Jarque laid out his trusty old map on a tree trunk, then pointed at our current location. We were near the northeastern reaches of Baraja. "I think we're more than prepared by now to challenge a gym again." He gave my head a comforting pat. "And this time we're making sure we're getting a shiny trinket out of it." We still only had one badge, uh. By my count, it must have been around nine months or so since we last tried and failed to earn a badge at the ground gym. Maybe it was about time we gave it another go indeed.

I looked at the map for a brief moment, hoping I was reading it correctly. Briscola, the ground-type gym leader we lost against last time, had her gym in a city at the southwestern corner of the region. We were literally in the opposite corner. "Very long path…" I said as I traced a long diagonal across the map with my paw.

"Oh? No, we're not going back to Baton's Burg, Clover. Not so soon." Jarque tapped his knuckles against the map, around the general area where the walled town stood. "We will have to return to the Burg to challenge its leader at some point, but there's no reason to try for another attempt immediately. Remember that leaders will use different teams depending on our number of badges. Our team has a great advantage over ground-types, our issue was that the leader didn't use any because all of her pokémon were unevolved. So we wait until we earn a few more badges before challenging her again, and then she will be more likely to use actual evolved ground-types. I'm sure you and Diamantina will have no issue dealing with those! So in the meanwhile, we should prioritize other gyms."

Okay, that made perfect sense. Ground was an easy type for our team to deal with, so we could leave that gym for later. So what now? "Which?" I asked, pointing at the map. "Which gym next?"

He had a knowing smile as he placed a finger on the center of the map and let it journey towards our current location. "Already thought of that. Chalice Coastline, at the northeast of the region — that's our next destination. It's a few ways east of Pike Port, where we challenged the first leader." Oh, the imposing dragon guy. Yeah, I still remembered him. But I wondered what type this next gym would be. "Poison," Jarque said, as if reading my mind.

I felt my tail shiver. We grass-types had a nice potpourri of weaknesses, but the poison one was particularly nasty. My Protean ability allowed me to change types to circumvent that, but there always remained an ingrained distaste for those who relied on venom. Why go after the poison gym for our second badge? Not my best matchup. "Why poison next, J-Jar-Jarq — darling?" Ugh, his name was kind of tricky to pronounce.

"For the opposite reason that the ground gym: the poison gym will actually get harder the more we wait." He pressed two fingers against my forehead, his fingers sinking into my fresh verdant fur. "Right now only one of our teammates is weak to poison, but that might change in the future. You three are monotypes right now, but each of you will earn a second typing on your final evolution. Notably, Diamantina will become half-fairy and thus weak to poison. So we could wait until you all evolve and face the poison gym with two pokémon weak to poison… or we could get it out of the way now that we only have one pokémon weak to that type. A pokémon with a neat ability to bypass that weakness at that."

Okay, okay. I could get the logic. It made all the sense in the world, for sure. But just like I appreciated the idea of challenging a ground gym because that would give me a chance to show off, I disliked this idea for the opposite reason. I wouldn't get much of a chance to flaunt my excellent skills against a gym that used the type that I detested the most. And right after I evolved too! I wanted to show Jarque just how strong and fast I had become!

Even worse, Valentine would have an easy time to shine here unlike in the last gym. She wasn't a psychic-type yet, but the Braixen had gotten scarily adept with that Psybeam of hers. And meanwhile, what was I supposed to do? Throw leaves at a pile of toxic waste? At the very least, if I managed to get a miracle knockout I would stand out all the more because of my type weakness. Just imagine how much Jarque would praise me! And if I screwed up, at least I would have the excuse of my typing to justify it. Not that I would ever screw up, mind you, but if I did at least no one would blame me for it, right?

Yeah, fighting that poison gym didn't sound like such a bad deal.

Chalice Coastline.

That was the name, right? We reached it in just a few days, since Jarque had already been traveling towards the place in anticipation for the battle to come. Most of the gyms were located in cities or towns, but a small few of them were found near notable landmarks and tourist spots of the region. This was one such gym. The Chalice Coastline wasn't a city proper, although there were quite a few cities surrounding it, Pike Port paramount among them.

