Enjoying the story? If so, please consider dropping me a tip on my Ko-fi! With tips as low as a dollar, you can give a simple thanks, buy me a beer, or even pay me to never write again! You can find my Ko-fi at Ko- (fi) .com(slash)slalem. It is, of course, entirely optional—much like reviews, follows and favorites, it simply helps to keep me going.
Thank you for reading thus far, and enjoy the chapter!
"You are looking live at The Turf, the city of Turffield's renowned Pokémon battling stadium, and the site of one of the most anticipated matchups in history of the Galar League Gym Challenge. The incumbent gym leader, Milo Yarrow, having ruled September with what has been his best showing ever as a gym leader, looks to end on a high note with a major win to finish a historically difficult first leg of the challenge. But his opponent has other plans, as recent upstart and Unova native Cassius Hargreaves looks to finally put the rumors surrounding him to rest with an opening act aiming to prove to the world that he has arrived, and is here to stay.
"This is a presentation of the Galar Pokémon League, brought to you by Macro Cosmos TV in partnership with the Unovan Sports Network, helping to connect Unova to the best sports from around the globe; and is sponsored by Macro Cosmos Technologies. Macro Cosmos—Helping The World Move Forward.
"We welcome you into the booth, I'm Mike Madden alongside the hall-of-famer and former champion Alder Lauro, and Alder, it's fair to say that this match tonight has been the most heavily anticipated fight throughout the entire first leg of the gym challenge. After weeks of speculation and theories, we'll finally have a chance to put our eyes on Cassius Hargreaves in battle."
"Thank you Mike, and I couldn't agree with you more! Everywhere I've been today, The good folks of Galar are buzzing about this young man, and I'd wager that curiosity is only overshadowed by those of us back in Unova! Though the details of his rise through battling are scarce, seeing as it was clearly enough to impress the Champion Leon, I'm extremely excited to see what Cassius Hargreaves has in mind for an introduction tonight, and I can't wait to watch."
"That makes two of us, partner. For more information about tonight's fight, we throw it down to the third member of our team and our sideline reporter, Halle Marks. Halle?"
"Thanks, Mike. I spoke to Cassius Hargreaves before the fight, and while he was generally tight-lipped about most of what his strategy was for the battle, he seemed to convey a belief that his Pokémon would rise to the occasion today, and handle themselves under the lights of their first professional battle. He said that while he was appreciative for the chance to be here, he understood that this was only the first step for him, and that he's here to win. On the other side, Milo Yarrow seemed very excited to go up against Cassius Hargreaves today, and told me that he doesn't know anything more about Cassius' style than the rest of us. Milo actually managed to reach out to Cassius before the fight to get to know him better, and expressed to me that he was a kind and respectful young man, and a level-headed trainer that he couldn't wait to fight. That said, he made it clear that he isn't going to make it easy for him tonight. Back to you."
"Thanks, Halle. The suspense is mounting in the crowd for the last fight of the first leg of the Galar League Gym Challenge. First strike is only fifteen minutes away, for a battle that the entire world is sure to be watching. We'll take a quick commercial break before Boomer and the gang give us their last-minute scores, highlights and predictions. Back after this word from your local station."
"Heuuurgh—guh, I'm sorry, I—bleuuurgh—"
Faintly, he could feel Hop rubbing circles on his back, not that it did much to help. His hands desperately clutched the side of the toilet seat he was keeled over in front of, praying that the last round of vomit would be the merciful end. That hope was quickly dashed as another shudder bolted through him and brought forth another retch from his stomach into his throat, and his eyes squeezed tight as the process started all over again.
Hop continued attempting to console him. "That's it, mate. Get it outta your system. It'll feel better once it's all out."
Cassius heaved, but somehow held what would have been the next wave in. Greedily taking in air, he feebly pushed himself off of the toilet seat and sat back on his haunches, blinking to get the tears out of his eyes. Hop handed him a towel for the remaining bile on his lips, which he gratefully accepted.
Hop's hand gently rubbed his shoulder as he attempted to reassure him. "Well, if nothing else, it was the right decision for us to go with you before you hit the pitch. Woulda been a lot worse if you were dealing with this by yourself." Cassius supposed that was true. He hadn't even been sure if anyone that wasn't him was allowed into the locker room before a bout, seeing as Hop and Gloria had both gone in alone before their respective fights. The league officials and security didn't seem to care, thankfully, only needing him alone to lock in his participating Pokémon, their movesets and their medicals, to ensure they weren't hopped up on any performance enhancers or otherwise cheating in some underhanded way.
