Chapter 1: Introducing Jason Cross, His Companions, and Their Rivals

Part 3: The Second Rival Battle, Revealed Truths, and Jason Vs Damien Rounds 1 and 2, and Discussions Among Friends

As the four girls released their Pokémon partners, I couldn't help but mutter "Mimikyu, Growlithe, pikachu, and tangrowth, of the four of them two evolve with stones, one evolves after learning a move, meaning we know one move of its move set, and the other two evolve with elemental stones. This is going to be an interesting battle."

Leaf, who'd walked over to me while the other girls had taken the battlefield said "Oh? So, you remembered tangrowth evolves upon learning ancient power? Anything else you remembered that has been floating around in your nogging that can help us deal with the Erika if she battles the two of us?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, tangrowth learns ancient power at a weaker level than in the past. Which means that tangrowth has a rock type attack, meaning it would be highly effective against Pidgeot if Erika were to battle Delia."

Leaf nodded and said, "Anything else going on in that big brain of yours?"

I nodded again and said "Yeah, I'm trying to figure out a plan to deal with Absol's weaknesses depending on what kind of Pokémon Damien got. I'm also going to have to be on the lookout for Britanny when you and I battle her and Damien, because breloom's fighting type is very effective against absol."

She blinked before saying "Shit, that's not good. I forgot your partner was absol, and just because of that Damien is going to pick Britanny to help him out against you and me, because it's basically designed to have an advantage over both of us, even if weepinbell won last time."

I nodded and said "Yeah, you can see why I'm a bit worried about our battle. I mean Blue's partner being one of the Johto starters is probably going to piss Damien off to no end, but that will at least give me a chance to plan around him in our first round. However, in the second he'll be much more wary, and probably try to get my partner out with breloom as fast as possible while trying to deal with weepinbell in whatever nasty way he can. After all, you did turn him down for the school dance last year."

Leaf gagged at the reminder and said "I can't believe he even asked me. I mean he's April's fiancé, yet he treats her like she's his property not his future partner. What the hell is wrong with that douche nozzle?"

I snickered at that and said, "You sure you want to insult an instrument like that by comparing it to Damien of all people?"

She laughed and said "True, that's an insult to all douche nozzles especially with how important a job they do for my gender." I nodded and she said "So let's just stick with the usual nickname of dumbfuck. Not that he'd ever get laid without forcing himself on the girl or paying for it."

I snickered softly and said "God I love when you're feeling sassy Leaf. Anyway, why did he ask you in the first place, he must have given you a reason, right?"

She gagged again this time; I think it was actual gagging not just her faking and said "I can't believe you asked me that. He asked me out because and I quote 'Yellow would love to have her friends as harem sisters, so I figure I'll take you in before Cross gets his stupid hands on you. You should feel honored to go out with the future Champion of Kanto, hell maybe when I dethrone his mother, I'll force her to join me as well. After all she and you both said you won't accept anyone who can't beat you, but I've already defeated you in class before.' I just told him to fuck off and walked away not willing to deal with that kind of misogynistic bullshit."

I stared at her and said, "You can't be serious. Even Damien's not that stupid, right? I mean who literally asks a girl out, mentions they're going to bang her best friend's mother, and acts like he's doing them a favor just because he got lucky one time in a battle when you were sick?"

She grinned and aid "I knew you'd understand. I honestly don't know what the heck Lady Ketchum was thinking by betrothing April to that dick, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with her brother wanting ties to an up-and-coming clan here in pallet. Sadly, they chose the wrong one since Damien and his family are all total garbage, well, all of them except his little sister, poor girl must hate being stuck with such a scummy big brother. I mean, who would want to be family with Damien of all people?"

I snickered and said "Leaf, stop roasting Damien so I can focus on the damn match. I know that the girls are currently just talking, but I'd rather focus on that than how bad a person Damien is, even if I brough tit up first. So, between the four Pokémon on the field, who do you think has the advantage?"

Leaf hummed as I changed the subject and said, "Growlithe has the advantage over Tangela, I'm just hoping Mima can keep that mimikyu from going psychotic and trying to kill April's partner. That poor pikachu looks terrified, I think it had a run in with that one mimikyu that Professor Oak keeps trying to send back to Alola, but they refuse to let the little fucker teleport."

I slowly nodded and said, "Yeah which means that Jen and Hex have the advantage, since Tangrowth might be fully evolved, but it's weak to fire, and if mimikyu is terrifying that poor pikachu, it'll be afraid to get close to it."

She nodded in agreement and said, "How do you think they're going to start things off?"

I was about to reply when Jen suddenly shouted "Growlithe use flame wheel on tangrowth then turn it into a fire fang attack!"

Erika was quick to reply "Tangrowth stop it with ancient power!" I watched as the bundle of tentacles with two larger tentacle arms started shooting stones at the fire puppy who valiantly charged through and slammed into it while surrounded by a wheel of fire, before biting down with flaming jaws.

At the same time Mimikyu was just staring at Pikachu, and I didn't know if it was menacing or just curious, while pikachu was petrified about what to do and April and Mima didn't seem to know what to do. The two just looked at each other curiously, even though normally it'd be Jen who was April's opponent, and Erika who usually had a problem with Mima. I felt like Mima and Jen had traded opponents upon seeing their opponents Pokémon, since Mima was trying to be gentle on poor April's pikachu by just scaring it, rather than hurting it. I knew April probably appreciated it, yet at the same time, it meant poor Jen was stuck battling Erika who was redirecting her usual wrath that was aimed at Mima onto Jen and her poor fire puppy partner.

Suddenly Mima said "Mimikyu can you bonk pikachu with a wood hammer attack?"

April blinked and said, "Pikachu dodge with quick attack!"

This ended up leading the two into an impromptu game of tag while on the other half of the field. Growlithe and tangrowth were tearing into each other mercilessly via the moves fire fang and knockoff which were being used liberally. I couldn't help but mutter "It looks like a cartoon on one side of the battlefield, and on the other it looks like a barroom brawl, or at least what I'd imagine one to be since we can't freaking drink."

Leaf nodded in agreement and muttered "It's like that one torracat and rattata cartoon that they used to play on Saturday mornings when we were kids. Except this time, it's a pikachu and a mimikyu. What the hell is wrong with the world when this shit becomes reality?"

I couldn't help but sigh and ask, "When'd you become so vulgar Leaf, not that I disagree, but still."

She shrugged and said, "I've probably been spending too much time around my grandfather."

I blinked and muttered "Ah, that makes sense," since Leaf's grandfather was a cantankerous old soldier who'd fought in a war he refused to talk about. Of course, while we were talking, I hadn't taken my eyes off the battle which was shaping up to be both weird and very interesting.

Growlithe was tearing into tangrowth, tearing off pieces of plant matter trying to get at the core, while pikachu ran away from mimikyu at increasing speeds, almost as if terrified the little ghost type would steal it's soul upon being touched by its wood hammer attack.

