took their sides, going back to the Vaporeon's side. In his excitement and anticipation for a battle, he hadn't considered how she really felt about this, even after all the peer pressure from everyone.
"Maybe we could do this some other time. You know, after we train a bit more. I'm sure they won't mind."
A brief look of consideration crossed Cleo's face, but Zenith saw the Vaporeon's blue pupils flicker to something out of his field of view. Instantly, her gaze hardened, all traces of worry gone from her features.
"I'm fine, Zenith. Let's do this." Determination shone in her eyes as she looked back into Zenith's red ones.
"But where can we even fight? Mom's going to be mad if we destroy the lawn."
"I was going to drive you guys to a nearby battling arena, but will your mom allow that, Zenith… Zenith?"
Julley looked back, and others followed his gaze to look at the Umbreon. He was rummaging around in one of the bushes on the front lawn, pushing aside branches and leaves in his fervent search. At last, he had found what he had been looking for. It was a rectangular box on a retractable cord attached into the dirt, and as the Umbreon opened it, everyone could see the glowing red button contained inside. Looking back at the three other Pokemon watching him in confusion, Zenith motioned for them to stand away from the centre of the lawn, before pushing the button.
Without warning, a giant circle seemed to be cut into the lawn as the grass within the circle descended a centimetre below the ground. The sound of turning gears could be heard, and the other three Pokemon standing on the lawn gaped in awe as the circle of grass did a complete 180 flip, sending loose soil and grass raining down into the pitch-black hole that was revealed during the turning. The other side was just rubber flooring, like the floor of a boxing ring. Embedded in the middle of the latex was a small cylindrical machine, like the ones found in the Battle Room.
As the flip side of the circle locked itself into place with a soft click, Zenith walked over to the machine and pressed a button on its side. The screen flickered for a moment, before turning itself on. There were words on the bright blue screen, and they read:
BATTLE ARENA v1.0.23- FULLY OPERATIONAL
A beam of green light spread outwards from the base of the machine until it covered the entire base of the battle arena. There was a moment's pause, and the light retracted itself back into the machine, leaving behind a terrain. The base of the arena was now covered in thick sand, and there was now a small stream that ran through the middle of the arena, with the machine in the dead centre.
A bright blue beacon of light shot out from the top of the cylindrical machine. More beams spread outwards from the single beacon, forming a dome around the circle. Once the process was completed, a smooth female voice sounded out from the machine.
"Battle Arena ready. Please adjust settings. Pokemon may now enter the arena."
Zenith fiddled with the controls on the machine, before joining the others, who had already stepped through the dome and into the arena. Julley had scooped up a pawful of the sand and was letting it trickle through the gaps in his paws, while Cleo floated a small ball of water from the stream in front of her, both perplexed in how the machine could create the real deals that they held in front of their faces.
"Four Pokemon have entered the arena. Battle type: Double Friendly Battle. Engaging shields."
The once translucent, blue light that made up the done turned transparent and solid, and resisted Zenith's attempts to pass his paw through them. By now, Cleo, Julley and Zoey had recovered from their awe of the arena, and were now looking at Zenith, curiosity evident in their eyes.
"Hey, Zenith. Why is there an arena underneath our front lawn, and how come you know about it?"
"The previous occupants of this house were avid battlers, so they built this arena under the lawn. When they moved out, they left it here, and I had ample time to figure out how to activate and use it before you guys came."
"Confirmation of instructions. Battle type: Friendly Double Battle. Time limit: 10 minutes. Objective for both teams: Battle until the end of the time limit."
Zoey and Julley took one end of the arena, while Zenith and Cleo took the other, the stream separating the two teams. As they took their respective battle stances, the voice of the machine sounded out once more.
"Both teams ready. Battle starting in Three. Two. One."
"BEEP!"