Chapter 102: Out of Their Elements

A few days later, our quartet of heroes were heading to the outskirts of Vermillion City. A traveling circus had arrived, and Goh had won a contest to receive backstage passes for all of them. Chloe was the most interested, as the star performers were a pair of Trapeze artists who trained Eevees, and given that they specialized in fire and electric types, she had a feeling her and Eevee would get a chance to meet a Flareon and Jolteon before the day was done.

"Thanks for getting these tickets, Goh! Eevee and I can't wait to meet the stars, right Eevee?"

"Evoi!"

"Of course! When I heard about them, I knew I had to at least try and win."

It wasn't long before they reached the tent, where they found a surprisingly familiar face waiting for them.

"Professor Xannder?"

The ring leader chuckled.

"Ah, I see you're familiar with my cousin! I'm Jackson, the ringmaster of this fair circus. And you must be the winners of the contest!"

"Yep! I'm Goh, and this is Chloe, Lillie, and Ash!"

"Hi there!"

"Nice to meet you!"

"Well then, welcome to my humble circus! I hope you love the show!"

"Excuse me, are Billy and Harmony available? My Eevee and I were hoping to ask them some questions about their Eevees."

Jackson sighed, scratching his head with his cane.

"Well…"

"I cannot believe you!"

"Believe it! Electric types are better, and you know it!"

"I know you're the dumbest person on the planet!"

"Oh, real mature!"

"Like you're one to talk!"

As if one cue, the two stars appeared from the tent, arguing with each other. Jackson sighed, before rapping his cane on the ground, getting their attention.

"Can't you two act like adults for once in your life?"

"Sorry, sir."

"Sorry."

"Now, what is it this time?"

"He said that people find his electric types more interesting than me and my fire types!"

"Well, they do!"

"Why, you little…"

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone jumped at the ringmaster's outburst.

"Every time with you two! He said this, she said that, I'm sick of it! If you can't get along, then find another circus!'

With that, Jackson stormed away, muttering to himself. The two stars fell silent, deciding to just glare at each other instead. After a moment, Chloe found the courage to speak.

"Um, excuse me?"

The two's faces softened, taking their eyes off each other and turning to Chloe.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Harmony, and that idiot is Billy."

"I'm sorry for my colleague's rudeness."

"I read on the poster that your teams include an Eevee, and my Eevee and I were wondering if we could meet them."

Harmony gasped, and picked up Chloe's Eevee, giving her a big hug.

"Aw, aren't you the cutest thing!"

"Eevee!"

"Uh, Harmony?"

"Oh, right, sorry. Bernice!"

"Torill!"

Two adorable little Eevees came running up. One of them, Bernice, had a cute flower sticking out of her fur while the other, Torill, had an adorable tiny blue top hat. Eevee excitedly ran over to them, and the three chased each other around for a minute.

"Aw, so cute!"

"I know, right? I talked to Bernice about it, and we both agreed she's ready to evolve after tonight's show!"

"Yeah, so are we, right Torell!"

"Eevee!"

Harmony scoffed, and took out her Fire Stone.

"Well, maybe it'd be better if she evolved now!"

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe we should do the same!"

"Not if I do it first!"

With that, they each started walking off. But the problem was that they walked in opposite directions, and bumped into each other, knocking their evolution stones out of their hands…

And right onto their rival's Eevee.

"No!"

But it was too late. Once the light faded, Torell was now a Flareon, while Bernice was a Jolteon.

"This is all your fault!"

"My fault? If you had watched where you were going, this wouldn't happen!"

"Well, if you weren't so hotheaded!"

Billy groaned, trying to calm down.

"Look, we can't undo this, and I'm no good at training fire Pokemon, and you're not good at training electric types. So I guess the best course of action would be to trade them."

"Agreed!"

Torell and Bernice gasped. With a sad smile, Harmony and Billy knelt down to them.

"I'm sorry Torell, but I know next to nothing about Fire types. I may not like Harmony, but she knows the most about them out of anybody in the circus. She'll take good care of you, I promise."

"I know it'll be hard, Bernice, but it's for the best. Billy knows more about electric types than anyone! And we'll still see each other every day. It's…for the best."

The two Eeveelutions were sad, but understood. Meanwhile, Ash and his friends watched with concerned faces.

"This won't end well," Ash commented.

"Pika Pika."

"You said it, Pikachu," Lillie added.

After a quick trip to the Pokemon Center to use the trading machine, Billy and Harmony set to work practicing their acts.

"Alright guys, we need to work on Ember for the grand finale!"

Her team consisting of a Litleo, a Darumaka, and a Torchic nodded enthusiastically. Torell was less enthusiastic, but still nodded.

"Alright, see those cans over there? Everyone use Ember to knock them down! Whoever knocks down the most gets a special treat!"

Everyone gave an enthusiastic cheer before launching their attacks, knocking down all of the cans in seconds. In the end, Litleo won, and Harmony tossed her a biscuit.

"Good work, guys!"

But Torell lay down on the grass, sad. Chloe, taking notice of this, walked over and sat down next to him.

"What's wrong, Torell?"

