Chapter 91: Bonding through battle

"Hey Geeta!" Nemona cried as she stretched her arms. She had already tera-fused with her midday form Lycanroc, and was preparing herself for another fight with Geeta, who stood on the opposite end of the arena.

"Yes?" Geeta asked, keeping her hands rested on both of the katanas she wielded. Geeta Rojo's blade had a red bolt course through the hilt for a moment.

"I want you to hold back at first!" Nemona said. "I think that you surpassed me so much that you have to go a little easy on me, okay?"

"What..?" Geeta said. "I thought you wanted a challenge."

"Yeah, I do. But I also don't wanna have the match end in like a second or anything." Nemona said, grinning as she stared at the clawed knuckles her Lycanroc had turned into.

Geeta sighed.

"C'mon, please? Just for fun?" Nemona asked.

"All right," Geeta said. "I'll 'go easy'. But only as much as I possibly can."

"Awesome!" Nemona cried.

Nemona balled both of her hands into fists as she drew in air sharply through her nose. Her eyes opened wide before she crossed her arms, and a white aura radiated around her. The spiritual form of Lycanroc in its day form appeared behind its trainer, and howled, adding a golden-ish ground-type aura around Nemona. The young trainer's hair turned from black to white, and her hair tie broke the moment she uncrossed her arms and yelled at the top of her lungs.

Geeta watched, remaining in her base form as wind blew across her face. The champion pulled out the weapon her Kingambit had become.

"Let's see how far I can push you." Nemona's voice sounded calmer and resolute, so much so that a bead of sweat went down Geeta's cheek.

Nemona leapt fist-first with incredible speed, and Geeta dodged, swinging her entire body as though she dodged a bullet. Soon, Nemona came back like an arrow, flying back toward Geeta's back only for her attack to miss once again after Geeta backflipped. Nemona shot back toward her opponent, and her attack was dodged once again. This repeated for a while- and to an outside viewer, it looked like Geeta was being shot at by invisible people with guns that circled her, and she was dodging all of the bullets one after the other.

Geeta shuffled her body as though she were a kung-fu master, ducking and weaving over her enemy's attacks that were coming from all directions. Geeta dodged another oncoming attack, and her eyes, which had turned from its usual black to blue, darted back and forth as she began following Nemona's movements.

Geeta threw a roundhouse kick at the air, and the moment she did, the sound of a shockwave echoed as Nemona's fist flew right into her leg.

Nemona hung in the air as though her fist were glued onto Geeta's hanging leg. Nemona flashed a grin before opening her fist and grabbing Geeta's leg before using it as a platform to leap higher into the air. As Nemona took off, Geeta's hanging leg swung as though she finished throwing her kick. As Geeta's body spun with the momentum after her leg touched the ground, the champion unsheathed her Kingambit's weapon and looked up Nemona raised her hands above her head.

Nemona's clawed knuckles transformed into scythe before Geeta's eyes. Nemona spun her weapon like it was a propeller and pointed her spinning weapon at her opponent- which kicked up a Sandstorm.

The sandstorm came quickly, crawling its way toward Geeta and swallowing her whole. Geeta shielded her eyes with one arm, and kept her weapon clutched in her other hand.

Nemona threw her scythe, and it cut through the air, flying vertically like a top toward Geeta. The sound that came when Geeta defended against it was like hearing a chainsaw slowly cutting into her blade. Once Geeta deflected the scythe and sent it ffying away, Geeta raised her weapon into the sky.

Kingambit was a Steel type, so she wouldn't be hurt by this sandstorm- but it was still hard to see, so she had to get rid of it.

"Kingambit! Use Sandstorm!" Geeta roared. Geeta's weapon began to shine with a golden light as a tiny tornado of dust erupted around the entire blade. Slowly, the sandstorm around her began being sucked into her weapon like it was water being sucked into a sink faucet. Soon, the entire sandstorm was completely absorbed into her weapon.

Nemona's scythe began spinning like a wheel and circling Geeta, causing her to feel uneasy, even as Nemona herself landed on the ground unarmed in front of the top champion.

"You have no idea how excited I am right now," Nemona said. The fact that the young girl had said that so calmly was frightening to Geeta. The champion could feel her heart pounding in her ears despite the sharp, unrelenting noise of Nemona's weapon slicing the ground around them both.

Geeta could use the sandstorm that Kingambit's weapon was able to absorb, but Nemona assumed the type of Lycanroc, who was a ground type. Geeta slid her hand on her blade to dispel the sandstorm that was raging around her weapon.

Nemona extended her hand out beside her, and her scythe flew into her hand like her palm was a magnet.

Nemona let out a battle cry and sprinted with her weapon raised high. Geeta felt the instinct to dodge- but something stopped her from doing it. Geeta guarded against Nemona's attack, and a loud clang echoed. Geeta was barely able to keep her weapon from flying from her hands. Nemona swung her weapon again, and again, Geeta again had the urge to dodge. She had to, the massive weight of Nemona's weapon would be too much for her katana to block against.

But every time Nemona swung her weapon, Geeta couldn't dodge.

