Charles looked over to the other side of the field where Walter waited, his arms crossed together. The sleeves of Walter's white button-up were rolled up, revealing his hairy logs for arms. Beside him was a strange, silver briefcase, and Charles wondered what Walter had in store for him. They stood inside a large, circular sandpit designed for battles, with an equally sized amphitheater surrounding them. Charles picked out Elliot and Hally in the front row, and he saw the former pop a pill from a small, orange container. Only the cloud-speckled sky was visible to Charles since the sun was hidden behind the dark castle walls that shrouded him in shadows.
"GO CHARLES!" Halley's shrill cheer echoed across the clearing. Elliot gave his brother a silent nod.
"Send out your fighters!" Walter called out.
"Stay here, Espeon," Charles told the lilac feline beside him. He unclipped one of three pokeballs from his side. He was prepared for this.
"I said fighters!" Walter yelled again, this time more irritated. "This will be a triple battle!"
"Three versus three?" Charles stammered. "Couldn't we at least make it a two on-"
"No! You say you're strong? Prove it. Unless you want to be at a disadvantage, you should send out all three!"
Gritting his teeth, Charles unclipped the second pokeball. This was troublesome. Charles excelled at one versus one, but he hardly ever fought in triples. The problem was that he would have thrice as many orders to make in a short window of time, and his focus would be constantly shifted to monitor the battle. Nonetheless, Charles tossed them into the air. The pokeballs exploded with multi-colored light, and sand dispersed beneath his pokemons landings.
One was purple and about the same height as Charles. The red stripes on his arms seemed to swell with his flexing biceps. With a stomp from his powerful right leg, he roared and beat his chest. Beside him, the sand was hastily drudged up as an orange insectoid burrowed herself into the ground.
Machoke, unaware of his fearful partner, turned to Charles and gave him a thumbs up and flashy smile before adjusting the belt tightened around his waist.
"Yes, bravo, Machoke," Charles complimented his pokemon's uproarious entrance, though he was more worried about the pokemon hiding in the ground next to him. Machoke, feeling validated, knelt on one knee and curled a bicep for Espeon this time. She just snorted, not impressed in the slightest.
Machoke cried out a protest, but his trainer's attention was focused elsewhere.
"Don't be scared, Trapinch," Charles called out to the dark hole in the ground. A few seconds later, the Trapinch's large head peeked out of the sand, and her wet, star-shaped eyes gazed sadly at Charles.
"We're all friends here, right? Machoke didn't mean to scare you." Charles stooped down to her level, careful not to make his new pokemon uncomfortable. He shot a desperate look at Espeon and Machoke for their approvals. With weak smiles, they too nodded along with him. She let out a maraca-sounding murmur before unearthing herself, the sand cascading down her shell-like back.
"Espeon, Machoke, and Trapinch, hmm?" Walter scratched his beard as he assessed the three pokemon. From inside his pocket, Walter pulled out two ultraballs and tossed them horizontally. Machoke's vigor dissipated like smoke, and Trapinch froze in fear upon seeing their opponents emerge from the light.
On the other side of the battlefield, a beige-brown, bipedal pokemon bore his massive arms into the sand. Upon pulling them out, he had created two sandstone pillars that he clutched like walking canes. The thick tendons that curled around the Conkeldurr's hunched body made Machoke's muscles look like noodles, and he glared at his purple adversary with dark-ringed eyes.
The other, smaller pokemon wore a cute, black skirt, and she shook the black buns on the side of her head charmingly. The Gothorita turned her attention on Espeon, and she waved happily in her direction. Espeon brought her nose up in contempt. A mortified expression came over Gothorita, and Charles thought he could see tears welling in her eyes. Conkeldurr set one of his pillars down and nuzzled Gothorita's head with one of his oversized fingers. Gothorita giggled before hugging the ogre, and it scared Charles to see her mood swing so easily.
"Where's Bisharp?" as soon as Charles said that, he was quick to curse himself when a shadow flipped over him from behind. Bisharp spread his blades out in a dramatic flair, ending his landing with a kneel. Raising his armored head, he turned his back to Charles and walked to his teammates.
Conkeldurr smirked and said something to Gothorita, probably a mock of Bisharp's grandiose entrance at the tone of his voice. However, the psychic's skirt quivered upon gazing at the dark type, despite them being on the same team.
Bisharp pointed a blade at Conkeldurr, and it uttered a sound like a long sword unsheathing.
"Deehh?" Conkeldurr jeered, and he let go of his pillars while crushing his palms together. He straightened his form, which made him look a lot bigger and scarier than he should have.
"Enough, Conkeldurr!" Walter shouted. The two pokemon stared each other down before Conkeldurr acquiesced to Walter's order. Walter bent down and picked up the mysterious briefcase. Opening it, Charles saw two, long steel boxes resting inside it. Bisharp held out his hands in front of his master, and Walter took the boxes and slipped them through Bisharp's gloves. After he was done, Bisharp's cruel blades were hidden inside the boxes as if his gloves turned into mallets.
Charles felt a little at ease. Not only did it seem Walter's pokemon had trouble getting along, which he might be able to use to his advantage, but Bisharp was fighting with a handicap. Charles beckoned his pokemon with a hand, and all three of them huddled around him.
"Okay, here's the plan," he voiced his thoughts. "They're a trio of Dark, Fighting, and Psychic. They cover for each other's weaknesses, especially since Bisharp is a steel type that can deal with fairy types. He also shouldn't be able to use slashing moves with those restraints on, so this should be manageable for you,"
All of his pokemon nodded in understanding, though Trapinch's legs looked like unstable table legs. This was her third battle, and in all honesty, Charles didn't want her to fight. However, he was going to need her help to win.
