"Alright, Turtwig, ready to go?" Aphrodite looked down at her partner.
"Twig tur turtwig!" Turtwig planted its feet in the ground, glaring at the Pokémon ahead of it. Growlithe barked its response and returned the glare.
"Each side will use one Pokémon," Athena said from the sidelines. "The battle will be over when either side's Pokémon is unable to continue. And begin!"
"Turtwig, Leafage, go!"
Turtwig began to stir up a small tornado of leaves around itself, which spiraled around it before heading straight for Growlithe.
"Growlithe, use Ember to burn the leaves!"
Sparks flew out of Growlithe's mouth, hitting the leaves and burning a few to ash. However, a few still hit Growlithe, leaving marks on its body.
"Razor Leaf, let's go!"
Turtwig released sharp leaves from its body and sent them flying towards Growlithe.
"Dodge and use Ember again!"
Growlithe jumped around the Razor Leaf and went straight for Turtwig.
"Oh no! Dodge it, Turtwig!"
Turtwig didn't have enough time to dodge before the Ember hit its mark, dealing Turtwig a good amount of damage.
"Use Bite before it can get away!"
Growlithe's jaws clamped tightly around Turtwig's shell.
"Now, finish it up with Ember!"
The sparks from Ember hit, and Turtwig fell to the ground, its eyes replaced with the spirals that signaled its defeat. Aphrodite ran over to her partner, kneeling down to match its height. "You did awesome, Turtwig. It's okay." She looked up at Artemis, "Growlithe's good."
"Growlithe also has a type advantage," Athena reminded them.
Aphrodite nodded and picked up Turtwig, hugging it. "Well, that was fun. What did you think, Turtwig?"
"Twig!" Turtwig nodded.
Artemis ruffled Growlithe's fur before a loud crash sounded from the other side of their small camp. All three girls looked up to see Chili on the ground with some of his cooking equipment, and a girl with white ponytails who looked about his age holding a Houndour.
"I'm so sorry!" The girl went to help Chili up while still trying to keep a hold on Houndour. "Houndour must have smelled the food; it's usually hungry about this time… I am so sorry, I didn't see—"
Chili shook his head. "You're fine, really. It's okay, I didn't get that far into making anything anyw—" His eyes lit up as a mischievous grin appeared on his face. "Hey, what about a cooking contest?"
The girl blinked. "A what? Why?"
"Fun," said Chili with a shrug. "Besides, I'm on my way to one in Jubilife City, and I can use all the practice I can get."
The girl nodded, matching Chili's smile. "Sounds good to me. My name's Anya, by the way."
"Chili. May the best chef win." The two shook hands, and Aphrodite smiled. This would be interesting.
The two competitors set up their equipment, and the contest began.
Chili wasn't sure why he had challenged Anya in the first place. True, he was usually prone to making reckless decisions like that; Cilan or Cress could easily vouch for that. There was just something about Anya that made Chili think this was more than just a challenge for the heck of it.
Anya looked over at him. "Are you stalling or something?"
"Nah." Chili grinned. "Just thinking." He got a berry to the head for that.
They continued for a few more minutes, slicing berries and starting fires. Pansear was by Chili's side, getting ingredients and such for him just like any normal day at the Gym. Anya's Houndour wasn't far from her, either, though it seemed to be trying to eat anything she touched.
"Guess you weren't kidding about Houndour," Chili called from his station with a wicked grin.
Anya looked over. "At least I can cook without help." She grinned back.
"I'll have you know Pansear and I have been cooking together for years."
"Uh-huh."
Chili really wanted to kill this girl. Or kiss her. He couldn't decide.
They kept cooking in silence. Whether it was focus or the tension in the air, Chili didn't know, but soon enough they were both finished. They had both chosen relatively easy foods to make, so it hadn't taken much time, either.
"Hey Cinna!" Chili called. He realized once he didn't hear a response he'd said the wrong thing. Again. "Athena! Aphie, Artemis! You guys hungry?"
Artemis was the first one there, naturally, followed by Athena and avoid bias, Anya and Chili made sure not to tell them who made which food as the three of them ate.
Aphrodite's face scrunched up in displeasure as she ate a mouthful of Anya's rice. "Mm… mmnnnnnn…" She stuck out her tongue.
Athena was staring at the rice, seemingly trying to find a nice way to describe it. Artemis had wolfed down both dishes, but it was clear she didn't like the rice either.
"Guess we have a winner…" Anya smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.
Chili grinned. "I thought you did pretty well, actually."
"Shut up." She smiled.
Artemis made an obnoxious "awww" sound as Anya felt around for Houndour's Poké Ball. "Well, I guess we should be…" She stopped when she saw Houndour and Chili's Pansear playing.
Chili seemed to notice it too, looking back at Anya. "Do you want to stay for lunch?"
"Sure."
As everyone got their food and found a place to eat it, things seemed relatively okay. Aphrodite especially seemed very chatty, while Artemis glared into her food and Athena stared off into the distance.
Things would be interesting with Anya around, that was for sure. Chili just wondered how interesting.
A/N: Wow, this chapter was shorter than I thought it was. (Just for reference, I'm posting old chapters right now; this one was written at least a year ago, if not more.) Anyway, I hope you had fun reading, and I promise the next chapter will be better.
Also, I am so, so sorry about not posting last week! I moved to a new dorm and the Internet was out until yesterday and I can't post from my phone, so I wasn't able to do anything related to this for the last week. I promise things will be more consistent now that I have a stable Internet connection. Thank you for reading!