Were Nemona's attacks too fast for her? No- it was more like Geeta's feet refused to move. She kept defending against Nemona's attacks, taking steps back as Nemona pushed on.

Why?

Why couldn't she dodge her attacks? Was this an ability that Nemona's Pokémon had? The only ability that Geeta could think of that could possibly make it so that their opponent can't dodge is-

No Guard.

But- that wasn't possible, Lycanroc's midday form didn't have access to No Guard…

Nemona swung her weapon hard enough to push Geeta back and make her feet skid against the ground. Nemona then entered a stance, holding her scythe with both hands and raising the blade over her shoulders. A red glow began radiating around the girl as her eyes began to shine even more red than before. Then, an aura exploded around her- and for a moment, the spiritual form of Nemona's Pokémon appeared. And it was Lycanroc in its Midnight form, smiling with a wide mischievous smile. Geeta let out a gasp, her feet still refusing to move as as Nemona charged in with a battle cry.

The heavy swing that came from Nemona's scythe made Geeta's weapon fly from her hands. Nemona swung her scythe again to use a Low Sweep attack, knocking Geeta off her feet and onto the ground. Then, Nemona's scythe began to radiate with ground type energy. Geeta looked up, widening her eyes as Nemona prepared to use Bulldoze, A super effective move that couldn't be dodged.

If that attack landed, the battle would be over.

Geeta suddenly began to glare fiercely. Almost immediately, her hair began to change color, from black, to blue, and the bright blue color in her eyes became brighter. Geeta's fallen weapon began to slowly fade away.

Suddenly, three floating katanas appeared around Nemona, and began slashing rapidly. Nemona cried out in pain, her body jerked about as though she were being shocked by electricity. Geeta slowly went onto her feet.

"No guard has a huge weakness." Geeta said as she walked toward Nemona, who was still being cut down. "It ensures that your attacks will land, but it also ensures that your opponent's attacks will land!"

Geeta slammed her foot onto Nemona's foot before catching one of her flying blades and slashing Nemona, causing the young girl to stumble back as the two other blades that swarmed around her flew back to Geeta's back.

"Gch…!" Nemona said, remaining crouched on the ground with hand on her knee."All of those attacks felt like they were super effective…"

"Because they were." Geeta said. "In this form, all of my attacks are super effective."

"That's…incredible." Nemona said. "I can already feel it- even if I tried moving my weapon, you'd hit me before I ever could. Even without No Guard, there's no way I can dodge. It's checkmate." Nemona started to laugh. "I've never fought against someone so powerful in my life, I've never felt so…Alive."

Geeta lowered her guard, and the moment she did, her hair went back to its normal color, and the floating blades around her shattered like glass. The 'glass' the blades became slowly flowed toward Geeta's waist as though a gust of wind carried it. The glass gathered and formed the original katana Kingambit took the form of.

Geeta could feel her heart pounding in her ears, she felt how sweaty her palms were, she felt how quickly her chest was rising and falling. Nemona was a formidable foe. So formidable in fact, that she was forced to use the third level of flow in order to stop her.

She didn't know how to feel about it- even now.

Despite how far Geeta herself had come, Nemona's strength was like a looming shadow, threatening to overtake her at any moment. But even so, right this moment, the battle was over, and Geeta knew it.

"I see that I was able to fight you until you had to use your full strength…" Nemona said. "But I've still got a ways to go."

'I've still got a ways to go', she says. Geeta thought.

"...Nemona, there's something about you I don't understand," Geeta said. "You praise me, you look up to me, but why? You have greater potential than I ever could have. It takes me everything I have for me to stay ahead, let alone, keep up. You say that I'm amazing, that I'm incredible, but even you have to realize that you're so close to surpassing me again…" Geeta frowned. "To be frank, it almost feels insulting."

"...Insulting?" Nemona asked. She tilted her head. "I don't get it."

Of course she didn't understand. Nemona had no idea that she entered a brand-new battlefield: the battlefield of emotion, one filled with bombs and mines, all around. One wrong step and someone could explode. But talking with Nemona in this regard was like talking to someone who walked into said minefield with a blindfold on. It was a stupid thing to do, but Geeta knew Nemona genuinely didn't know any better.

And that only served to make Geeta feel worse.

"How can I put this in a way that you'll understand…" Geeta said, clearing her mind of metaphorical minefields. "Imagine that you meet a trainer that's extremely humble. Too humble. To the point that every time they win, they always chalk it up to luck, never saying that their skill is the reason why they won. They don't say anything more than that, because they're afraid of seeming cocky, but the truth is, they would be avoiding the truth."

"...Avoiding the truth..?"

"You are strong, Nemona." Geeta said. "You have incredible potential. So much so that I, a trainer who ranks above you, has to fight tooth and nail to keep up with you. You forced me to my third form. Someone like me has to treat you like an equal, a worthy opponent. But you see me as someone worth idolizing, as though our strength is miles apart. But in reality, it isn't."

Geeta looked away, feeling her own insecurities rear its ugly head. "Why is it that despite this, you still see me as someone worthy of idolizing?" Geeta asked. "You hold me in such high regard because of my strength, but in reality, you are mere steps away from matching my strength and surpassing it."