That had been the easy part. He'd been nervous before he'd arrived at the stadium, but he'd somehow managed to suppress most of it until that reporter had suddenly appeared in front of him, shoving a phone with an active voice recorder into his face and bombarding him with questions. He didn't even remember most of the answers he gave, his mouth running on autopilot, supplying the same generic answers every athlete before him had ever given to the same surface level questions the reporter asked him.
Reality set in after he'd returned to the locker room after she left. The weight of what he was about to go and do, the expectations that he'd been carrying, and the three or so hours of fitful sleep he'd barely managed to scrounge hit him like a truck. That force had manifested itself as nausea and anxiety, both of which sent him speeding toward the bathroom. He had no idea how long he'd been hunched over a toilet, barfing his guts out—it could have been five minutes, or it could have been an hour.
Hop's hand entered his field of vision, holding a stick of gum. "Here. If you feel like you need it."
His breath probably smelled like death, so he definitely did. "Thanks," he rasped, popping the stick in his mouth. He felt marginally cleaner as the gross feeling in his mouth was replaced with artificial mint.
His breathing had finally settled itself and his nausea finally left him. Which was good, since he wasn't sure there was anything left for him to throw up that wasn't stomach acid. He felt exhausted, however, which wasn't a good feeling to have right before going out for a professional Pokémon battle. "How much time do I have?"
"A little more than ten minutes," Hop answered. So he'd only been incapacitated for five, then. That was good. Not that he thought the league would let him dodge the battle, especially this close to tip-off—or, first strike. Whatever word it was that meant the start of the fight.
Cassius looked around the bathroom. "Where's Gloria?" Hop gestured to the bathroom entrance. "Outside. Keeping an eye for league officials." That was nice of her, but Cassius had a sneaking suspicion that she was just trying to avoid the sight (and smell) of his vomit. Not that he could really blame her.
His mind searched for anything to get the attention off of how humiliated he felt. "How are you two? Have you... talked yet?"
"We're fine," Hop replied curtly. "That doesn't matter right now. You gotta be ready in that tunnel in ten—well, nine minutes," he amended, checking the clock on his phone. "Can you stand?"
With more effort than he'd care to admit, and Hop's assistance, Cassius returned to his feet. Hop led him to the bathroom sink, where he instructed him to freshen up—rinse his hands, wash his face, and blow his nose. Just about everything they could afford to do in under two minutes. After some effort, Cassius managed to look like he hadn't just thrown up his guts into a toilet.
His reflection stared back into him, and Cassius saw a scared kid about to go embarrass himself in front of everyone. It was why he'd never bothered before all of this—why try and train when he and Hyla weren't built for it? Why try and join a basketball team when he wasn't that good, even with all the time he wasted practicing? Why try and branch out in school when everyone would just laugh at him behind his back?
Really, why try anything? He'd just fail, and it was better to not even try than try and end up failing, because at least if he didn't try he wouldn't get hurt, and the last thing he wanted was for him and Hyla to get hurt, and—
"Cassius." Hop's hand gripped his shoulders, turning him away from the mirror. "Look at me. Calm down."
"I can't," Cassius murmured, breath shaky. He was so pathetic. "I just... all those people, the media... I'm gonna mess up, and I'm gonna embarrass you, and Gloria, and Leon... my parents..."
"Don't think like that."
"I can't help it! You think I want to feel like this? I'd been looking forward to this for more than a month, but now that it's here, all I feel like now is a nervous wreck who's about to go ruin his life trying to be something he's not!"
Hop's grip tightened. "Cassius, it's okay to be nervous. No one's telling you not to be. But there's a difference between being nervous, and telling yourself you're gonna lose before you even step onto that pitch. If you do that, you've already lost." His gaze quickly flicked to the Poké Balls on Cassius' belt. "Is that fair to Hyla? Or Korvis, or Sizzlipede? Are you saying that all the training they did was a waste, because you feel like you're a waste?"
Cassius stammered. "I... I don't..."
"For as strong as Pokémon are, it doesn't matter if their trainer doesn't believe in themselves. That's half the battle. It's a shared belief between Pokémon and trainer, cultivated from all the time and effort spent training before even stepping onto the pitch. And for everything you feel like you can't control, that's the one thing that you can control—and you did."
