Glimwood Tangle

Fuse

Thank God for the internet, because without it, I really would be lost.

Looking at my Rotom-phone, specifically the knock-off twitter clone, I can see that Lily's last known location was Ballonea. And she hasn't left the town yet.

It is a bit odd how people are so invested into following their gym challengers. But hey, it's their barbaric culture clashing with the sensibilities of my civilized culture.

Logically, I know that my Pokemon still aren't ready to actually fight Lily yet. And I would like for the reveal of me having more than 6 Pokemon to be somewhat of a surprise. After all, if she doesn't know I have more than 6 Pokemon ready to go, she'll play her fight against me much more differently.

But personally though…

I want to knock out one of her Pokemon, just in retaliation for last time.

I watched Lily's performance against Opal, the gym leader for Ballonea, and she revealed that she has a Shiny Mimikyu. Only God knows where she found that one. So I know of three potential Pokemon that I might have to face off.

Her Corviknight, her Obstagoon, and her Mimikyu.

I think the best Pokemon I could face off against in that set is the Corviknight. I have super effective attacks from Regieleki and Larvesta, though he's still unevolved. And basically everyone else hits it for neutral damage.

While I would love for Hawaii to evolve into a Volcorona, I don't think I'm going to get that so soon. Similarly with Texas into a Salamence.

So, I'm not heading into this with the sole purpose to take out one of her Pokemon and run the hell away.

It's not a very dignified strategy to get stronger. However, George Washington was a much smarter man than I was and he used tactical retreats a lot. So I'm going to just copy what he did.

After all, if George Washington endorses hit and runs, then it's in the American blood to fight your enemies and run away the moment the plan finishes or crumbles.

With that plan finished in my head, I dump my tent into my inventory and call back all of my Pokemon.

Already, they were pretty familiar with Ohio, my Shiinotic. So there's probably not going to be any complications with that.

Now, all that was left was to figure out where Lily was at, hopefully before she gets on her Corviknight and starts flying away.

I decided to rush towards Ballonea, just to ensure that I didn't miss any timing.

Inside Ballonea Gym

Marnie

To be frankly honest with herself, she absolutely did not expect to meet Lily in Ballonea. Lily had already beaten Opal a day earlier, and Marnie hadn't even arrived in Ballonea since then.

In fact, the entire way through, Marnie was behind Lily. Though, to be fair, very few people were actually ahead of the 9 year old child. And the people who were ahead of her were only ahead by a single day.

Graciously taking the tea before her fight, Marnie asked Lily, "So… Uh, why are you still in Ballonea? I know you finished your battle kinda late in the evening, but you could've maybe made it to Hammerlocke already if you went straight ahead."

Putting a finger on her chin, which made her look more ridiculous considering the Corviknight she was sitting on, Lily slowly answered, "Oh, well… I guess I'm waiting for someone."

Waiting for someone?

"Who?" Marnie curiously asked.

Could it be a friend of hers that's still behind her?

Shrugging her shoulders, Lily answered truthfully, "Oh, his name is Fuse. Did you see the videos of him?"

Marnie's expression turned into pure confusion.

Was Lily seriously waiting for the person who flatout told her that he was going to defeat her?

Of which, that same person was a genuine criminal?

Marnie wanted to ask why, but suddenly, she was called up to challenge Opal, robbing her of the opportunity.

Pouting, Marnie told Lily, "Tell me about it when we next meet!"

Giving off an angelic smile, Lily waved her goodbye, "Okay! I will! I think he just made it, too!"

Wait, he's here?

Outside Ballonea

Fuse

Using my butterfly wings to fly, I circled the skies above Ballonea to check for Corviknights, and found none.

So, I deduced that Lily was probably still inside Ballonea.

It only took a whole of 7 seconds to spot her, calmly walking towards the forest on top of her Corviknight.

Quickly diving down, I caused the dust in front of Lily to leap into the air as I stood up from my crouched position.

Lily didn't look stressed at all as she calmly greeted, "Hi, Fuse!"

She probably still didn't see me as a legitimate threat. And to be fair, she was right.

Which is why I simply pointed California's Pokeball at her, "Oy, I need a quick check on the difference in power between the two of us. Care for a quick clash?"

As if she anticipated this, she cleanly pulled out a Pokeball from her waist.

So, it wasn't Corviknight. Shit.

With a swift flick of her wrist, she sent out the Pokemon I would be fighting…

A LUDICOLO?!

I did not expect that one, to be honest. She got my ass.