"You and you," Charles pointed at Espeon and Machoke, "can deal with Bisharp and Conkeldurr easily. However, Gothorita will be a bit of a problem, since none of you know any dark or ghost-type moves. Well, except for you, Trapinch. Which means I am counting on you," Charles said. Trapinch's zigzagged teeth chattered. Her timidness was going to be a problem.
"So, I think it's safe to say that Bisharp will attack first, with Conkeldurr behind him and Gothorita far at my father's side of the field. Machoke, you will guard Espeon against Bisharp's dark-type attacks. Trapinch, burrow in the ground when Conkeldurr and Bisharp close in. Dig your way behind Gothorita and try to immobilize her in a Sand Tomb. I can't stress how important this battle is for our collective future, so don't hold back. Do you all understand?"
His pokemon looked at one another, and with serious eyes, they barked out their acknowledgments in unison.
"Good. Now let's get them." Charles smiled.
On the other side of the battlefield, Walter raised his arm to get Charles' attention. "Are you ready?!"
Charles raised a thumb in the air.
"This will be a three versus three battle! If you surrender or lose, you will have the opportunity to battle as many times as you'd like until I leave in five days," Walter explained.
I'm only going to need one, Charles smirked.
The stage was set. All of the pokemon took a step forward.
And that was when Walter walked away from the battlefield and toward the stairs leading to the amphitheater.
"F-father! Where are you going?!" Charles asked.
"I will be the referee for this match!"
"But then, who will command your pokemon?"
Bisharp shot his arm to his side as he and his teammates marched forward. Conkeldurr and Gothorita made sure they never crossed in front of Bisharp. Walter wasn't Charles' opponent; Bisharp was.
Charles froze. How was he supposed to counterplay orders when he couldn't speak a shred of pokespeak? A glare from Bisharp told him all he needed to know. This fight wasn't going to be fair. Espeon looked over her shoulder, her eyes full of fear.
His pokemon were counting on him. If he could just take out Bisharp, then...
"Begin!" Walter yelled from the edge.
"Just like we discussed! Espeon, Psybeam!" Charles called out. Espeon instantly shot a beam of multicolored rings from her forehead at Conkeldurr. As expected, Bisharp jumped in front of the beam, and the attack fizzled out. Trapinch dug into the ground just as Conkeldurr began to run forward, his fist tightened and coating themselves in flames.
Bisharp hissed out an order. At once, Conkeldurr came to a screeching halt. He backpedaled next to Gothorita while creating two sandstone pillars in his hands again. Charles' heart skipped. He didn't need to learn pokespeak to understand what Bisharp had instructed: protect Gothorita.
"Trapinch, retreat!" Charles yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping the ant could hear him from under the earth. Fortunately, Trapinch resurfaced next to Machoke. Her face was filled with confusion, not understanding why Charles had told her to retreat until she saw Conkeldurr. He was glaring at Trapinch as if she ruined his playtime.
Gothorita began to chant, her eyes changing from blue to neon purple as she snatched Conkeldurr's pillars in her psychic grip. The pillars were shot one at a time at Trapinch and Machoke.
"Move, Trapinch!" Charles yelled. To his dismay, she was immobilized as the pillar soared towards her at an alarming speed.
Without a second to lose, both of Machoke's fists glowed white, and he punched each pillar as they came, exploding them into multiple shards. He cocked his fists back like a smoking gun, not a scratch on them, and Trapinch stared at the muscular pokemon in awe. He turned to Charles, flashed his teeth, and gave the boy a thumbs up.
Suddenly, Espeon cried out. The sand in Bisharp's wake was tossed behind him as he took off into a full-on sprint, his gloves charging with black energy.
"Machoke, defend her! Trapinch, counter attack!" Charles' mouth turned dry from shouting so much. Trapinch scrambled to dig into the sand, and Machoke planted himself in front of Espeon, his forearms raised to take the blunt Night Slash head-on.
Bisharp sprinted in an arc around Espeon's defender. Machoke made sure to wedge himself between Bisharp and Espeon, but strangely, Bisharp seemed to completely forget about them. The earth erupted behind Bisharp, but he was too fast for Trapinch's surprise attack. Charles had hoped Bisharp would attack Machoke to allow Trapinch to trap him in her jaws, but apparently, the knight had other plans. The darkness around his gloves had faded away, and Bisharp continued sprinting.
Towards Charles.
He froze for a good second upon witnessing Bisharp's impending blitz, and before he could get his bearings, he was already too late. Bisharp thrust the top of his right mallet directly into the boy's stomach, and Charles lurched forward. Water streamed from his eyes, and he coughed out a piece of his breakfast before falling to his knees. He would have been impaled was it not for the gloves. Looking up into Bisharp's condescending eyes, they were void of empathy, and there was no doubt in his mind Bisharp would have gone for the killing blow.
Machoke and Espeon ran to Charles to save him, but Bisharp spun on his heel. Charles could feel the cold steel pressing directly on the nape of his neck, and it sent a shiver down his spine. With a voice like nails on a chalkboard, Bisharp yelled at his righteous opponents.
"Bisharp is asking if you will surrender!" Walter called out from the amphitheater.
"w... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Charles' scream was directed at his father as he clutched his stomach. Espeon cried out hysterically, and Machoke had to put his burly hand on Espeons back to keep her from running to her trainer. Machoke's red pupils were contracted. Even Trapinch was frozen in fear.
"Do. You. Surrender?!" Bisharp nudged Charles' nape again, this time a little harder. If Charles didn't surrender, he had no idea what Bisharp would do, and if his father would stop him from doing it.
In the sand, he thought he could make out the face of a beautiful girl. She stared at him, and she looked sad. Saliva had begun to drip from his mouth, mudding up the dirt. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't.
But what could he do?
"I... surrender," Charles seethed.
As soon as Charles uttered that last word, his world turned black.