Cassius fidgeted with the three Poké Balls at his hip. Hop was right—he had trained. He'd put in the work, even when the results weren't immediate, and even when he'd felt like stopping at first. He wanted to change, and change was hard. He knew that, but he still did it. The fact of that should have made him proud.
Even so... "I don't know."
Hop's lips pursed, and he settled in for another quick go of it while they still had time. "Cassius, you—"
Footsteps echoed from outside. Fear and anxiety lanced through Cassius at the thought of a league official stepping through the bathroom entrance, but he was instead met with a familiar face as Gloria stomped in, uncaring of the sign designating the bathroom for gentlemen only.
"Gloria—" Hop was cut off as Gloria pushed past him with her shoulder none too gently, taking his place in front of Cassius. Stunned, Cassius didn't know what to think, other than it being painfully clear that she and Hop had yet to clear the air about yesterday, despite them having traveled together with Cassius into the locker room. A tenuous truce at best for his sake, he briefly conside—oh, now she was right in his face.
"Oi," she growled. "Wha's the holdup?"
Cassius scrambled for an answer. "I, uh... I was throwing up."
"Fuckin' obviously. Could hear you from outside. I mean now."
"I-I..." it was so humiliating to admit how he felt out loud. "I'm scared."
Gloria didn't even blink. "Okay. And?"
"... and?"
"What about it? Scared? Of fuckin' what?"
"Everything! The fans, the media, making an ass out of myself in public!" How was this not obvious to her? Hadn't she felt the same way? "How could I not be scared?"
"Just don't," she said simply.
She was impossible. Her inability to relate to most of what he felt during their travels together had been evident from the start, but for her to bring it up now of all times seemed mean-spirited and intentional. "Wow, thanks. Let me try that right now... whoops, still scared! Thanks, Gloria!"
The girl in question rolled her eyes. "Fuckin' course you would be. 'nd after all that blubberin' before. Shoulda known it was bollocks."
That managed to ignite a little anger in him. She'd become a master at that. "Oh what, it's weird to be scared now? Not all of us are freaks born to battle like you."
"You think you're scared now? How's this for scared—lose, 'nd I'll fuckin' kill ya. Win, 'nd I won't."
"Gloria," Hop pleaded.
"You shut your fuckin' mouth, twat," she seethed in Hop's direction, promptly getting him to do just that. Her attention quickly returned to Cassius. "Oi, look at me. Puke on me 'nd you're dead."
Thankfully, Cassius seemed to have gotten it all out of system. Gloria continued. "Listen close, 'coz I'm only gonna say it once. All that shit out there—the fans, the music, the chanting, every single bit of fanfare out there?" Her tone was deathly serious. "Fuck it all. Ignore it."
Despite his current condition, Cassius rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say."
"I mean it. All that shit out there's for the fuckin' league 'nd TV pillocks. That has nothin' to do with us. All that matters to you is that pitch, Milo, 'nd whatever cunt Pokémon he decides to toss out there."
Gloria's gaze was steel. "I fuckin' hate all of it. Battlin's more spectacle than actual combat these days. So, while you're still a novice, figure I'll help remind you about what it is you're meant to do on that pitch 'fore some fuckin' media bloke tells you how you're 'supposed' to act." She pointed behind her. "You kick their ass, before they kick yours. Nothing else matters. Win—I don't fuckin' care how. Block out everythin' else 'nd win, Cassius."
She seemed so certain. "But what if I can't?"
"Then you're exactly the pussy I thought you were," Gloria answered plainly. "Your match entirely depends on whether or not that's true. Ask yourself, or have one of your Pokémon ask you—are you the bitch I accused you of bein'? Or are you the trainer you told me you were back in the Wild Area?"
It was so stupid, and petty. Maybe more than that, it would be the most shameful and mortifying thing ever to have to admit to himself. That the reason why he'd gotten himself back up and stepped onto that pitch after his anxious episode was, 'because I wanted to spite some girl who thought I was a pussy.' Being a professional trainer was supposed to be based on belief and trust, like what Hop had suggested. Not on animosity.
But damnit, if the thought of proving Gloria wrong didn't spark something in him. "I hate you so much," he grumbled, equal parts ashamed and galvanized.
And in response, Gloria gave him the most genuine, authentic smile he'd ever seen from her. Which even then, resembled a devious smirk more than anything. "Good. Better than whingin' in a restroom. Get out there 'nd don't piss yourself, yeah?"