I slowly blinked as I watched Mimikyu and asked "Leaf, I'm just imagining that Mimikyu has a giant mallet, and not it's wooden tail, right?"

She followed my eyes and said "Yes. Not sure why, other than the cartoon references but I think you're hallucinating again. Also, I kind of feel bad for poor tangrowth because the more it uses knockoff the more growlithe's hidden ability increases the damage done to it."

I nodded slowly and said "Right, growlithe has the hidden ability justified. I'm really feeling bad for tangrowth, at least it can grow its tentacles back with a rejuvenation cycle of a healing machine."

Of course, it was as I said that, that growlithe, who was still following Jen's shouted orders to use fire fang on the giant ball of tentacles, which I'm starting to think she has a problem, and if so I want to know whether it was caused by someone introducing her to tentacle porn, while Erika was complaining about how unfair it was to poor Tangrowth to suffer for Jen's repressed fears, which I guess verified my thoughts.

I mentally made note not to let her around any octillery if I caught them, as she finally called growlithe off tangrowth, allowing it some breathing room. Of course, after she did that, she suddenly shouted, "Alright tentacle monster's reprieve is over, growlithe use flame wheel on the mass of living tentacles before it can do something no one except a pervert would want to see!"

Erika stared at her aghast and said "Tangrowth would never do such a thing, especially when it's been trained by the school. Tangrowth use ancient power to weaken the puppy!" Of course, as if there is a god and he was laughing at this ludicrous battle, at that moment pikachu ran past tangrowth, who got hit with wood hammer from mimikyu, surprising it. Meanwhile, pikachu charged into growlithe and hopped onto its back to get away from mimikyu.

I could feel everyone in the class staring at this strange scene along with me, as the wood hammer finally knocked out poor tangrowth, putting it out of its misery. I couldn't help but mentally swear to find whoever introduced Jen to tentacle rape porn and beat the ever-living crap out of them, feeling my dark half agree with me, especially with how manic her eyes were while watching growlithe tear apart poor tangrowth.

April seemed to have had enough of the farce of a battle because she suddenly shouted, "PIKACHU USE ELECTROBALL ON MIMIKYU THEN USE THUNDERSHOCK ON GROWLITHE SINCE IT MUST BE TIRED AFTER ALL THE ATTACKING IT DID TO TANGROWTH!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that and say, "Ah April must be done with everyone's shit if she's finally being aggressive rather than passive."

Leaf nodded and said, "It honestly takes a lot to get Yellow to shout, but she just looks done with this."

I nodded and said, "Sadly it probably won't be enough to steal the win from Jen and Mima, but it'll at least probably knock out growlithe." As if my words were prophecy, growlithe was knocked out by the thunder shock, having already been tired after its fight with tangrowth, and mimikyu somehow batted the electroball back at pikachu with its wooden tail. Sadly, for pikachu that is, it didn't have the lightning rod ability, thus it took the full brunt of its own electro ball, or well as much of the full brunt as an electric type can receive from attacks of their own typing.

Pikachu fell off growlithe's back, allowing Jen to recall him and tell him how good a boy he was, and that she'd be seeing him in the school's kennels for a few days after this, while mimikyu rushed up and started bonking it on the head with its wood hammer.

I could tell the attacks weren't meant to be extremely painful at first; however, as they increased in number they also increased in intensity. Mima suddenly called out "That's enough using wood hammer mimikyu, hit Pikachu with a scratch attack followed by shadow sneak."

Mimikyu scratched Pikachu then vanished into its own shadow before popping out of pikachu's and attacking it with ghost type energy. I winced and said "Damn, poor pikachu, first it gets worn out from being chased by mimikyu, now it gets attacked nonstop all because both their trainers are done playing around."

Leaf nodded and said "Yeah, though the fact on one side of the field we had a bar room brawl using dark and fire type attacks from growlithe and tangrowth, and on the other a cartoon skit involving pikachu and mimikyu was both amusing and terrifying. Also, you're going to talk to Jen about her fear of tentacles, right?"

I nodded and said "Yes, I'm also going to let Dark deal with whoever the fuck introduced her to that genre of porn without telling her it was very rare, and that there were no documented cases of it happening in real life, at least there were none in the last twenty years anyway."

Leaf nodded and said, "Thank you." I nodded at her as Pikachu blasted mimikyu with a thunder shock attack, injuring the ghost who used copycat to blast it with its own thunder shock attack. I winced and said, "Man betting pikachu wishes it had the lightning rod ability right about now."

Leaf nodded and said "Yeah, I'd hate to be blasted by my own move every dang time I used it, especially if I wasn't completely immune to it. Wait, why hasn't mimikyu been paralyzed by pikachu's static ability yet?"

I hummed and said "Because it keeps landing blows with its wooden tail preventing it from being shocked when it hits. The wood is currently enough of an insulator to handle the amount electricity emitted by pikachu on each blow. However, if the voltage gets too high it will be useless and even mimikyu will be shocked to hell."

Leaf nodded slowly and said, "Then what happened with electro ball?"

I stretched and replied, "That was simply good luck on mimikyu's part. It managed to hit the electro ball in such a way that it sent the ball back at pikachu. If its timing had been off by the slightest margin, it would have been shocked to hell. It's one reason I think mimikyu have Giratina's own luck."

Bruce chose this moment to speak up and say, "So, mimikyu and growlithe won because Growlithe literally tore tangrowth apart at Jen's command, and mimikyu got lucky as well as kept using an insulator to hit pikachu."

I nodded and said, "That's basically the gist of it, yes. Jen and Mima have won because of growlithe's ferocity, and the apparent bond it has with Jen, and pure bad luck for pikachu because of mimikyu. I think things would have been different if April had been willing to have pikachu go all out in a blind panic, but she kept it as calm as she could. Honestly, I blame that murderous little bastard we saw in Professor Oak's lab for that poor pikachu's terror. Damn thing seems set to make any pikachu it meets terrified of the species."

Leaf shivered and said "That little monster must be one of Giratina's own demon's on the mortal plane with its hatred of pikachus. It is the only way I can see it being so different from the rest of the species, who seem to just want hugs."

I shrugged at that and said "Well since none of us except Mima are hex maniacs, mediums, or spirit channelers I don't know if you're right Leaf. After all, Mima constantly refuses to talk about what she learns from ghost types citing the fact it's private information or it's information we don't want to know. Which I am tempted to agree with her on that fact due the amount of times I've seen her blush after talking to a ghost type."

Leaf slowly nodded in agreement as we watched the battle end rather predictably with pikachu losing and mimikyu basically doing little skips over to Mima. I sighed and stretched then slowly started to let Dark control while saying "Well looks like it's our turn Blue, and since class is just about over, I'm going back to calling you all by your nicknames cause it's been rather draining calling you by your first names outside of a formal occasion."