Jarque began to read out of his booklet. "Located near the northern seashore, the Coastline is famed for its coastal fisheries. It is one of Baraja's most lucrative places of interest when it comes to tourism, boasting a wide variety of tourist attractions such as marine reserves filled to the brim with exotic aquatic pokémon, plentiful and clean beaches and seaside resorts to enjoy, plus an official league gym for those of you itching for some adrenaline! With such a wide range of activities and attractions at your disposal, visitors of all walks of life are sure to find — blah blah blah. It's a tourist trap, we get it."

We already knew what came next. We would locate the gym, which was always easy since gym buildings were as flashy as a building could possibly be, and then Jarque would go arrange an appointment with the gym leader while we waited at a local inn. With some luck the leader wouldn't be too busy and we would challenge them tomorrow or the day after. If we were really lucky, maybe even today.

But until Jarque returned, I only had my two teammates to keep me company inside this plain-looking inn room while I waited. I could hear very light rain outside. 'Monsoon season', I think Jarque had called it. That name sounded kind of funny to me! At least Jarque had been prudent enough to leave with a small umbrella, so I wasn't too worried about him. I was more worried of dying of boredom while I waited. Around me, all I could see was a vixen and a sea lion. I wouldn't say I had grown used to their presence, and I certainly liked Jarque better, but I didn't necessarily hate being near them. Not all the time.

"Do you think we will win this time?" Valentine asked, in this antsy tone of hers that the Braixen often used. She was looking down so I had no idea who the question was meant for.

As her question caught me off-guard, a certain water-type responded first. "Of course we will, sweetheart! We are evolved this time, plus Jarque has prepared thoroughly for this battle. Stress will only taint that pretty face, dear. I think you owe yourself a little bit more confidence."

The mature, soothing voice fulfilled its purpose, for the Braixen closed her eyes and started doing breathing exercises in an attempt to calm herself down. That's probably for the best, we wouldn't want her nervousness to cost us the next gym fight. Good job putting her at ease, Diamie! The water-type's voice had grown really sophisticated and reassuring after evolution.

Oh, true. I forgot to mention. She had recently evolved, uh?

I still wasn't entirely used to Diamie's new Brionne form. She had become so pretty and so elegant! Whenever she flashed me one of her graceful smiles I would become stunned for a second. She hadn't developed breasts like Valentine or me — she would have to evolve once more for that — but she still managed to look the most mature out of all of us. It was probably because of her pristine and alluring voice, that forced you to turn to her to stare in awe whenever she spoke. Her species were known for their dance and song, so I shouldn't be surprised that she had developed such a pleasing, nearly sultry voice.

Diamie had evolved around two weeks ago, and Jarque had been specifically waiting for all of us to be evolved before attempting a gym again. He wanted to give her a little extra time to adapt to her new body, but compared to Valentine or me, Diamie barely had any issues getting used to being a Brionne. Unlike us, she didn't see her way of locomotion altered by evolution. The number of legs she used to move around remained the same before and after evolution. That number being, uh, zero. So the only changes were that she got bigger and stronger and more apt at water manipulation. Oh, and also that she had cultivated a very alluring voice. But if anything, we were the ones that had to adapt to that one.

Still. Now that the entire team had evolved once, we were more than ready to deal with a new gym. It had been over a year that we've had only one badge to our name. Time to increase that counter!

"So don't worry about a thing, Valentine, darling." Diamie's voice brought me back to reality. You couldn't just listen to the Brionne's warm voice and ignore her. "We will earn that badge with no issue. Right, chief?"

It took me a second to realize that she was addressing me. The siren's voice really had a dazing effect. I would need to get used to it. "It will go well, for sure." I grabbed the pink flower tucked in my fur near my neck, and I swung it around once like one of those yo-yo toys that humans like. "We've evolved. We're much stronger now than we've ever been." I placed the flower back, taking care to adjust it so that it would look good on me. "And then… oh boy. The after-battle celebration will be something wild! I cannot imagine it will stop at just kissing and petting, now that Jarque and I are mates."