Mind running on autopilot, Cassius took a deep breath and tore himself from her gaze, taking off in the direction of the bathroom exit before his mind could even get the chance to let the fear set in again. He was operating on bitterness and determination, which while not the healthiest combination had managed to temporarily suspend the anxiety in him. For now, that was enough.
He harkened back to Hop's words as he approached the locker room exit. He'd worked for this. Trained harder than he ever had in his life to prepare himself for this moment; and his Pokémon had trained harder still. They deserved an opportunity to let the fruits of their labor shine on the big stage, if nothing else. And if they were going to do that, they'd need him to guide them. Well, maybe not Korvis, but Hyla and Sizzlipede definitely did.
The sound of the crowd faintly echoed in his ears, even as far out from the tunnel as he was. They were expecting a battle worth the hype. Lucky for them, so was he.
"There you are," a league official sighed in relief upon seeing him approach. "Was fixin' to send someone to go get you. You're on in two minutes. Everything good?"
"Yeah," Cassius nodded, attempting to appear convincing. "Just preparing."
The man didn't pry. "Well, as long as you're ready." The public address announcer boomed Milo's entrance, his familiar country music accompanying him as he moseyed onto the pitch to raucous fanfare from the crowd. He'd always seemed like little more than a spec from the trainer viewing box, but he looked large and imposing on equal footing.
The official must have interpreted his apprehension for awe. "Yeah, crazy stuff. Cherish it, mate. You never forget your first time in the tunnel." Anything Cassius might have said in response died as the cheering died down, and the announcer's voice returned. The official put a hand on his shoulder. "Alrighty, five seconds, and... go! Remember to smile!" And he was off and jogging.
The dark tunnel gave way to the expansive pitch, finely trimmed green stretching in front of him. Cassius forced himself into the mindset he'd adopted during the opening ceremony, which had mostly focused on putting one foot in front of another and not tripping himself in front of tens of thousands of live viewers. Vaguely, he heard the announcer introduce him to the crowd.
"And the challenger! Hailing from Postwick, and representing Unova, this young trainer's quick thinking and action earned him national headlines, as well as an endorsement from our Champion Leon! Looking to see how far his meteoric rise will take him, please welcome, for the first time as a professional in the Galar League Gym Challenge and as one of the first trainers sponsored by Champion Leon—number 713, Cassius Hargreaves!"
The boos that immediately followed were deafening to such a degree that it almost made him flinch. Again, another difference from being up in the comfort of a separated viewing area and being down on the pitch—nowhere to hide from the crowd. Even as Cassius walked further into the center of the pitch, the boos reverberated in his head. Maybe the only silver lining from the ferocity of the jeering was that he couldn't hear any of the nastier things he was sure some of the other spectators were currently shouting at him.
Milo was smiley as ever, sending him a subtle nod and a wink as they met in the center circle of the pitch. Returning the nod with a neutral expression, Cassius held Milo's gaze as referee Delman Thomas was given the go-ahead to proceed and once again read through the rules of the match, which Cassius immediately drowned out.
He wondered how he appeared right now, to the average viewer. Confident? Focused? Scared? A part of him was curious as to what his old classmates were thinking right now, if they had woken up early enough to watch him live. A bigger part of him was curious as to what his parents were currently thinking. But then, maybe that didn't matter at the moment, since it wasn't them that he had to convince. It was everyone else watching that he had to persuade.
Cassius Hargreaves was a professional Pokémon trainer. Cassius Hargreaves had earned a sponsorship from the region's most accomplished trainer. Cassius Hargreaves deserved to be here. Cassius Hargreaves was going to win.
"Good, clean fight, gentlemen. If at any point you feel yourself unable to continue, let me know and I'll stop the fight immediately. Am I understood?" Delman Thomas' voice filtered back into his ears. Milo provided his customary "Yes sir," and Cassius provided his own confirmation by way of a silent nod. That was good enough for the tenured referee. "Then the match may officially begin! Trainers, to your corners!"
"Good luck," Milo offered, providing a fist for Cassius to bump. If nothing else, Milo's genuine kindness had made him feel like he wasn't staring death in the face for his first official fight. "Good luck," Cassius bumped back, and made his way to his corner.
Cassius could barely feel himself breathing as he stepped into his box. This was it. No more platitudes, no more words of encouragement, not even any more challenging comments from Gloria. All that was left to fight.