Blue laughed and said "Ah, so Red made you call us by our given names since class was going on, I was wondering why you looked like you were mentally correcting yourself every time you talked to one of us, and why you were calling the girls by their first names instead of their nicknames."

I nodded as I felt my personality start to slowly shift while Ace Trainer Cartwright spoke to the four girls who had just battled before saying "Don't be surprised if I try to destroy Damien, I promised Red I'd be letting Dark out to deal with him today."

Green winced and said, "What the hell did he do that earned that much attention from you?"

I smirked as I felt my dark side take over completely and said "He made a bet with Yellow on the line, that Red decided to have me agree to. However, it was the way he worded the bet that made me agree to Red's terms, he treated her and the Pokémon I'll be giving her, win or lose, like they were his property, which pissed me the fuck off if I'm honest."

Red walked up after I said that and said "Well, looks like Dark is out."

I smirked at her and said "Yeah, I'm out. Honestly, it's been a while since I had the chance to play, so thank you for that Delia. That said, don't think we're square for you butting into the stupid bet, even if it was to save your sister. You know how precious any remnants of the old man are to me."

She sighed and said, "I know Dark, it's just, I need someone to get April out of Damien's clutches and you are the only one who can do it."

I hummed and said "Only because you've been forbidden from fighting him yourself, but that's fine. Damien the Dickhead has been pushing my buttons for the last few months anyway, so it'll be good to remind him why you don't poke the lycanroc when it's resting." I turned to face her directly and continued "Don't try to pull shit like you did again without telling me, especially when it's not your own future on the line. It makes me feel like you see yourself as some kind of chess master or something, and we both know that you're not the mastermind type, you're too honest and kind for it."

She nodded and said, "Yeah it felt a bit slimy doing that, even if it was for April's sake. Can you forgive me?"

I snorted and said "Yeah, you're forgiven, now let me go deal with everyone except his lackey's least favorite prick. Come on Blue, it's about time we settle things with Darwin and Damien. After all, they're probably as ready to battle us, as we are them."

Blue grinned and said, "Let's do it."

We walked over to the battle arena just as Damien and Darwin had walked up to it. I cracked my neck as I watched them, and Damien said, "Well looks like you're not the coward I was expecting. Honestly didn't think you'd be willing to walk to your execution like a man with what we both put up for the bet."

I snorted and said "The same could be said about you. You have a history of only being willing to face me fairly when teachers force you to. Otherwise, you'd pull any trick you can because you know I'm the better trainer. Have you finally learned a sense of honor or is it just that you expect your companions to carry you through the battle since you know you're a shitty trainer and any Pokémon you could get would be wasted on you."

He snarled and said "The only waste is the worthless Pokémon I keep being saddled with who end up dragging down my greatness. They're stupid animals who don't know how to follow orders. After all, unlike you I'm a master tactician."

I resisted the urge to laugh at his words and instead simply said "We'll see. Ace Trainer Cartwright, I think we'll be ready to begin as soon as the four of us release our partners."

He nodded and said, "Alright boys, release your Pokémon partners for the day then I'll announce the beginning of the battle, and you can go wild. I mean honestly with the trash talking I feel like I'm watching a battle that takes place out in the wild, rather than in the school yard. I just hope you both know that after this match, the terms of the bet will be completed, no matter which of you wins."

I smirked and said, "You haven't seen or heard anything yet," before releasing absol as Blue let loose quilava. On the opposite side of the field Damien and Darwin released a mightyena and arbok, respectively. I couldn't help but find it fitting that Damien had a dark type known for its aggression, and I had one known for warning others of disasters while Blue had a starter, and that rotten snake Darwin had a poisonous snake as his partner. Unlike the others I'd known Darwin was a snake since we'd first met, just like the fact Damien had a soul that was blacker than mine was also obvious to me.

I couldn't help but find it fitting that a bringer of disaster such as myself was paired with absol, as the fact she could tell others to stay away from me after the misery I brought my mother, father, and younger siblings could be prevented that way. Meanwhile Damien seemed quite happy to have a partner who was a mightyena, since we both knew they were known for their fierce tempers, and their love of pack tactics.

Damien seemed to be of a similar mind, at least about my partner and I as he said "How fitting two bringers of disaster teamed up. I can't wait to crush you and that absol since you're both absolutely worthless for anything but bringing others bad luck!"

I snorted and said, "You know nothing about either of us Damien, the only one we'll be bringing bad luck, or disasters too are you and that slimy snake next to you!"

While Damien and I were having our little back and forth Blue and Darwin were merely glaring at each other with determination in their gaze. Seeing this I turned to Ace Trainer Cartwright and said, "Whenever you're ready sir, let's get this match underway so I can show that bastard Damien who's truly the better trainer!"

Damien snorted and said, "he's right about one thing, one of us will be shown who the better trainer is, but it sure won't be me."

Ace Trainer Cartwright chuckled and said "Alright boys, calm down. I'll begin as soon as you both center yourselves, because with the vitriol you're spewing at each other you're obviously not in the right state to battle."

Damien and I sighed but nodded and slowly calmed down before Ace Trainer Cartwright smirked and said "Good, now that you're ready in both mind and spirit, BEGIN!"

At Ace Trainer Cartwright's shout I yelled out "Absol use night slash on Mightyena, then follow it up with quick attach while charging a second one on your horn!"

Damien quickly tried to counter by saying "Mightyena use howl to intimidate that walking disaster then bite it when it gets close!"

At the same time as Damien and I had our Pokémon attack each other Darwin and Blue began their own little duel. Blue called out "Quilava use flame wheel!"

Meanwhile Darwin shouted "Arbok dodge and use acid on that flaming rodent!"

Quilava started charging at arbock while surrounded by a veil of flame, and arbok started trying to dodge while spitting poisonous acid at quilava, meanwhile absol had sent a trio of night slash attacks as waves of dark type energy at Mightyena, before surrounding herself in the normal type energy of a quick attack while gathering dark type energy on her horn and charging at Mightyena, who was slightly injured by the original night slash attacks.

It snarled and met her charging attack head on, seeming to only become more aggressive after being injured, proving that a wounded animal or Pokémon in this case, is much more likely to attack than run unless it was sure it couldn't win. Absol slashed mightyena across the face with her horn, but in return she received a bite attack on her foreleg that made her flinch slightly.

Damien took advantage of Absol's flinch and shouted "Mightyena use fire fang and burn that fucking walking disaster!" Mightyena followed its trainers command and bit down on absol's foreleg again with a set of flaming fangs.

At the same time as absol and mightyena clashed quilava was hit by the acid, but it powered through and slammed into the arbok with its flame wheel attack sending the poisonous cobra Pokémon flying.