I grinned to myself, poking at my flower. What would my human do to me, if we won the gym battle? Maybe he would kiss me right there at the gym, unable to control himself from the excitement, displaying our love for all to see! Then at night he would take me in front of my teammates, too exultant and aroused to care! It will be a little embarrassing to show them my panting, drooling face since I'm their leader, but if Jarque wants to make it clear to them that I am his female, what am I to do?

"… Are you?" Valentine asked a question in a very low voice. I didn't quite catch it. The last thing I talked about was Jarque and me being mates, but of course Valentine would not be questioning something so obvious. For all her faults, the Braixen was pretty smart.

"What is it?" I asked her. Noticing my gaze, Valentine turned her head aside to dodge my eyes as she whispered a soft 'never mind'. I felt one of my ears twitch. "No, what is it?"

She turned her head to me, but didn't look me in the eye. "Are you and master really mates?"

A chuckle escaped my throat. C'mon, Valentine! You're a future psychic, you're supposed to be smart! I extended my arms, probably looking a little more defying than I meant to. "Did you miss the part where we pork every few days? You can stay and watch next time if you don't believe it." I looked around, to the human-designed room we were in. Jarque refused to get dirty with me while in human settlements, which annoyed me to no end, but that didn't mean he had stopped loving me.

"I-I know you two… um, do things, but is that enough? I can believe that he finds you sexually attractive, but that doesn't necessarily imply…" Her voice quietened down as she spoke, and she didn't finish her sentence.

I shook my head, the corners of my lips twitching. "He makes love to me, so that obviously means that he loves me and thinks of me as a mate."

Diamie covered her face with a flipper as she looked to me. "Do the humans even have a concept of mates, chief?"

I grumbled. "Fine, then in his mind I'm like his girlfriend or whatever. Who cares about the terminology? He has sex with me and clearly enjoys it! That means he likes me!"

"I don't think it works like that, Clover," Valentine said, leaning her head to the side and looking up to the ceiling. "Our trainer is a young teenaged male, so he is inevitably going to feel attracted to any pretty female like you or, say, Sen." She closed her eyes, then began to whisper. "Maybe even me." She opened her eyes again. "Just because Jarque finds a female physically attractive and wants to mate with her doesn't necessarily mean that he has feelings of romantic love towards that person or wants to become mates with her."

A short giggle escaped me, one that sounded nervous for some reason. "What nonsense is that, Val? If you want to screw someone, that means you love that person. For instance, I like mating with Jarque and I love him. See?" I turned to Diamie, turning around so fast I almost tripped. "Tell her, Diamie."

"Well…" The Brionne's gaze shifted between Valentine and me as she spoke. "I think Valentine's got a point, chief. Just because someone turns you on doesn't mean you love them, or the other way around. I guess maybe there are certain psychic or fairy-types that make no distinction between romantic and sexual attraction, like a Gardevoir or something, but I'm pretty sure humans aren't in that category." I stared at her with wide eyes. I had no idea what she was talking about. "Did you really not know this, chief? I could expect this from Valentine or even from myself given what types we evolve into, but doesn't a Floragato eventually grow into a dark-type? Hormones must be making you crazy at your age. I'm sure you get the hots for any handsome male even if you only love Jarque, right?"

I stood in silence as I went over her words in my head, as if trying to find any secret meaning in them. "No? Am I supposed to? What does me evolving into a dark-type have to do with anything?"

"Not much, I suppose." Diamie turned to Valentine with a quizzical gaze, shrugging. "Is this normal, partner? Is a Floragato one of those unusual species that only feels aroused by someone they love?"

Valentine crossed her arms and mirrored the shrug. "The Sprigatito species is rare here in Baraja, so I'm not all that sure. Us starters behave in peculiar ways when human trainers are involved, so it is not all that far-fetched. Clover's species is infamous for being sensitive and prone to jealousy, so maybe that's involved too." Upon noticing what she had just said, Valentine yelped and hurriedly turned towards me. "N-Not to imply you are like that."

No, I kind of am like that. I'm sensitive and quick to fall into jealousy. I had internalized that to the point where it didn't even register as an insult. "So what are you girls telling me here at the end of the day? That Jarque doesn't love me?"

Diamie shook her flippers in an exaggerated way that clashed with her usual elegance. "No, he probably does love you! But not because he wants to shag you — he probably wants to shag a lot of other females — but rather because of the way he treats you and how much he pampers you." She added a short pause. "I think."