On a split second decision, I chose to throw California into the battle. There won't be any experience gained for my other Pokemon, but I'm not losing anyone to a god-forsaken Ludicolo.

California hit the ground, happily bouncing at the chance to fight.

Ludicolo was also bouncing around, similarly happy for the chance to fight.

"Ludi! Use hydro- Ah, Bubble!" Lily slightly hesitated before commanding her Ludicolo to use a weaker attack.

My right index finger twitched at the blatant sandbagging going on. The utter disrespect.

But that's fine, I'll just have California finish the job.

"California! Use thunder!" I shouted out, California already dodging the bubbles on his own.

Using his own body to aim the thunder, Ludicolo was hit straight on by the super effective attack.

And then it laughed without a care in the world. Instead, Ludicolo used bubble beam, narrowly missing California, but forcing him back down to the earth below.

Taking advantage of the fall, Lily ordered Ludicolo, "Quick, use body slam!"

Right into the electric Pokemon?

I told California, "Dude, just thunderbolt it!"

As California charged up the attack, Ludicolo jumped into the air and did a somersault, landing a perfect pose to belly flop onto California.

As the electricity hits Ludicolo, he seems to lose his form… For all about 1 second before he gains it back before landing the most devastating belly flop in Ludicolo history.

And so, California faints, having dealt 2 great hits of damage.

Pulling California back to his Pokeball, I asked, "You mind if I send in two at once?"

As the holder of the Domino Fragment of Kindness, Lily mercifully nodded, "Oh, go ahead!"

Alright, my next strategy is to have Florida and Hawaii, my Tinkatink and Larvesta, to die for the sake of New Jersey's Supreme Overlord ability.

I'm not going to tell them that that's their purpose, though. Maybe they'll evolve mid fight or something and clutch out a victory.

Sending out Florida and Hawaii, the two baby Pokemon immediately started to complain in their Pokemon language about the situation they're in.

"Focus!" I shouted, causing them to start being more aware of the comically dangerous Ludicolo.

The Carefree Pokemon laughed as Lily once again told him, "Okay Ludicolo! Use surf!"

Oh, you have to be kidding me.

With a wave of his hands, Ludicolo conjured a wave of water that headed directly towards us.

Well, you know what? If I don't attack Lily's Pokemon, it's still technically a Pokemon battle, right?

With that in mind, I grab both Hawaii and Florida…

And threw them into the air.

I obviously dodged the surf by flying too, because I'm still aquaphobic and I ain't letting that nasty water touch me.

Observing Ludicolo, its level wasn't increased, so I obviously found the loophole in the design of that perk.

Slightly smirking, I shouted into the air, "Florida! Throw Hawaii into Ludicolo! Hawaii use leech life!"

Instead of throwing Hawaii into Ludicolo, Florida instead opted to just hit Hawaii with her tiny hammer straight into Ludicolo.

On the bright side, at least it was faster.

Like an intercontinental ballistic missile, Hawaii was launched directly into the unsuspecting face of Ludicolo. And as instructed, Hawaii began to leech life away from Ludicolo.

"Ludi! Throw him off!" Lily cried out, the Ludicolo immediately doing as instructed.

Hitting Hawaii away, Florida, uninstructed, tries to go for the foot of Ludicolo.

It got one good hit in before it was instinctively punted away.

But I could see that Ludicolo was really feeling those wounds. California obviously did more damage than I thought it did, because I don't think that Hawaii and Florida would make him dizzy with 2 weak hits.

Then, suddenly, Hawaii and Florida began glowing.

"Seriously?" I muttered out, not actually expecting that to happen.

Because Lily had no enemies except me, she began to excitedly clap, "Wow! A mid-battle evolution!"

Ludicolo even seemed happy, living up to the title of carefree.

And in an instant, Hawaii became Volcorona, and Florida became Tinkatuff.

Obviously, one is more powerful than the other, but even so, they looked like they had a plan.

"I'll leave it to you two, then," I said, instinctively knowing that my Pokemon wanted to try something.

Quietly, Lily told Ludicolo, "If they try something exciting, will you do your best to take the hit instead of dodging it for them?"

As Ludicolo happily cheered in affirmation, I was slightly pissed off at the notion that she was throwing the fight just so I could feel better.

Still, I didn't say anything because my Pokemon were about to do something cool.

Florida's hammer started to glow with power as Hawaii started to gather flames into a ball.

Then, Hawaii's fireball combined into Florida's hammer, and I knew where this was going.

This was highly inefficient, but it's also just really fucking cool.