"...I just think you're cool." Nemona said.

Geeta raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"That's it. Really- that's it. I just think you're really cool. I think about how cool you are all the time, and how I really want to be as cool as you. That's it." Nemona said.

Geeta's breath shook as she breathed a sigh- she felt immense guilt hanging over her- and she felt as though she should have never brought this up to begin with. Nemona, at the end of the day, was simply a child that looked up to her, an adult.

She felt ashamed. Geeta opened her mouth, preparing to apologize.

"I-..." Nemona spoke, stopping Geeta from saying another word. "I knew you were stronger than me- and I wanted…I wanted to just drown in that feeling. I haven't had a person be stronger than me in so long."

When Geeta looked down to see Nemona's eyes, she saw a deep loneliness in them.

"It's like having an older sibling, someone to look up to and think, 'one day, I'll get as strong as them'." Nemona continued. "And…even before… when…I knew… I was stronger than you…" Nemona wrapped her arms around herself. "I pretended that you were better, because it felt good to think about, that I wasn't as strong as you. I… I didn't realize that it would...hurt your pride."

Geeta lowered her head. She had no idea how to respond.

"But all of those things that I said-" Nemona continued, "when I said you were cool, I genuinely meant it. Really." Nemona said. "But…I'm sorry."

"...I've forgiven you a long time ago, Nemona." Geeta said with a sigh.

"It doesn't sound like it," Nemona said.

Geeta's eyes widened for a moment. She sighed and put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm only human, Nemona," Geeta said. "Forgiveness is a commitment. And commitments…aren't my strong suit."

"Really? I thought you'd be used to them, since you're the chairwoman of the schoolboard."

"Heh. You should see me on a bad day. I'm not as indestructible as you might think. It's why it's hard for me to take your compliments. Because in the end, how you see me isn't how I see myself."

"Who do you see yourself as?"

"...A wounded girl who's afraid of losing everyone around her." Geeta said. "A person who thought she worked out her feelings, but in reality, they keep coming after her."

"...I'm like that, too." Nemona said. "I'm... like a wounded girl who's afraid of losing everyone. It's the reason why I'm afraid of not holding back. It's how I gained this form. I stopped lying to myself, saying that people will leave me if I stopped holding back. So, when I stopped believing in that lie…"

Geeta's eyebrows rose.

"Wait." Geeta said.

"Huh?"

"Say that again- what you said about how you stopped lying to yourself."

"...Uh...I stopped lying to myself, saying that if I stopped holding back, people will leave me-"

"You weren't lying to yourself, Nemona. You stopped suppressing yourself."

"What?"

"Battling is who you are as a person, right?"

"I'd say so, yeah… I devoted…most of my. life to it- if not all of it, honestly."

"So, if you were to say that battling is who you are as a person…then, you holding back would be a form of suppression, because…"

"Wait- are you saying when I hold back, I'm suppressing a part of myself?"

Geeta nodded. "That has to be it."

"Then…if what you're saying is right…then…what's my lie?"

"I can't answer that, Nemona." Geeta said. "I really can't."

Nemona lowered her head, so much so that a shadow covered her eyes. The hands she wrapped around herself fell back to the ground once again.

"But… I can tell you that I'm here for you. Always." Geeta said. "I'm here to help you. I want you to achieve the final form of Flow. No matter what."

"Really..?" Nemona said, looking up. "Even if that means…that…"

"You surpass me again? Yeah. Honestly, the threat of you becoming stronger is what makes me continue to be stronger. I'm happy that you exist, because without you, I wouldn't have attained this level of strength….Wait- am I repeating myself?"

Nemona chuckled. "Yeah, but I don't mind," She said.

Geeta offered a hand to Nemona, and Nemona took it, finally standing to her feet.

"Hey…uh…" Nemona asked, "can I call you…big sis?"

"What?" Geeta said, shaking her head as she began to blush. "No- absolutely not."

Nemona frowned and started to make a puppy-dog face. Geeta's eyes widened as a bead of sweat fell down her cheek.

"N-No." Geeta said. "I'm- I'm not going to-"

Nemona's puppy face became even more convincing. Geeta began to wince.

"I'll only let you say it once," She cried.

"Yaaaaaaaaaay!" Nemona jumped for joy as Geeta sighed. Then, Nemona ran and hugged Geeta.

"I love you, big sis!" Nemona cried, rubbing her cheek against Geeta, who sighed again.

"Goodness.." Geeta groaned.

Nemona pulled away. "Can we keep fighting? Please, please, please, please?"

Geeta sighed, crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "I still have responsibility as the Top Champion of Paldea. There are challengers that I have to fight."

Nemona frowned. "Aww…" She said.

"But, I can make time for you. I promised that I would help you achieve your third form, and that's what I'm going to do. But in return, I want you to do something very important."

"What's that?" Nemona asked.

Geeta opened her eyes.

"After Kai gets every gym badge, he'll come here. Before he challenges The Elite Four, I want you to test him by fighting him with every bit of power you have."

Nemona's eyes widened as she beamed with joy.

Author's note: I hope that you enjoyed that! Next one probably will be late, though. Take care!