"Trainers, release your first Pokémon!" Cassius took the last deep breath he could afford the time to take, and clutched a Poké Ball in tandem with Milo. A second later, the two combatants tossed their respective capsules, twin flashes of light briefly illuminating the pitch as the match's first Pokémon entered the fold.
Flapple squawked upon entry, the dual Grass-Dragon type's appearance hardly a surprise to Cassius at this point. His focus was on his own side of the field, where he watched Hyla dig in her position opposite of her opponent, growling in an attempt to appear menacing. That, alongside her species' reputation would have fooled most viewers, but Cassius' discerning gaze noted the subtle twitching of her tail, and the minute shudders that overtook her body briefly. She could try to hide it, but she was nervous—and why wouldn't she be? She'd probably never dreamed of doing this not more than two months ago. Now here she was, preparing to showcase her combat abilities to tens of thousands of live viewers, and millions of people watching at home.
Cassius knew she would have been content to live peacefully alongside him for the rest of her life. And she would have had every right to leave him after he'd selfishly committed to this sudden dream of his. She wasn't the stereotype her species was often depicted as—she was shy, domestic, and generally averse to conflict. But she hadn't left him, because she trusted him. She deserved to know that he trusted her, too.
"Hyla," he called to her, blocking out the noise from the crowd in the hope she'd do the same. Hyla immediately turned to him, expression tight and stony. Cassius smiled at her, knowing she wouldn't see it but feel it. "You got this. No matter what, I love you."
Her posture loosened the slightest bit, and a bit of her usual vigor returned. "Arf!" With a determined huff, she turned back around, steeling herself for the battle to come. Cassius did the same as the referee raised his hand.
A small eternity passed, and the hand was dropped. "Begin!"
Cassius immediately shot into his plan. "Focus—Focus Energy!" Hyla's frame tightened and loosened as she obeyed his command, which he'd had to repeat to ensure she heard him properly. The crowd was already deafening, and while he didn't expect it to be as quiet as he assumed it was when they were training, his voice was already straining. No wonder Marnie had lost her voice.
He'd been prepared to command Hyla to evade immediately after Focus Energy, but Milo didn't immediately go on the offensive. Instead, he opted for caution. "Circle around them, Flapple. Keep your distance." Cassius suppressed the urge to sigh in relief—good. That was step one down.
Cassius pointed toward Flapple. "Get in close!" Hyla barked as she dashed forward in a beeline for Flapple. Milo's eyes flashed briefly in surprise, but the professional didn't let the feeling overwhelm him. "Back up! Don't let her get close!"
Again, within expectations. Cassius had thought long and hard about how to handle Milo's best Pokémon, given the constraints he was working with—he was saving Rookidee for Dynamax Eldegoss per his promise to the stubborn Flying-type, Sizzlipede would have been at a big disadvantage with the threat of Wing Attack, and Hyla was still raw in terms of battling. That last point especially had confounded him, until he'd opted to look at it from a different angle. Yes, Hyla was raw, but Milo didn't know that. Almost no one did. For as far as the rest of the world was concerned, Hyla was a skilled battler with a wealth of talent afforded to her from experience and her natural inclination as a Dragon-type.
Sure, Flapple could one-shot Hyla with a Twister. But who was to say she couldn't do the same with a Dragon Breath? So long as Milo wasn't absolutely certain as to what Hyla's moves were, he'd have to play it safe, even if only initially. It was a gimmick that would only work for Hyla's first publicly viewed battle, and Milo would catch on eventually, but it would give her and Cassius the chance to be the initial aggressors without fear of immediate retaliation.
Still, as he watched Hyla attempt to close the distance, Cassius knew he couldn't get too excited. The trick was up as soon as he revealed Hyla's full moveset. He'd already burned Focus Energy, which left Bite, Tackle, and Roar. Bite was a foregone conclusion to be used, and he was saving Roar as a last-ditch effort if Hyla found herself cornered, but even if it came to that, he couldn't imagine any scenarios in this battle in which Tackle would have been necessary. Or, that was what he told himself—every plan was perfect until contact was made, or however that saying went.
It had taken some effort on her part, but Hyla had caught up to Flapple. Cassius had noticed throughout Milo's fights that it took considerable effort for Flapple to keep itself airborne for long periods of time; he supposed that wings made of apple skin weren't the most efficient for flying, which explained Milo's inclination toward quick battles with his ace. Flapple was at its most lethal when it had expended as little energy as possible early in the fight. Willingly getting in Flapple's range was risky, but if they could land a few good shots (or a critical, if they were lucky) and take out their biggest obstacle early, that would be huge for the rest of the fight.