Luckily for absol, quilava's flame wheel attack had sent arbok flying into mightyena allowing her to pull her leg away. She winced as she put weight on it and I called out "Use night slash on both mightyena and arbok while you have the chance girl, then use detect to alert you to their next few moves while you get away!"

She cried out an affirmative as she started slashing her opponents, who were trying to get untangled from each other then suddenly stopped and jumped back as mightyena tried to bite her with ice type energy surrounding its fangs, despite Damien not ordering it to use the move ice fang."

Damien, seeing the same thing I did snarled and yelled out in rage "You stupid hyena I didn't tell you to attack the absol with ice fang, You were supposed to use something like thunder fang to paralyze it so we could crush it without it being able to escape because it was paralyzed!"

I couldn't help but sigh at the fact Damien was showing his nasty side to his partner, then called out to absol "Good job girl, your use of detect was perfectly timed, as were those night slash attacks. If you can keep going, I want you to launch a few attacks at the enemy from a distance while letting quilava get a few hits of their own in."

She nodded and Blue said, "Thanks Dark, Quilava use ember to burn the hyena and the snake before they can untangle then you should charge in with flame wheel when absol finishes using night slash!"

Quilava let out a cry of affirmation before releasing a scattering of small flames at the enemy hitting them from across the field while Absol, who was close enough she could send her night slashes flying, but still dodge if the enemy charged her, blasted mightyena and arbok with blades of dark type energy.

Mightyena seemed to be getting angrier the longer the battle went on, while arbok seemed to be getting more tired the more damage it received, however Damien and Darwin weren't out yet.

Damien glanced at Darwin, and he nodded as if they had some kind of plan then Damien called out "Mightyena, go back after that disastrous cat and aim for its injured foreleg!"

When Damien ordered Mightyena, Darwin called out "Arbok wrap around that stupid quilava then coat its body in acid!"

The two Pokémon quickly complied with their trainers orders, though Mightyena seemed to be only listening to Damien because he was giving it orders that aligned with its own interests in hurting absol for all the abuse she'd laid onto it and arbok.

I quickly called out "Absol use detect when mightyena gets close then counter with night slash!" She gave an affirmative response as the mightyena got closer and I glanced at Blue wondering if he had a counter for Darwin's 'wrap and acid' strategy. I was also curious why Darwin hadn't used poison sting at all, as I knew it was a move ekans learned before evolving into arbok.

The four Pokémon clashed while I was thinking about what the hell Darwin was doing, and I realized Blue's strategy. While I'd had absol use detect then switch it up with night slash, he's just had quilava coat itself in flames with flame wheel, so that as soon as Arbok went for a wrap attack, it was burned instead because of the contact with quilava's flames. I couldn't help but be proud of Blue's quick thinking as I remembered how arrogant he was when we were younger.

Of course, while such thoughts were going through my head Damien suddenly started shouting "Damn it Mightyena how can you be so useless, it's dodging your attacks with an injured leg, while your just sitting there taking a beating from it's stupid horn!"

Mightyena, rather than taking offense to Damien's words seem to find them as a motivational speech as it began trying to bite absol every time she rested between attacks, but her liberal use of detect, while allowing it to recharge between each use by attacking Mightyena, worked in her favor. I smirked slightly, though my smirk fell a little when I realized we wouldn't be able to repeat this strategy in the next two rounds as Mightyena and Damien would wise up to what we were doing, especially if Damien remembered my comment about the move detect earlier on in the battle.

Meanwhile poor arbok was being roasted by Blue and quilava, in the literal sense rather than the metaphorical as every time it tried to wrap around the fiery honey badger it ended up being burned, and Blue would add fuel to the fire by having quilava use ember every time arbok opened its mouth, in order to prevent it from using acid on his partner of the day.

Ironically, their battle looked like a reverse to the one Green and Britanny had earlier, where the Pokémon who'd used wrap had been in control, instead it was now the Pokémon trying to use wrap who was being beaten into submission. Darwin seemed to realize this as he called out, "Arbok pull back and use poison sting on the flaming rodent, it appears that Damien's strategy wasn't well thought out."

Damien turned and glared at Darwin before shouting "IT WAS YOUR PLAN TO HAVE ARBOK WRESTLE WITH THE RODENT DARWIN! DON'T BLAME ME JUST BECAUSE IT FAILED!"

Darwin sighed in a put-upon way and said, "Whatever you say Damien, how about we switch opponents since that absol seems to be giving you trouble?"

Damien smirked and said, "Good idea, Mightyena change targets and bite the badger with crunch attack as what you're doing now is worthless against the stupid absol!"

Mightyena seemed to consider Damien's words against its pride for a few minutes before its pride won out and it started trying to bite and claw absol again, which worked out for it as absol put a little too much weight on her injured foreleg causing her to wince in pain, allowing Mightyena to grab her in a crunch attack and shake her like a rag doll by her scruff.

I glared as Damien said "That's the way to do it Mightyena! Show that overgrown cat or goat or whatever the fuck an absol is that we are the true kings of this battle!"

I snarled and said "Absol, I wouldn't normally say this but with the school's healing machines being able to even revert scars, I need you to angle your horn to poke Mightyena right next to the eye with a night slash attack when it next shakes you before using crunch on its foreleg and getting away!"

I didn't know if absol heard me or not, but my darker impulses were demanding I made mightyena pay for the harm it was doing to my partner and were barely held back. I know what I'd promised Delia, but I honestly couldn't see Damien as worthy of crushing right now because of how pathetic this battle had been on their end when Mightyena didn't take matters into its own hands. I felt more like I was battling a wild Pokémon, than a trainer and Pokémon pair when it came to mightyena."

However, that all changed when Damien gave an order that set my blood to a boil. He called out "Mightyena, before the absol can get away, BREAK HER!"

Mightyena seemed to enjoy hearing those words from its trainer, almost as if a mental limiter had been removed as it started slamming my partner into the ground over and over, while shaking her until it drew blood from her scruff. I snarled and said "ABSOL FORGET JUST SCRATCHING NEAR THE EYE GOUGE ITS FUCKING EYE OUT THEN SLASH IT ALL OVER BEFORE BITING DOWN AND BREAKING IT'S FUCKING FORELEG! THEY WANT TO BREAK YOU; WE'LL SHOW THEM WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GO OVERBOARD AGAINST THOSE WHO CAN FIGHT BACK!"

Absol let out a cry of its name as it stabbed Mightyena in the eye, barely stopping short of its brain if I was judging the size of its horn right as she seemed to feed off my negative emotions, as if I were taking in her pain and giving her my rage in turn. Absol, still seeming to channel my anger at what Damien said was released from mightyena's jaws with a yelp of pain then bit down on the hyena Pokémon's leg breaking it before she literally covered the hyena Pokémon in cuts with night slash. She only stopped when we both watched it pass out from the pain before we turned our anger on arbok who was slithering toward absol with fury in its eyes over its partner's defeat.