"Flareon."

"Oh, you miss Billy?"

"Eon."

Harmony, having noticed what was going on, walked over to them.

"Hey guys, what's up? If you're going to get caught up to the rest of us, Torell, you're going to have to put in some effort."

"That's the thing, Harmony. I don't think Torell wants to catch up. I think he misses Billy."

"Is that true, Torell?"

Torell nodded sadly. Harmony's face fell as well.

"Honestly, I miss my partner too. No offense Torell, but it's just not the same without Bernice's enthusiasm. And I'm sure he feels the same way. Maybe we made a mistake…"

Torell perked up, making Harmony smile.

"Let's go see if he's willing to trade back, ok?"
"Flareon!"

Meanwhile, Billy was having his own issues. His team of a Shinx, Helioptile, and Elekid were all busy honing their Thunder Shocks, but Bernice wouldn't move. She just sat down on the grass and moped.

"Come on Bernice, can you at least try? I know I'm not Harmony, but…"

But Bernice wasn't listening, she just sat there and whimpered. Billy just sighed.

"Oh, who am I kidding? Without Torell there cheering us on, it just isn't the same."

"Maybe you should see if she'll trade back?" Goh offered.

"After how I treated her? I'd be lucky if she'll even look at me."

"It couldn't hurt," Goh said. "Chloe and I argue all the time, but in the end we always forgive each other."

Billy looked down at Bernice, the Jolteon giving him big pleading eyes.

"Well…I guess if it means getting Torell back, I can grovel if I have to."

"Jolteon Jolt!"

They didn't have to go too far to find Harmony, for her and Torell were running towards them as well.

"Harmony, I'm glad I caught you!"

"Me too! I made a huge mistake trading away Bernice, can you please trade her back? You can have Torell!"

"I feel the exact same way!"

Quickly, they ran back to the Pokemon Center to undo the trade. Once the action was complete, they immediately released their partners and scooped them up into their arms.

"Torell, I'm so sorry! I promise I'll never do that again!"

"Me too, Bernice! Can you ever forgive me?"

Their partners were all too happy to be back where they belong, and gave Billy and Harmony lots of licks on the face, making them laugh.

"I hate to interrupt," Chloe said, "But what're you guys going to do about your performance? The circus is tonight, and you still haven't worked out a way around this."

Billy and Harmony thought for a moment, trying to come up with a solution. At last, Billy spoke up.

"Well…if you're up for it, maybe we could…perform together?"

"Together?"

"I know we don't get along that well, but it's the only thing I can come up with. We don't really have enough time to plan a whole new routine separately, and at least this way Bernice and Torell can practice with other Pokemon of their type while still working with us."

Harmony thought for a minute, before nodding.

"I'll go let Jackson know. I hope this works!"

"Me too."

That night, the audience crowded into the big top tent, watching in awe at the amazing feats the performers put on. At last, it was Billy and Harmony's turn.

"I hope they can pull this off," Ash said. "After all their arguing, I'm surprised one of them even mentioned it."

"With an act like theirs, they need to trust each other," Lillie added, nervously.

"I believe in them!" Chloe said, determinately. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, before two spotlights shone on Billy and Harmony standing on two different podiums.

"And now, the stars of our show! Performing together for the first time, Billy and Harmony!"

The crowd cheered, but that only served to make the two of them even more nervous.

"Are you ready, Harmony?"

"Ready, just don't let go!"

Billy nodded, and climbed onto the Trapeze bar, before falling over until his feet, donned in rubber boots, were gripping it, hanging him upside down as an aide pushed him away from the podium. Harmony took a deep breath as she gripped the bar.

"Here goes nothing."

Taking a running jump, she pushed off from the platform, racing towards Billy as he came her way.

"Alright Harmony, it's now or never!"

"Right! Here I go!"

With one proud cry, Harmony let go of the bar, spinning in the air before Billy grabbed her in his arms, the two swinging backwards as the crowd oohed and ahhed.

"Alright guys, now use Ember!"

"Thunder Shock, everyone!"

At their commands, Harmony's team and Torell launched a series of sparks at the trapeze bar, while Billy's team and Bernice launched a series of sparks. The two attacks lit the bar, lighting it up in a tremendous finale as the crowd cheered.

After the show, Billy and Harmony saw their news friends off before they went back to Cerise Laboratory.

"Thanks for your help, Chloe! If you hadn't stepped in, who knows what kind of disaster would've happened?"

"It's no problem! So, what're you guys going to do now?"

"Well, we've already decided to perform together from now on, but…"
Billy took hold of Harmony's hand as he finished her sentence.

"I guess sparks flew during our performance, and well…"

"He's taking me out for dinner before we leave, and we'll see where it goes from there."

"That's so great! I hope it works out for you."

"Thank you! By the way, we have a gift for you and Eevee."

"A gift? For us?"

The two of them nodded, pulling out a Fire Stone and a Thunder Stone respectively.

"For when she's ready to evolve. If she wants to, that is."

"Wow, thanks guys!"

"Evoi!"

With that, the four heroes waved goodbye as they returned home, ready for whatever adventure the next day would bring.