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"Flamethrower!"
"Dodge it!"
Surskit flew across the battlefield, zipping in and out of Fennekin's reach, dodging her flames whilst practically running circles around her. All the while, their trainers watched, Viola's confidence standing in stark contrast to Serena's obvious trepidation.
The young trainer's heart was racing so fast, she could hear the blood rushing past her ears.
"I've got to say, what an impressive first impression!" Viola called out to Serena, pulling at her attention with the shout. "Your Fennekin's Flamethrower was incredible! I was wrong to underestimate you!"
Serena wasn't sure if she was supposed to appreciate the praise— Or fear what would come when Viola stopped 'underestimating' her. Guess she was about to find out.
"Use Flamethrower, Fennekin!"
"Jump over it, Surskit! And Signal Beam!" Right on Viola's cue, Surskit leapt into the air, easily dodging the pillar of fire Fennekin sent its way. With one move it avoided her attack, and in the next, it struck back.
"Fenn!" The beam of energy crashed down hard on Fennekin, forcing her back as Surskit flew across her field of view.
"Even if Fennekin resists Bug-Type moves, she can't take this forever," Serena muttered, seeing the damage her poor partner was receiving. She had to do something, fast! "Flamethrower all around you, Fennekin! We've got to hit them eventually!"
"You sure about that, Serena?" Grinning, Viola turned and threw her arm back. "Surskit, dive away and use Ice Beam, on the field!"
"Oh no!" Serena knew this trick. Viola had used it against Ash!
Fennekin's flames flew across the battlefield in wide arcs, narrowly missing Surskit as it ducked and dived. All the while, a plume of crackling blue energy charged at its antenna. With a fierce cry, it fired!
"Aaaaaa!" In an instant, the battlefield became coated in a layer of slick ice, skyrocketing Surskit's speed and sending Fennekin sliding to a wall.
"Come on, get up Fennekin!" Serena hopped up and down, her hands jittering with her nerves. She was trying to think of a strategy, but all her mind could produce was the most basic commands possible. How did Ash do all of this on the fly?! "Stand up and use Flamethrower!"
"Fen— ne— kinn!" Shaking her head clear, Fennekin rose once more, flaring cinders at her maw as she wrenched back. She quickly locked onto the dancing Surskit— "Fenn!"
—and fired! Her flames rocketed across the battlefield, narrowly missing its mark and crashing into the wall behind Viola. The near hit was almost a cause to celebrate, if it weren't for what happened next.
"Fennekin!" With the power of her Flamethrower and the slick, icy floor at her feet, Fennekin was launched back. Her own attack sent her spinning towards Serena!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Serena could barely react before Fennekin crashed into her side, dazed and confused after her high-speed spin cycle. Quickly dropping to her knees, Serena consoled her partner. "It's okay— I've gotcha— We're okay!"
"Fenn! Nekin!" Fennekin shook her head before standing back up, albeit nearly slipping along the way. Her brow furrowed at the sight of Viola and her never-pausing Surskit.
"Sorry Serena, but firing Flamethrowers willy-nilly won't do you any good. You and Fennekin are going to need to play smarter than that if you want to win this!" Viola's voice was growing haughty and proud, a fact that did Serena no favors as she tried to think.
Surskit was faster, stronger, and more agile than Fennekin was. To top it all off, now they couldn't use their best move!? Every opportunity of attack was being closed off to Serena, and she could barely think of what to do next.
Her racing heart was becoming a detriment. Where in the past it helped focus her attention, now it did the opposite. She was tailspinning towards what was surely going to be a defeat—
"Serena."
It was Viola again, now less haughty, less overwhelming. Her voice was a stark contrast to the sounds of the battlefield, and to it, Serena's attention was pulled.
She looked up from the field and faced the Gym Leader head-on.
"Take a deep breath. It's okay," she said, the intensity gone from her expression as well. It was kinder now, no longer domineering. "Take a deep breath, and look at the bigger picture."
"Bigger… picture?" Serena looked back to the battlefield, to the whole battlefield. No longer did she focus on Surskit racing back and forth, barely trackable by her own eye. No longer did she focus on her partner's labored pants, as she waited on her to make the next move. Instead, she paused and saw it all, the spaces in between.
The air was hot and humid— The orange hair on Fennekin's head was glowing red— And the ice at their feet had melted.
"Wait, are we—?"