I snarled at Darwin "Call back your partner or I won't be held accountable for what your scumbag of a partner ignited in both absol and I. I won't hesitate to have her break your partner with my mind in its current state Darwin, and arbok doesn't deserve that just because you had it change targets from quilava to absol."

Darwin swallowed and returned his partner as Damien returned mightyena and started demanding Ace Trainer Cartwright get onto me for excessive force. I snarled out "Damien shut your fucking mouth, you and Mightyena were trying to break absol, so we retaliated with greater force to make a point! You order one of your Pokémon to break a trainer's Pokémon, you are asking for the same to be done to your Pokémon in turn. Mightyena will be fine after ten minutes in the healing machine and we can fucking continue this stupid bet of yours. It'll also give Absol time to heal, and the two of us a chance to pick our next companions. I was trying to hold back and be a good sport, but obviously I must teach you a cruel lesson about how far a trainer will go when you threaten their fucking partner if they care about them!"

Ace Trainer Cartwright held up a hand to forestall any other complaints from Damien or any more comments from me and said "While I agree that Mister Cross went overboard, your action of ordering Mightyena to BREAK absol started this. The battle is in Mister Cross' favor, on the condition he holds back from nearly crippling any other Pokémon in the next two rounds. That said, as you started this Mister Blake, if you order your Pokémon to BREAK any of the Pokémon in the next two bouts, I will declare you forfeit as well. You will both act like proper trainers and not tell your companions to FUCK TRY AND CRIPPLE YOUR OPPONENTS! IS THAT FUCKING UNDERSTOOD BOYS!?"

I nodded and said "Crystal Clear sir. I let my rage get the better of me toward the end there, but when he ordered mightyena to break absol, I couldn't let her hold back."

Ace Trainer Cartwright said "I understand Jason, but Absol nearly killed Mightyena, especially if she'd misjudged her piercing attack with her horn at any moment. Thankfully, she didn't, or we'd be having a VERY different conversation. Take the next minutes while Absol and Mightyena heal up to go get a drink and calm down. I know you value Pokémon greatly, but you're still heated, and I'm worried you'll assault Mister Blake the moment you leave the academy grounds with your temper running as hot as it is."

I nodded and prepared to walk away as Damien shouted "What the hell! Cross almost killed my Pokémon and you're letting him have the win and just walk away! How the fuck is that fair?!"

Ace Trainer Cartwright turned to Damien and said "That's fair because you encouraged a habit the school has been trying to break that Mightyena of by using the term BREAK against its opponent. Mightyena has associated that word with its opponents being unable to continue, and whoever trained it as a poochyena before giving it to the school taught it that word meant to make sure the opponent stayed down, no matter the cost to the opposing Pokémon's body. If you'd read up on your Pokémon's psych profile on your Pokedex app you'd have seen that notice and kept from using that word. However, if you read the psych profile and use those words anyway, I will be reporting this to Professor Oak and have him put restrictions on your license!"

Ace Trainer Cartwright pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and lit one before sticking the cancer stick in his mouth to calm himself as he continued, "So, which is it did you, or didn't you read Mightyena's psych profile?"

Damien stared at Ace Trainer Cartwright and said "I didn't know that the word Break would have that kind of effect, I thought by telling Mightyena to break absol, it would know to just knock it out before letting it go. That said, how the hell did Cross know about mightyena's psych profile when he didn't' even use his Pokedex app or at least point his phone at it? "

I glared at him and said "Because I was one of the ones trying to break Mightyena of that habit. I only remembered its issues when the battle began, and I THOUGHT anyone who was partnered with it would be forced to read its psych profile because its profile has a RED FLAG about that word. Obviously, I overestimated you though, as usual."

I turned and walked away after handing absol's pokeball to Ace Trainer Cartwright and walked over to the track field next to the battle arena then started jogging to cool my head so I didn't do exactly what Ace Trainer Cartwright said he was afraid I would, and beat the shit out of Damien, consequences be damned.

It took me a full five minutes to cool off out of my allotted ten minutes, so I slowed down to a regular walk and left the track to get a drink from one of the academy's outdoor water fountains. Of course, I was joined by Yellow while I was walking toward the water fountain who had a soft frown on her face. I glanced at her and asked, "What's up April, you aren't beating yourself up over my decisions again, are you?"

Her sad look turned into a pout as she glared at me and said "What do you mean beating myself up over your decisions again? I don't beat myself up over your decisions! I just feel sorry for mightyena and absol after how that battle went. After all, you're not the only one who was helping with Mightyena's rehab, and Absol was acting nothing like the calm battler she normally is. She was acting more like a berserker, or well, more accurately she was acting like you whenever you got into a fight while defending others. The more injuries they have, the more you want to make the person who caused them pay tenfold."

I hummed and said "I noticed that too, and before you ask, I couldn't tell you why she was feeding off my emotions like that, nor why it would send her into a berserker rage. I know I wanted to punish Mightyena, but I was more enraged at Damien for convincing him to try and reject all the work we put into him. I do know that if absol was in her right mind though, she'd have never stabbed him in the eye like that. She doesn't strike me as the type to do something like that, while I admit I wanted to jab a knife into Damien's eyes a few times over the years."

Yellow looked at me carefully and asked "Jason, why do you let your dark emotions build up like this until they consume you when you let them out? You do realize they affect everyone around you, just look at what happened with Absol. This isn't the first time your dark emotions have caused problems in a Pokémon; it's one reason Professor Oak refuses to let you work with the caretakers on your bad days."

I sighed and said "I don't know, I was honestly planning on just curb stomping Damien the old-fashioned way, but when he tried to reinforce Mightyena's conditioning, on my partner even if only for the day, no less, I couldn't help but let my rage consume me. Hell, why don't you tell Shadow all this instead of me? You know I'm in "Dark" mode as Delia calls it right now, right?"

April snorted and said "So? You're both just two halves of a whole, Jason. Dark or Shadow, they're the same person. I know you don't want to see it that way due to your trauma, but it's true. It was the side of Jason who calls himself Shadow that beat the crap out of the boys who used to make fun of me after his dad died, and it's the part of Jason that he calls Dark that comforted me after the fight was over. Yes, your mind is fractured, but I hope that if you beat Damien while we travel together, I can help you finally heal from the scars of your past."

She took a deep breath and continued, "Our friends just accepted this supposed split you created without considering what it was doing to who you really are, but I can't pretend to be oblivious to who you really are. You are Jason Cross, a person who lives in the twilight between light and dark ever since his father died. I personally prefer the name Shadow over Dark, because even the brightest light casts a shadow, but the darkness, it can be all consuming unless someone lets the light in."

I chuckled and pulled off her cowboy hat, letting her ponytail flow down her back and said "You got a point there Yellow. However, I'm not ready to climb out of the darkness just yet. I still have things I need to do with the darkness inside."