"Bite!" Hyla revealed a maw eager to find purchase upon Flapple, now within a few feet of distance. Flapple, unused to being on the back foot for so long, was tiring quickly, and if Cassius didn't know better, maybe looked a little frustrated that it hadn't attacked yet. Cassius guessed it wouldn't have to wait much longer.
True to that, Milo finally issued his first offensive command. "Acid Spray!" The same strategy he'd employed against Gloria—draw an eager opponent in close, before making them pay for it with Acid Spray. Cassius had expected it, and promptly disengaged the attack. "Dodge right, keep up the pressure!"
It was the maneuver they'd been practicing since they'd first started out, and while it wasn't anywhere near as flashy as the one invented by Hop's Grookey, it got the job done if executed correctly—and to Cassius' relief, Hyla hadn't forgotten her basics. The Dragon-type slipped past the move with a deft roll to the right, losing minimal speed as she returned to her feet and kept up the chase. "Good job, Hyla!"
The distance between the two Pokémon turned from feet to inches. Sensing an opportunity, Hyla leapt as high as her stubby legs would take her, aiming to latch onto Flapple. Cassius felt a cheer bubble in his throat as he saw her clamp down—before it promptly died as Hyla returned to the ground without Flapple. Flapple looked slightly disoriented, but appeared to have gotten away with only having been nipped on the very end of its wing.
Cassius took a calming breath. It wasn't the end of the world if they couldn't get it right on their first attack. He couldn't afford to freak out. Reassess, and keep going. "Don't worry about it! Catch your breath, and go again!"
Of course, Milo wouldn't let them sit idly by to do so. "Acid Spray again, give it a wide arc!"
He was preventing them from dodging left or right, Cassius realized as Flapple charged up another shot. He was really testing their fundamentals—but then, that was what gym leaders did, wasn't it? Evaluate a certain aspect of a trainer and their Pokémon in the highest pressure environment possible. For the first gym leader, it made sense he'd put them through their paces when it came to the simple stuff. It was lucky, then, that Hop had drilled them hard on the basics. Another thing he owed him for.
"Roll forward!" Hyla quickly recovered, tucking her head in as she launched herself forward and below the Acid Spray. Cassius took the chance to resume the pursuit. "Chase it down again! Go for Bite when you're sure it can hit!" Hyla gave chase once more, sensing the urgency. They were running out of time. Sooner or later, Milo was going to realize Bite was their main play, and not a hidden Dragon-type move they were stashing for later.
Milo, for his part, was being suspiciously nonchalant compared to Cassius' earlier assault. A quick glance over at the leader revealed a thinking expression, hand curled against his mouth in thought. "Try to keep your distance, but don't tire yourself out if you can't," he threw out. That sent alarms blaring in Cassius' head. They might have had less time than they originally thought.
Still, there were no current alternatives. With no ranged attacks, a mad dash was all they could manage for now. They just had to make it count. "Keep going, Hyla!"
Once again, Hyla had entered a dead sprint, and once again she found herself within a hair's breadth of Flapple. True to its trainer's order, Flapple didn't seem particularly eager to get out of the way, choosing to hover and take simple flaps backward instead of rushing to create space between them. Hyla didn't seem suspicious at all, as made ready to leap forward with an incoming Bite.
Cassius waited for the ball to drop, and it did. "Leech Seed!" Milo ordered right as Hyla took to the air and clamped down on Flapple's left wing. Though Flapple trilled in pain as the attack landed, the smaller Dragon-type maintained its focus and spat a series of seeds that embedded themselves in Hyla's fur. The seeds quickly sprouted and grew into thin, winding vines as Hyla returned to the ground. Growling, Hyla looked to be struggling to remain upright as the vines progressed to wrapping around her legs, semi-binding her. Though Flapple looked to be favoring its wing slightly, it managed to remain airborne.
'Shit,' Cassius cursed mentally. There was plenty more he could have done to express how exceedingly bad that sequence had gone, but that would have made it clear to Milo that he was getting desperate. He'd landed Bite, but hadn't managed either a critical hit or a flinch, and in exchanged had let Milo land a point-blank Leech Seed that would siphon Hyla's health to Flapple, potentially nullifying all the work that had gone into the attack in the first place. He hadn't even given Hyla the opportunity to dodge—they'd played right into Milo's plan.