Viola chuckled.
"I think we've lined up this shot long enough. Surskit, go in with Signal Beam!" Cutting through Serena's train of thought, Viola leapt back into action, sending her Surskit racing towards Fennekin.
"F-Flamethrower, Fennekin! Now!" It was a desperate plea for a desperate move, but Fennekin delivered regardless. With a sharp inhale, she blasted a plume of flames across the field, narrowly missing the lightning-fast Surskit as it circled in.
Leaping into the air, it took aim and fired.
"Aaaaaa!" With one final bolt of energy, Surskit launched Fennekin back into Serena, sending the both of them tumbling back onto the floor.
After rolling to a stop, Serena found her partner thoroughly knocked out, dazed in her arms. Just like that, her first battle was done.
"Fennekin is unable to battle, Surskit wins! The winner of the battle is, Viola!"
Notes for Pokémon Battling #1: A Pokémon's type is one of its strongest assets. You should always try to be in a position where your Pokémon's type beats your opponent's.
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"After that, she swiftly kicked our butts." Serena finished her explanation with a sigh and a huff, her gaze falling from the video screen to the Pokémon on her lap. Fennekin was dozing off, enjoying the feeling of Serena's brush moving through her fur for what must've been over an hour now. How many strokes was that? Serena had lost track after the five-hundredth.
"It's unfortunate, but I can't say I'm surprised." Clemont's voice rang out at Serena, pulling her attention back again.
It'd been quite a few hours since Serena's disastrous first attempt at the Santalune City Gym, where she and Fennekin had gotten thoroughly whomped by Viola's lone Surskit. Intent on licking their wounds, the two of them had stowed away in the Pokémon Center, recovering and mulling over what happened until just now.
Now she was on a call with Clemont, just Clemont. It was too late for Bonnie to be up, and in Ash's time zone there was no shot at catching him awake. So it was just the two of them. Serena almost preferred it that way.
"Why do you say that?" she asked, Clemont's comment surprising her. He seemed to think over his words for a moment, whilst cleaning his glasses.
"Well, by asking Viola to use the same team she used against Ash, you've given up your one advantage— type," he clarified, trying his best to be kind whilst still being helpful. "Now she has the experience and Pokémon of a higher level, compared to you."
Serena's frown and frustrated expression made it clear just how successful Clemont was at being kind. After a moment, he spoke up again.
"You could always ask to face a less challenging team. There's a pretty wide breadth of power and skill between the two sets of Pokémon you faced." This suggestion was more agreeable.
As Serena thought it over, it almost felt like a good compromise. It'd give her a chance to prove herself, to battle against Pokémon a lot stronger than a lone Spewpa. She could feel like she actually earned the badge. Yet, after a moment, she shook her head, before looking down at her resting partner.
"If I want to catch up with Ash someday soon, I have to overcome the same challenges he did," she asserted, putting the brush down and scratching behind Fennekin's ear. It was just the spot she knew she liked. "I need to beat Viola, just like Ash did."
"I admire the gusto, Serena, but you should be wary of trying to live up to expectations that high." Clemont's intonation had changed now. Where before there was a hint of apprehension, as he tried to be sensitive around Serena's loss, now he was completely sincere. Every word was fully meant. "You don't have to try to be as good as Ash— At least not yet."
The words made sense to Serena, and struck her silent as she looked down. She realized something then— She was scratching Fennekin behind the ear, just like she had seen Ash do with Pikachu a dozen times by now. Had she been intentionally emulating him that much? She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
"You probably have a lot of things to think about," Clemont said then, pulling at Serena's attention once more. His expression was kinder now. His smile was back. "Before I let you go though, I do have a bit of advice. Try your best to bolster your natural advantages, and eliminate your opponent's. Do that, and victory is sure to come!"
It was overly wordy, and in a few ways, blisteringly obvious. Yep, that was Clemont advice, through and through— Exactly what she needed.
"Thank you so much, Clemont." A smile grew on Serena's face, strong and firm. "I'm going to work hard, and I'm going to make you guys proud."
Clemont nodded.
"I know you will!" With that, the call came to an end.
The booth's screen went blank, as Serena and Fennekin were left alone once again. The black mirror of the monitor held Serena's reflection, and after a few moments, she tore her gaze away from it.
Slumping against her seat, Serena sighed.