She sighed and said softly, "The documents you found in your mom's study pointing at someone sending assassins after you, and leading to your father's death, right?"

I nodded and she said "You're still obsessed over your mom's notes about "Team R has gone too far this time. Aren't you?"

I nodded again and said "Team R, I know it's just an initial, but it must be some terrorist group. I just can't figure out why they would target me before I even got my trainer's license, let alone with whatever Pokémon they used. The memories of that day, and every day for the first two weeks leading up to it, are fuzzy, but I do know that the scars on my body are a result of it."

She nodded with a sigh and said "I'm going to go soothe Damien's ego while you get your drink, I can't cheer for you, but I can wish you luck. Just, try not to let the darkness swallow you before you find your light, all right Jason?"

I chuckled and said, "It's a promise April." She smiled slightly at that and jogged off to talk to Damien as I got my drink. However, as I was bending down, I noticed a figure approaching out of the corner of my eye and raised my head to find myself face to face with Delia. She studied me and said, "Why didn't you tell any of us you were looking for whoever put a hit out on you?"

I shrugged and said "Because none of you except Yellow would have allowed me to go after them on my own. I thought Yellow wouldn't be able to go along with me, so I didn't worry about telling her. However, thanks to someone making dumbass wager her on this fucking three rounds of battle, and me being unwilling to let go of my saving people thing, that's obviously off the table."

Red snorted and said, "You realize I'm not sorry that I got you into this situation, I'm sorry about how I went about it, but I'm not sorry that it's happening when I know you're going to win and save my sister."

I snorted and said, "Wasn't expecting an apology for this mess, Red. I knew the moment Damien fell for your bait hook, line, and sinker that the only way this day could end was with one of us winning. However, I can't allow Yellow to suffer at Damien's hands if I lose, thus I am going to keep doing what I do best and win at least one of the next two rounds. I highly doubt I'll be able to win both of them."

She blinked and said, "Where's your usual confidence that you can win every round of a battle?"

I snorted and said, "One on one I have Damien beat, even with mightyena's mean streak. The problem is that Green and I are going to be facing Britanny and a more determined Damien after his round one loss, and Breloom has a type advantage over absol. That coupled with the fact that Damien won't fall for the detect protocol plan I thought up during the last round, means that I don't have a sure-fire victory during round two. It'll most likely come down to round thing, and since Tangela and mimikyu are pretty much evenly matched, it'll be all about the skill of Erika, Hex, Damien, and I."

She blinked and said "Huh, you were thinking about this while you were on your run, weren't you?" I nodded and she asked, "Then why don't you have Mima and Green switch places?"

I snorted and said, "Because if I denied Britanny a chance to battle against Leaf again, when the two both feel like you were the only one who truly won your last battle, they'll both be pissed at me until after Finals week."

Red hummed and said, "Sounds like something the more emotional Shadow would do, rather than the more cynical Dark, Dark."

I shrugged and said "Maybe your sister's rubbing off on me for the day, or maybe I'm feeling generous since you kind of hogged the spotlight during Green's last match. Who knows. All that matters is that I'm letting Green have a proper battle with Britanny, and unless we get lucky, absol will probably be knocked out, meaning it will come down to Green and weepinbell, which I don't like their chances if I can't at least hurt mightyena enough that it has to hold back."

She hummed and said, "Speaking of mightyena, what's the story behind it?"

I glanced at my watch and started walking back toward the battlefield while saying "I'll tell you after the last round at the café. It's something you'll want to have some kind of drink in hand for, because it's a hell of a story. However, what I can say is that he was trained to be a pit fighter, or at least he acts like one, and the word break is a trigger for him."

She nodded as she walked alongside me and then fell back as I walked up to the edge of the battlefield and retrieved absol's pokeball from Ace Trainer Cartwright. Damien already held onto mightyena's pokeball in his hand, though I could notice his hand was clenching and unclenching around the pokeball like he didn't know if he wanted to smash it, or release mightyena and have them savage me.

Ace Trainer Cartwright looked back and forth between the two of us and said, "Alright boys, who are your next two partners?"

Damien smirked and said, "I choose Britanny Fierce."

I hummed and said, "Then there's only one person I can choose, Leaf Green get over here so we can show these two chumps who they're messing with."

Leaf and Britanny walked over, with Leaf chuckling softly at my imitation of Damien, even if most of the class didn't realize who I was copying. It would have been more obvious if I'd cursed, but I valued Green's friendship too much to insult her that way, even playfully.

Britanny glared at Leaf as the two of them took their places next to us and said, "You're going down this time Leaf. I refuse to let you win against me twice in a row in the same damn day."

Leaf, being who she was and not one to let an opportunity like that pass asked, "So, you wouldn't mind losing to me twice in a row as long as it's not on the same day? Ah that's sweet Brutany, I knew you were all talk when you claimed you'd be the best girl in our class aside from Delia because of her academic ability."

Britanny screamed in rage at Leaf's words and said "No I refuse to lose to you twice in a row, not just on the same day, but I refuse to lose to you twice in a row period! Hell, I refuse to lose to you at all, but even you can get lucky and pull a win out your ass occasionally!"

Green chuckled and said "Alright, you knew what I was about to ask, but damn girl calm down. It's just a friendly battle between classmates today, and it was just a light bit of teasing."

I covered Green's mouth before she could say more and said, "Stop making her angry and digging a hole for yourself Green. I know you enjoy teasing your opponents, but you're taking it too far." She glared and licked my hand, but I just stared at her deadpan and said, "Kinky."

She glared harder and I asked, "If I remove my hand, will you be nice?" She nodded and I removed my hand before wiping it on her shirt.

She pouted and said, "Not cool Dark." I shrugged and Ace Trainer Cartwright coughed to get our attention. Green blinked as she realized we were in the middle of preparing for a battle and said, "Sorry sir, I kind of forgot that we were about to start battling because SOMEONE decided to be a jerk."

I snorted and said, "Don't call yourself a someone Green, own who you are with pride, even if it is by acting like a jerk."

She glared and said, "Quiet you. Sir we're ready to begin as soon as all four of us let our partners out."

Ace Trainer Cartwright nodded, and Leaf and I released Absol and Weepinbell, with Absol's eyes not having the same malice they held when I was angry. Damien and Britanny released mightyena and breloom at the same instant absol and weepinbell appeared on the field.

When all four Pokémon were ready, he said, "Boys, remember my words from your last battle. Either of you starts using excessive force and they forfeit the match. Girls, try to keep your own temper in check. With that out of the way, BEGIN!"

As soon as Ace Trainer Cartwright began the battle Green, and I called out, "Absol/Weepinbell use quick attack/acid on mightyena/breloom!"

In response to our orders Damien called out "Mightyena use crunch when Absol gets close!"

While Britanny called out "Breloom dodge and use Mach punch on weepinbell!"