"Give it a cool name!" I shouted out, knowing full well that it couldn't talk.

Florida shouted out something that was probably a slur in whatever language the Pokemon used to talk, throwing her hammer directly at Ludicolo.

And as instructed, it did not dodge, taking the flaming steel hammer straight to the face.

A giant clunk sounded out across the battlefield mixed with the crackles of flames.

Florida's hammer fell to the ground, leaving Ludicolo leaning back due to the impact of the attack.

Lily's Corviknight cooed, worried for its friend. Then Lily patted her head, assuring her that everything was fine.

Florida seemed tired, but it was still walking over to pick up her hammer.

Hawaii just seemed proud that he was no longer a baby.

And I was just looking at Ludicolo, already knowing what happened.

With a loud thump, Ludicolo fell onto his back, fainted.

Sure, Lily may have been intentionally throwing the match to make sure I got this win so I was happy.

And you know what? She was right. I am happy. Perfectly satisfied with this quick battle.

As Florida picked up her hammer, I pulled my two Pokemon back.

"I've seen enough, I'm satisfied," I said, turning around to leave, "Thanks for the quick test. I'll see you in Wyndon, probably."

My ass is not beating her until that point.

Bonus Story (Non-Canon)

3rd Anniversary.

Chilling on Washington, my Braviary, a random letter suddenly appears in my hand. Naturally, it immediately aroused my suspicion, but a quick look at the description shows that it was sent by Skryb.

So, I opened the letter to read the contents.

…Huh, it's apparently Skryb's 3 year anniversary. Though, why is he referring to himself as the Writer of Liberation? Does that guy really write as a hobby? He gives off the vibes of, say, kicking babies.

Apparently, the invitation is… Right now?

Quite literally within an instant, I was no longer on top of Washington and was now inside a nondescript corporate office.

…Wasn't Skryb's whole thing that he couldn't enter my universe and needed my help to break down the great wall of the universe?

Looking around, I immediately spot a bunch of different people conversing with each other.

I have absolutely no clue who these people are.

A familiar voice suddenly shouted straight into my ear, a robotic arm falling on my shoulders, "SAY, SAY, SAY, SAY, SAY! DON'T I KNOW [The Lost Patriot] OVER HERE?!"

Yeah, I know this voice. There was only one fellow patriotic moron who spoke like this.

Turning my head, I saw Cereal, a robot that was dressed in very formal clothing, plus a bowler hat, and Jaeger who literally looked like Eren from Attack on Titan.

"So, I assume you guys know why I'm here?" I asked, getting a nod from both of them.

I was lucky to get Jaeger to explain it, because I don't think I could've beared Cereal trying to explain it.

Jaeger stretched his neck, putting a hand on it as he explained, "Skryb's hit his third anniversary of something we're not sure about, so we're all just here without really knowing why. And the big guy himself is missing because… Well, honestly, he just does that a lot."

Wow, Skryb really does sound like an asshole the more I get to know him.

Rechecking my surroundings, it does look like just a bunch of people socializing, so I guessed, "So, I'm supposed to just hang around here for a while? Talk to some people?"

Cereal affirmatively nodded, once again putting his arm around my back to bring me closer to him, "YEP YEP [Absolutely!]! THAT'S JUST [HOW IT GOES!]"

Well, at least I know that the guys here are friendly. Maybe I can pick up some new skills around here. After all, these guys are apparently the "Gods" of their universe, right?

Apparently, Jaeger read my mind and informed me, "We're all former humans pretending to be something we're not, by the way. Good luck getting a productive conversation from this group."

…Damn.

This place sucks.

AN:

8 hours… for 2k words.

Holy shit, am I burning out?

Was it me writing late at night?

How could I, Skryb, the writer of comically long chapters, fall this low?

Fellas, pray for me.

[Actually it was just discord addiction. I was trying to hit 10k messages so I had to dump 1k messages in a single day. I did it, though.]

[And you saw Cereal and Jaeger a while back, but just since they're back for a cameo, they're from Developer Commentary, an older PvP gamer fic I did.]

[Man, I really want to do another proper PvP gamer fic. Alas, I'm stuck finishing this one out. Why is the Pokemon arc taking so long? It's been like 10 chapters and Fuse still doesn't have all 12 Pokemon. This must be the reason why people say longfic writers have no idea what they're doing.]

[If you would like to complain about my procrastination that led me to having to write 5 chapters in 6 days, thus leaving them all undercooked, feel free to leave a comment about it.]