"How about you, Fennekin? What do you think we should do?" she asked, running her hands through her partner's fur. Try as she might, Fennekin seemed out of ideas.
"Fenn? Nekin… Nekin, fe?" Serena couldn't help but snort at that.
After dwelling on it for a few minutes more, Serena went digging through her bag, until she found her notebook. With a flick, she turned to the chart on the final page.
"Advantages, advantages, what are our advantages?" Tapping her finger in thought, Serena began interrogating the information the chart was giving her, trying to put together the pieces she already had. "Ice Beam… Signal Beam… Since you're a Fire-Type, Fennekin, we still resist all of her moves— Even if it doesn't feel like it."
At that, Fennekin perked up.
"Nekin, Fenne— Fennekin!"
"Yeah, even if your Flamethrower isn't Super Effective— It's still really strong!" she repeated, jotting that point down on a page. "Even Viola said so!"
"Fenn!" Cocking her head up, Fennekin took on a proud, perhaps almost arrogant smirk. After a moment though, that smirk faded away. "Nekin, Fennekin…"
Serena frowned.
"You're right, it doesn't matter if it's strong, if we can't hit them with it," she confessed, looking back at some of the notes she had written earlier. "That ice field just sends us flying whenever we try making a move, just like it did for Ash and Pikachu."
Biting her thumb in thought, Serena began to really dig in.
"How did those two deal with it?" Her mind went back to weeks ago, to Ash's rematch against Viola. Pikachu struggled because the ice field limited his maneuverability so much— In the end though, Ash solved that problem by hunkering down in place. Serena sighed. "I don't suppose you learned Iron Tail when I wasn't looking, eh, Fennekin?"
"Fenn!?" Fennekin recoiled at the suggestion, grabbing her own tail and holding it against her as she did. That made Serena giggle. Huffing, Fennekin spoke again. "Fenne… Fennekin, kin?"
It was a suggestion.
"Hot air? What hot air?" Suddenly, it snapped back to Serena— The very moment before they lost. The humid atmosphere, the intense heat, the melted field at their feet. It was all so strange, but she didn't have a chance to investigate it at the time. "What was all that about?"
Reaching into her bag, Serena turned to her most reliable resource in times like these— Her Pokédex.
"Fennekin, the fox Pokémon. Fennekin expels hot air that can reach nearly 400 degrees. It likes to snack on twigs."
"That's what the hot air was!" With one answer in hand, Serena then quickly found another. "Of course, because you're a Fire-Type, you can melt that ice under you and get a good foothold!"
"Fennekin! Fenne— Nekin, fe!" Jumping to her feet, Fennekin yipped and cheered, before firing off a few harmless Embers to make a point. She was confident that with that, she'd be able to blast Surskit easily.
Serena giggled at her enthusiasm, before running a hand over her head to calm her down.
"I think you're about right. With a few lucky shots, we might be able to just scrape out a win against Surskit!" Saying that, however, brought Serena some pause. "Against, Surskit."
Slumping in her seat, Serena groaned.
"Right, beating Surskit isn't enough," she realized. "There's still Vivillon, who's even stronger than Surskit."
"Fenn… Fennekin?" Now it was Fennekin who was offering suggestions. "Ne, fenne!"
"That's true. Vivillon is a Bug-Type, so it should be weak to your Flamethrower." Pulling up her chart, Serena double-checked to see if she was missing some type interaction. "But, will that be enough? Her Vivillon is strong. If we can't beat her fast enough, I feel like she's just going to overwhelm us."
"Fenne…" Fennekin's brows furrowed as she went into thought, Serena soon joining her.
"Hmmmm." She drummed her mind for ideas, flicking her Pokédex open and closed as she thought over her options. Did she even have any? Or was her only solution to do as Ash did, to train and grow stronger?
What other options were there?
Her Pokédex flickered on and off in her hand, until eventually it snapped to life.
Alternative Entry. Fennekin, the Fox Pokémon.
Serena perked up at the sound. Alternate entry? What was that about?
Eating just a single twig fills Fennekin with energy, and its roomy ears can give vent to air hotter than 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The words rang through the open air of the Pokémon center, leaving Serena and Fennekin to ponder them in silence. Finally, after a moment, a smile grew on Serena's face.
Notes for Pokémon Battling #2: Pokémon and their moves have types. If you do it right, you can counter an opponent's moves just as easily as their Pokémon.