I surveyed the battlefield as Absol ran and slammed into Mightyena with a quick attack, then dodged it's powerful jaws using slash on him to add injury to the insult of avoiding being bitten, or at least that was probably what mightyena considered the attack.

Meanwhile Breloom dodged around the acid attacks being spat out by weepinbell using the speed of Mach punch and slammed it's tiny fist into the eye of the pitcher plant.

I couldn't help but think "We're ahead by two blows to their one, and thankfully none of our Pokémon have been hit by super effective moves, however by that same token mightyena hasn't been hit by any super effective moves from absol either. Thankfully with Green's provocation, Britanny will probably be focused on knocking weepinbell out, giving me a chance to defeat mightyena and hopefully turn the match into a two on one between weepinbell and absol versus breloom. Sadly, my luck isn't that good, so I'd best work on the assumption that breloom will defeat weepinbell either around the same time absol beats mightyena in the best-case scenario, or before absol defeats mightyena in the worst-case scenario.

Damn it, I was honestly hoping that my words to Delia were just my usual pessimism, and maybe that will be the case, but I can't be sure. All I can be sure of is I need to take down mightyena as quick as possible."

As soon as I finished my thought, I called out to Absol, "Absol, use night slash on mightyena, then get out of there with quick attack." She nodded in response and use night slash, which while not the most effective move to use against mightyena, and boy was I cursing myself for forgetting that in the heat of the moment earlier, she was able to make it weary of her horn allowing her to damage it's chest, without a lot of cutting power, before getting away from it.

I glanced at Green and said, "Remember how Weepinbell has leech life?"

She nodded and said "Yeah, what about it?"

I hummed and said, "Well grass and dark types are both weak to bug type attacks, which means that breloom and mightyena are both going to be easier for you to take down than absol and I. So, we have two options here, the first is you try to beat up breloom with leech life without me distracting it as I focus on mightyena with absol, the second is absol distracts both opponents, and you use leech life on whichever is distracted at every given opportunity."

Green hummed considering which of these were the best option then said, "Screw it, I want to prove to Britanny that I can kick her ass, so I'll take out breloom, you just focus on mightyena until I'm done with it."

I sighed and thought "God damn you and Britanny's pride, Green. Fuck it we ball then!" However, what I said was "Alright, we'll try to deal with mightyena as soon as possible to help you out."

Green grinned and said "Thanks but I don't need it, you and absol do though, because Damien doesn't look like he's being as cocky as usual. Honestly, he looks like he's out for blood."

I nodded and said, "I noticed, he'll probably actually show what kind of trainer he really is now, and mightyena may just listen to him since its strategy of not relying on a trainer didn't work earlier."

While we were talking, absol was blitzing mightyena with quick attacks and weepinbell was having too dodge Mach punches thrown by breloom with ferocity only matched by the glare of his trainer as she watched Green, and mightyena each time it received a hit from absol.

Eventually Damien must have figured out absol's pattern as she attacked mightyena because he called out "Mightyena its coming from your right, when it gets close use tackle to knock it aside then use fire fang on it!"

Mightyena apparently decided to trust Damien, since his words aligned with its own interests, and did as he said, tackling absol after she hit him with quick attack, but before she could escape then bit down on her shoulder sinking burning fangs into her flesh before growling loudly. Absol yowled in pain and tried to get him to let go with a slash attack of her horn.

Damien, upon seeing what absol was doing called out "Mightyena increase the heat of your fangs to prevent her from slashing you then bite down again!"

Mightyena growled an affirmative and used more fire on its fangs, by using another fire fang attack then bit down getting his teeth through absol's natural defense and into the actual meat of her shoulders. She let out a yowl of pain and tried to pull away from him; however, his bit was just too strong to get loose from right away.

At the same time Green had weepinbell attempt to use leech life on breloom without realizing that Britanny had a counter for the move. As weepinbell got closer to breloom, Britanny called out "Breloom, dodge weepinbell's mouth and use Mach punch on its side, then use force palm right afterward. Let's show Green that we're not pushovers who fall for the same stunt twice!"

Breloom let out a cheer of its name as weepinbell got near then dodged its mouth and punched it several times, the first few with Mach punch, the last with force palm, sending weepinbell flying into absol and mightyena. Mightyena, hearing the plant flying toward it and absol dodged it at the last second by releasing absol's shoulder from its jaws and jumping back, causing absol to be hit by the flying pitcher plant and the two to end up falling into a heap on the ground.

Damien, seeing a chance to add extra damage on top of what had already been done to weepinbell shouted "Mightyena use fire fang on the plant before it can untangle itself from absol, but be sure to avoid its mouth so it can't use that pesky leech life attack!" Mightyena howled in response and bit down on weepinbell with flaming fangs courtesy of a fire fang attack and threw weepinbell back toward breloom which was preparing a force palm for its arrival.

Meanwhile Absol was climbing to her feet and charged at mightyena with a slash attack at the ready, deciding that if they wanted to fight, we'd give them one, win or lose. I couldn't help but be proud of her, while Green called out to weepinbell telling it to try and change the angle of its flight or even stop it with a vine whip attack.

Sadly, upon seeing weepinbell slow its flight Britanny called out "Breloom use Mach punch to get close to weepinbell and pound it into the ground with your fist!" Breloom let out a cray in response and charged at5 weepinbell who was so focused on slowing its flight it didn't notice the approaching mushroom cap wearing fighter, making it perfect prey for Breloom's assault.

At the same time mightyena and absol were trading blows back and forth, the former biting my partner every chance he got, the latter slashing mightyena with her scythe like horn every time she saw an opening. I had a feeling these two had become enemies between this round and the last, and they were trying to think of a way to gain the advantage, while Damien and I were doing the same.

I realized that there weren't many ways that absol and I could come out on top during this round, because most of her attacks weren't that effective against mightyena, meanwhile poor weepinbell was obviously on its metaphorical last legs because it had taken a rather large beating. I sighed as I realized there was no way we could win this round, and I started to think of how to use mimikyu's abilities to the best effect next turn, while allowing absol to get her revenge since mightyena was most likely going to knock her out.

It was while such thoughts were rolling around in my mind that Damien and Britanny called out for their partners to attack absol and weepinbell. Breloom knocked out Green's partner weepinbell with one last Mach punch, and mightyena used tackle followed by ice fang before I could tell Absol to use detect, to knock out absol.

Ace Trainer Cartwright watched the field, making sure both our Pokémon were out cold, and that Britanny and Damien weren't commanding their Pokémon to attack before saying "Winner of this round, Damien Blake and Britanny Fierce. Return your Pokémon and I'll heal them up for the next round. We'll also take a five-minute break to allow Mr. Blaze and Mr. Cross to talk to their partners and figure out what they want to do going forward. However, before that, I must ask, who is your last partner for this double battle bet of yours, boys? As you remember neither of you can ask the Ketchum sisters, and since you already had two of your companions battle, that leaves only the other two. For you Mister Cross that means Miss Hex, or Miss Lucas, and for you Mister Blaze that means Miss Drakanna, or Miss Fujin."