If time was against them before, it really was now. Waiting around would let Flapple heal, but going at Flapple would open them up even more. And Cassius suspected that Milo knew there was no Dragon-type move to fear from their end, which meant it was time to start worrying about Twister.
Everything felt fast. Thoughts were blitzing in his head at a mile a minute. The crowd had only gotten more into it after the prior exchange, serving to compound the noise that flooded his senses. Breathe, he had to remember to breathe, but not too much, because then he'd be standing around, and the worst thing you could do in a battle was stand around doing nothing.
Cassius' fists clenched. He had to stick to the plan. Go in, get a Bite, hope for a critical. Even if Hyla only managed to knock Flapple out at the same time she herself was knocked out, that'd leave both sides with two Pokémon each, and his side with the major type advantage. If he could just get through Flapple, they would still be very much in this fight. All that mattered was getting there.
"How're you feeling?" Cassius called out. Stupid question probably, but he needed to check on where Hyla was on stamina moreso than health. Though she looked to be battling the vines infringing on her mobility, Hyla barked out with a nod in response, inferring she was good to go. Good. She'd need it. "Try and bite out of the vines. You don't need to get them all, just enough that you can move normally."
Hyla got to work on that, while the vines that did remain planted on her glowed slightly. Flapple glowed a similar hue, visibly perking up as its health regenerated a little. Cassius couldn't calculate exactly how much health it had gotten back, but he wasn't very eager to see it regain much more. "Good enough, Hyla. Chase it!"
While she still had a few vines wrapped around her individual legs, she'd bit off enough to regain most of her original mobility. That small victory was short-lived. "Use Twister, Flapple!"
He tried not to let the panic show on his face. "Evade! It's gonna chase you, try to outrun it!"
Skidding to a halt, Hyla immediately performed a one-eighty and turned the other way, fleeing the Twister as quickly as she could manage. The Dragon-type attack picked up and flung debris along its path, as if often did, but Hyla had been able to separate herself enough from the attack to only get hit by a stray pebble or two. Annoying, but hardly debilitating.
Cassius had been proud of Hyla's quick change of direction, and was about to voice as much until he saw the vines and Flapple glow again. Cassius scowled. Twister had a decently high power point count for a Dragon-type move, meaning he could abuse it fairly often while giving Flapple time to heal. Obviously, that wasn't ideal, but the alternative wasn't very attractive either. Milo was giving him a choice—either he risked skirting by a super-effective move to get to Flapple, or he let Milo stall them as Flapple healed up.
Snap decisions, he reminded himself. He didn't have the luxury of pondering the choice extensively in the middle of battle. Stifling his growing unease, he pointed at Flapple. "Charge again! Fast as you can!"
Hyla summoned her remaining energy and took off, seeing if she could maybe manage to reach Flapple before it could form another Twister. That hope was quickly dashed. "Another Twister, Flapple!" Rapid beating of its wings followed, and another Twister formed a good few paces in front of Hyla.
Cassius grit his teeth and took the plunge. "Go around it! As close as you can manage without getting hurt!" That was asking a lot of Hyla, he was aware. Either she spaced herself too much and gave Flapple time to recover and use Twister again, or she spaced herself too little and got caught up by the attack. Asking her to find an efficient path on the fly might have been beyond her, but they didn't have a choice.
Hyla adjusted her path, angling herself as the Twister closed in on her. Tiny pieces of flung debris turned into larger chunks of rocks, one such piece managing to clip her hide. Cassius gasped as he saw Hyla slow down from the attack, halting briefly as the Twister inched closer and closer.
To his relief, she powered through the pain and returned to her sprint, opting for a straighter approach than she'd originally decided. Intended or not, it ended up working in her favor—letting the Twister hone in on where'd she been previously standing gave Flapple less time to adjust course for where Hyla was sprinting now, giving her a lane where she could sprint close against the Twister with minimal damage without getting pulled in. Minimal was a relative term, however, seeing as Hyla was now in visible pain from the earlier piece of debris in addition to new damages.
Though she'd had to earn it, she'd managed to find Flapple. It was lower to the ground than Cassius had expected—maybe it had tired itself out from consecutive Twisters in addition to the prior evasive flying it had done earlier in the fight. Regardless, he didn't have any fear of it trying to hide on top of the Twister, like Milo had attempted with Gloria, meaning this might have been their best shot. "Bite, Hyla!"
