Chapter 5

"All right Skwovet…" Arven entered a battle stance while staring down his opponent. "It's time to pull out a win!"

The male grunt threw a one-two punch at the air before bellowing a war cry. He sprinted his way over to Arven and his Skwovet, then leapt forward with his fist pointed ahead of him.

"Skwovet, don't move until I say so!" Arven shouted as he dashed alone to intercept the grunt's punch and raised his fists.

"Here's my…!" Arven dashed in, his armor shined with fighting type used that energy to swing the back of his fist and swat away the grunt's punch. A shockwave of wind exploded once they made contact. "Counter!" Arven let out a cry as he thrust his other fighting-type imbued fist into the grunt's gut. An explosion of wind flew out of the grunt's back, and his body lurched as saliva flew out of his mouth.

"Oooh- he felt that one..!" Nemona cried.

"Wait- why'd he feel that one?" Kai asked. "Isn't his invoker supposed to protect him?"

"I forgot to mention, once you Tera fuse with your Pokémon, the invoker stops protecting you. You both fused, so both of you experience the pain."

"Oh man.." Kai said.

Arven pulled his fist as the grunt fell to his knees and clutched his stomach.

"Are you ready for this?" Arven asked, raising his arm as the armor's gauntlet slowly transformed into an arm cannon. "Skwovet, help me out!"

Skwovet hurried over to Arven's side, quickly running up his trainer's leg and reaching his shoulder. Arven aimed his arm cannon at the team star member.

Aeon's eyebrow twitched. His fist clenched as though he were worried.

"Let's finish this, Skwovet. Together, let's use Bullet se-"

The grunt suddenly sprung from the ground and threw an uppercut. Arven gasped and backflipped away to dodge as Skwovet leapt to safety. The two landed together as the grunt glared furiously and stomped forward.

A bead of sweat fell from Arven's cheek. "He's Tera fused and is a fighting type. One hit and we're done for."

Arven's mind flashed to when Kai was punched once, and immediately his Quaxly was knocked out.

The power one gained from Tera fusion was no joke.

"Skwovet! Use Dig! Come out only when I say so!" Arven commanded, and Skwovet nodded and burrowed himself deep into the ground.

It was only him and the grunt, who began circling one another and staring each other down. Arven moved first, aiming his arm cannon and firing seeds that flew like bullets. The grunt ducked and weaved to dodge every seed like he was a boxer and closed the distance. Arven had to bend his head back to narrowly dodge a punch that flew his way, and remained on the defensive, dodging every other punch the grunt threw.

'While his punches were dangerous, at least he's predictable,' Arven thought as he tilted his head to dodge a straight punch then sidestepped to dodge another.

"HOLD STILL!" The grunt cried.

'Though, I can't keep this up forever…!' Arven gritted his teeth and took in a deep breath.

"HYPER VOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIICE!" Arven screamed at the top of his lungs, and through the sheer power of his voice the grunt was sent flying. He fell to the ground with a thud before groaning and standing up again.

"THAT"S IT!" The grunt roared. "I'm going to put my all into this one attack!" The grunt pulled his fist as energy gathered to his fist. "I hope you're ready for my FINAL GAMBIT..!"

"No!" The female grunt who stood far behind her ally shouted in protest. "If you use Final Gambit, you'll faint yourself..!"

"I don't care..! As long as this guy hits the dirt!" The team star member began shouting as more and more power gathered to his fist.

Arven just watched. A smile came to his face as he lowered his guard.

"Looks like I won't be needing you after all, Skwovet." Arven said. "This battle's over."

"YOU'RE RIGHT..! THE BATTLE IS OVER! YOOOOOU…!" The grunt's eyes started shining red with fighting type energy overflowing and sparking about his entire body. "LOOOOOOOOSE!" The team star member shot forward fist-first at Arven with so much speed that red lightning trailed behind him. The grunt's attack landed, carrying his victim over to a not-so-distant plateau and crashed into it. The plateau cracked as shards of earth crumbled around the grunt and the one that was struck.

Or rather, the thing that was struck.

"H-Huh!?" The grunt looked up, seeing what was hanging on his knuckles.

It was a doll. A pokedoll to be exact.

"T-That's…" The grunt's eyes began to close as he fell to the ground. His body shone white as he and his Mankey separated, then the white light faded.

Both Pokemon and Trainer were unconscious.

Arven was standing all the way at the same place that he stood when the attack landed. He turned his head and grinned.

"Wait- what did you just do!?" Kai cried.

"Substitute," Arven said. "It's a move that Skwovet can use. And since he can use it and I'm linked to him, so can I."

"Wait-" Kai said. "Are you implying that you used Substitute right before his attack landed?! So when he landed his attack, it wasn't on you, it was on the doll..!?"

Arven nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Nice!" Nemona cried, giving a thumbs up, "Good job!"

"Thanks, I guess," Arven said. He then turned his head to the female grunt who was staring in amazement. "Hey, you!" The female grunt blinked before breaking her gaze. "Go get your friend!" Arven shouted. The female grunt nodded and ran off.

"Hey, Kai," Arven said, scratching the back of his neck. "That battle was a close shave. I would have lost if my enemy wasn't such an idiot. So next time, keep your head in the game, okay?"

"Welll- that's the thing," Nemona said. "I've battled Kai a buncha times. He's normally focused, But this time he wasn't, because-"

Kai elbowed Nemona with enough force for her to lurch in pain.

"Ignore her," Kai said.

"Hey..!" Nemona said, smiling as she clutched the place Kai struck. "Hitting me like that must mean you want to fight..! All right then, I accept your challenge! Let's go!"

"What- no- I wasn't trying to challenge-"

Nemona tackled Kai to the ground and began playfighting with Kai, who struggled and fought back.

"GET OFF ME YOU BATTLE-CRAZED GIRL!" Kai roared. Nemona laughed with child-like glee.

Arven's eyes glossed over to Aeon, who watched the two of them fight with unblinking eyes. The moment Arven approached the white-haired boy, he turned to him.

"Hey you," Arven said. "Did you see that? I won."

Aeon nodded.

The two of them went silent for a moment, only hearing the grunts of Kai and the laughter of Nemona. Arven sighed. "See them? That's what not to do in public." Arven said, shaking his head. "Don't act like them. If you have any questions about how to act, ask me."

"Would asking make you happy, Arven?" Aeon asked.

Arven raised his eyebrows, slightly confused at the fact that Aeon just spoke a full sentence.

"Uh… Yeah?" Arven replied.

Aeon nodded.

"Understood," He said.

Arven tilted his head. "Why do you say 'understood'? What are you, a soldier being given orders? You don't need to be so formal."

"Understood."

"Oh my goodness...You're weird, you know that?"

Aeon smiled a sincere smile, and Arven smiled with relief. Arven suddenly widened his eyes. "Oh, right. Skwovet! You can come out now!"

Nemona and Kai's bodies flew right over Aeon and Arven's head the moment Arven said his command. Arven swung his head to see Skwovet with his head popped out at the exact place where Kai and Nemona were fighting.

Arven facepalmed once he realized Skwovet emerging made Nemona and Kai get sent flying. Aeon raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Owwwwwww…!" Nemona groaned.

"Ughhhh…" Kai groaned.

The director of Uva Academy, Clavell, looked out his window that was in his office. He sighed.

"I suppose it's time…" He said. "I'll make the announcement tomorrow about the independent study assignment. It's about time our students searched for their treasures."