I glanced at Hex and asked, "You mind pairing up with me Hex?" She nodded with a smile, and I turned to Ace Trainer Cartwright saying, "There's your answer of my partner sir, but to put it into words I'll be pairing up with Mima Hex."

Damien snorted and said, "Then I'll be pairing up with Erika Fujin, as she has a score to settle with the hex maniac." Erika nodded to show she agreed, then she and Damien walked off to plan, while I did the same with Hex, leaving Ace Trainer Cartwright and the rest of the class waited for our five-minute time limit to pass before calling us back to battle.

As soon as we were out of Ace Trainer Cartwright's sight I turned to Hex and said, "I know Mimikyu knows copycat and shadow sneak, does it know any other moves?"

Hex nodded and said, "She knows every move a mimikyu can learn before level thirty including mimic, which I'm going to guess you want her to spam whatever move she mimics and copycat to give us the advantage?" I nodded and said "Try to have her mimic the move fire fang after mightyena uses it, it or ice fang, it'll give you the most advantage over tangrowth. As for using copycat, try to copy ancient power or any other move tangrowth uses that can be used against mightyena. I'll let you know when to use copycat, unless you see an opportunity you don't want to miss, in which case take it. In the meantime, I'll have absol enflame her rivalry with mightyena further by taunting him and enraging him to the point that he won't be able to cous on anything but her."

Hex nodded and said "Alright. However, before we go back and talk to Mr. Cartwright and start the battle, can you tell me why Erika has such a problem with me? I don't remember doing anything to make her angry with me, and yet it feels like she has a habit of targeting me every time we have the chance to battle in classes."

I hummed and said, "I think she's jealous of your early development." Hex cocked her head to the side confused and I explained "I'm talking about your chest, Hex. I think Erika is jealous your more well-endowed than her, because 1. You started developing earlier than any other girl in our class, and 2. Your chest and body haven't stopped developing since they started, meaning you'll easily surpass her unless she has a major growth spurt in that area. Hell, I think she's also angry that her ex-boyfriend compared the two of you when he broke up with her, despite the fact you never said two words to the asshole. That or she just has a major crush on you and is going about getting your attention the wrong way because she's being a lot more tsun than dere as a tsundere."

She sighed and said "I'm not going to believe it's as banal a reason as that, but thank you for the compliment, I guess? I guess I'll just have to ask her what her issues with me are after class, though she'll probably run when I try to ask again. I don't know why, but every time I've approached her to settle whatever our differences are, she runs away while muttering some incomprehensible words under her breath."

I shrugged and said, "You do what you feel you need to Hex, I've never been the type to tell my friends how to live their lives or what actions to take unless asked. If you feel you need to talk to Erika to find out what's going on between you two, don't let me stop you."

She smiled and said "Thanks Jason, I'm glad at least one of my friends supports me to make my own decisions. Let's head back to the battlefield and kick Damien and Erika's butts, shall we?"

I grinned and said "Definitely! We'll kick Damien the Dickhead and Flowers' butts and go to the café afterwards to celebrate Yellow's freedom from the dickhead."

She smiled slightly and said "You know, I'm not sure why you made this bet, but I am glad that you are trying to free Yellow from Damien's clutches. He's such an annoying braggart and a jerk that I don't think she'd be happy with him. I would normally frown upon such bets, but as Yellow herself agreed, and you weren't the one to instigate it, nor were you the one who set the terms, the most I can admonish you for is agreeing in the first place. That said while I'm not proud of you for your decision, I am thankful you're standing up for Yellow. So, I'll definitely help you win this, Jason."

I smiled and said, "Thanks Hex, I didn't really want to make a bet with one of our friends future's on the line, but Damien and Delia basically forced my hand, so I'll be sure to treat April right when it's all said and done."

She smiled and said "Good, that's all anyone can ask. Also, it'll feel good to beat Damien when he kept on flirting with me in front of his fiancé, and propositioned Green every time I turned him down. I think the only girl in our group he didn't flirt with was Delia because he knew he wouldn't be able to convince her to join his 'harem,' which I still can't believe polygamy is legal, but anyone he knew he had no chance with Delia because her heart belongs to someone else, and she heavily frowned upon his being paired with April. Honestly, to this day she keeps quiet about how his father convinced her family to pair April up with the lousy layabout other than to say he can be defeated by anyone for her hand as is stipulated in the marriage contract.

Honestly, the fact that you're taking advantage of that clause, even if by Delia's doing, is a weight off my mind, since any asshole could have challenged Damien for her hand if they knew of the stipulation and had a suitable wager in Damien's mind."

I nodded and said "Yeah, that was always a worrying part of that contract in my mind, though the clause is removed as soon as Yellow marries someone, or turns eighteen, whichever happens first. I know it was partly for Yellow to pick a champion, but it also states in the contract that after she's been 'won' she can be married at any time by whoever holds her contract unless there is an agreement between her, the winner, and the loser for successive challenges. Though there are only a maximum of three challenges available to anyone who wishes to win her hand. Which is kind of disappointing in a way."

Hex nodded and said "That is a sad fact. However, hopefully Yellow and you will be wed before you leave Pallet Town if you win, though I have a feeling Damien will demand the right to challenge you for her hand at least two more times and make the winner of the third challenge the one who is allowed to marry her. Anyway, enough of such talk, we're about to get back to the battlefield and we had best get our heads in the game."

I nodded and said "Right, let's get our head in the game and get this over with so we can all go relax."

She nodded as we finally returned to the battlefield and I retrieved absol's pokeball from one of Trainer Cartwright's aides/ Damien took Mightyena's pokeball at the same time as I took absol's, and knowing the drill by now all four of us released our partners, with mimikyu facing tangrowth, and absol and mightyena staring at each other with an intense rivalry in their eyes.

Ace Trainer Cartwright looked back and forth between the four of us and said "This is the third and final round between Jason Cross and Damien Blake. This round will determine the winner of the wager of one of Sir Alexander Cross' Pokémon's eggs, and the hand of April Ketchum. Win or lose, both boys have said Miss Ketchum will be able to choose the egg she will receive rather than the winner of the battle. Miss Ketchum will also be bound, by her marriage contract, to the winner until they either lose her hand against another opponent, or she marries the one who holds her contract. That said, everyone here is a witness to this fact, and even the future matriarch of the Ketchum clan agreed that her sister's marriage contract was up for grabs in this battle.

So, with that out of the way, are all four battlers ready?" We all nodded in response to his words, and he said "Good, then LET THE FINAL BATTLE FOR APRIL KETCHUM'S HAND BEGIN!"

End of Chapter 1 part 3 *