"Dodge!" Milo countered.
Hyla leapt up and made to clamp down... only to miss as Flapple let itself drop a few inches below where Hyla had aimed for its wing. Cassius groaned, realizing he should have clarified. They couldn't afford to be picky and try and aim for a critical or a flinch on an assumed weak spot on Flapple. They just had to hope they could land any attack to begin with.
"Bite again!" He commanded. "Don't try to aim somewhere specific! Just try and get it!" Returning to the ground, Hyla took off again, hopefully having heard him from her spot on the opposite side of the pitch.
Of course, Milo wasn't going to make it easy. "Acid Spray!"
"Dodge!" Cassius ordered automatically. Hyla looked to have some trouble rolling away from the shot, her fatigue evident and increasing as the vines around her glowed once more. Though she still managed to avoid it, she clearly didn't have many more left in her.
In times like these, it fell on the trainer to make something happen. He needed to get creative, he remembered Hop telling him those many weeks ago—or, the exact wording had been "stupid". Something his opponents wouldn't expect.
But what tricks did he even have left to play? Tackle or Roar wouldn't do anything for him at this point, and he was almost certain that Milo had snuffed out that he had no ranged attacks to use. And even then, Milo would have had no incentive to bite on any schemes of his. He could have just as easily waited him out with Leech Seed, or sent another Twister at him.
He'd battled himself into a corner, he realized. His plan hadn't worked. But for as embarrassing and humiliating as it was to admit, Hyla still had a fighting chance, however slim. He owed it to her to at least let her make use of that chance. And if an all-out physical brawl was all they could manage, then he'd figure out a way to make it work.
"We've got this! Go for a Bite!" He called out as confidently as he could. At the very least, at this close of a distance, Flapple wouldn't have time to summon another Twister. It would have been nice if Milo decided to try it anyway and give them a free shot, but he seemed far too experienced for that.
To that point, Milo instead did the smart, predictable thing. "Acid Spray!"
No dodging this one. They'd have to settle for a trade. One that they likely wouldn't win. "Tank it, and Bite!" Even after he'd commanded her, watching her get hit with the painful attack prompted waves of guilt through him. He'd made peace with the fact that Hyla would get hurt, yes, but for it to happen because of his incompetence made it feel like more than simple injury.
Cassius cleared his head as best he could. He had to focus. Hyla had managed to burst through the attack still conscious, landing a bite on Flapple's main body. More encouragingly, she'd dragged it down with her, managing to spike its smaller body against the dirt. Cassius felt a glimmer of hope—that had been a strong attack.
Milo seemed to think so too. "Make some distance!" Flapple, though damaged, was still very much active, flapping away from the ground to return to the air—or at least, it tried. The bottom part of its.. tail? Legs? Lower apple slice? Whatever it was clipped against a particularly large piece of debris that had been ripped up by a Twister as Flapple attempted to back up in the air. The rock startled the Pokémon, and the sudden loss of balance sent it tumbling to the ground again. The height it fell from wouldn't have been enough to hurt it, but that wasn't the point. Hyla had been gifted another chance to attack.
"Bite again!" Leaping over the rock, Hyla's teeth clamped onto Flapple once more, and for added effect, shook it around like a ragdoll, emulating Gloria's Yamper's strategy. Cassius heard a squeak of pain from Flapple, and for a moment, dared to believe. A critical or a flinch, and they would have been right back in this—
Leech Seed activated, and that was enough to break Hyla's concentration, his partner hissing in pain as she dropped Flapple. Free to move again and freshly rejuvenated, Milo immediately had it retaliate. "Wing Attack!"
Hyla, compromised and on her last legs, had little choice but to take the full force of the attack head-on. Flapple angled for a chop atop Hyla's head, its wing glowing slightly with a heightened power. The move landed, sending Hyla sprawling to the ground with a cry.
The guilt in Cassius' stomach morphed into shame. As if to taunt him further, the referee made it official. "Deino is unable to continue! Challenger Cassius, please prepare your next Pokémon!"
Would you believe me if I said my original plan was to have the entire battle happen in one chapter? Well, after just about 7.5k words and a three week wait, I figured it'd be better to make it a two-parter to get it out faster. I would anticipate the second part of Cassius' fight being similar in length, if a bit shorter.
Next update should be out sooner. Thank you for your patience, and I'll see you for the conclusion of Cassius' first gym fight!