Had I assumed too much? In my mind I had never questioned that Jarque and I were an item. Like, we were having sex multiple times a week! We've had each other's genitals in each other's mouths, for crying out loud! And you're telling me that isn't enough guarantee that he loves me back? That he could be doing these things with me not because he loved me, but just because he was a dumb horny teenager and I happened to be an eager sexy female? No, I refused to believe that.

Ugh, this would be so much easier if I could hold a proper conversation with him. But although I had improved a lot in my diction I still stuttered too much and mispronounced too many words for a deep discussion on such a thorny topic. I really envied Valentine, who had by now developed a nearly perfect sense of telepathy that allowed her to hold complex conversations with Jarque. She told me it was exhausting to do, but that she could speak with Jarque in secret at all made me green with envy. On the other hand, Diamie couldn't speak a single human word and had shown no interest to learn their language, even after evolving. Funny, since her species had a much better control over their vocal cords compared to other pokémon, so learning to communicate with humans should be much easier for her. But maybe it was for the better. I didn't enjoy the idea of Diamie speaking directly to Jarque with that lurid voice of hers.

Should I just ask him how he feels? No, too embarrassing. But maybe I could ask him after the battle? Not that there was any need to ask. "He does love me," I insisted. Yeah, why even ask? It would be a waste of time. It's not that I was scared he would say no or anything. "We are mates. We are mating so we are mates."

I looked towards my teammates, not for reassurance or anything silly like that, but just because I was curious what they thought. Diamie offered a nod and an encouraging smile. Yes, I knew it! See? They agree that Jarque loves me! But then I turned to Valentine, and the Braixen was giving me one of those annoying pensive stares of her, rubbing her knuckles against her lips. "I wonder if master even understands the significance of sex, or what it implies for those who participate. There are no adult humans around to tell him what all those strange new feelings arising in him mean, or what engaging in sex with someone else conveys. Could it not be that he does this with you simply because it feels good, with no other motive?"

The Braixen's arms remained still, but it was as if she had grabbed that branch on her tail and swung at me at full force to pierce my heart. I raised my voice more than I meant to. "Jarque isn't dumb! He's bought a lot of books, so he totally has it all figured out by now. Besides, he speaks with Mom using the device for long speaking practically every week. Mom is an adult!"

Valentine hid her arms behind her back, straightening her posture. "Even if master calls Ms. Euchre on the pokégear every now and then, I doubt he would be conversing with his adoptive mother about how often he's getting intimate with his pokémon. Doesn't strike me as the most popular topic to break the ice."

"Jar—" Ouch. Bit my tongue. "Jarque only dances with me when we're out there in the wilderness! The fact that he refuses to do anything dirty with me while in human cities proves that he isn't as naive as you say!"

"Not necessarily, Clover. He knows he is not supposed to kiss you while there are other humans around, so it could be that he considers sex to be a natural extension to that. As in, just another fun activity you do with your pokémon in private. It is not entirely evident to me that master wanting to have sex with you necessitates him holding romantic feelings towards you. Perhaps he just thinks this is something you do with close friends?"

"Why in the world would he think that?" I asked in an inflamed but trembling voice.

Valentine shrunk as she averted her gaze. "J-Just pointing out that it's a possibility. After all, you told us that the night where you first pawed him started out as an ordinary caressing and kissing session that spontaneously grew into something more intimate. If your lovemaking activities are a natural outgrowth from your petting and make-out sessions, would he not assume that sex is just the next logical step in the process?"

"T-That…" I felt my lower lip trembling, so I looked away, crossing my arms as I kept my nose high in the air. "That's stupid. Jarque knows exactly what he's doing with me and that's final." End of the discussion. I didn't want to waste my time with this kind of bullcrap right now, before the battle. Or at any other time. In fact, I refused to even entertain the thought at all, and not because it hurt or anything like that. Jarque did love me. W-What did that stupid fox even know about us, anyway? "Let's just focus on the gym!"

"S-So you really think we're going to win?" Valentine asked, her voice badly, badly trembling. This again? I thought we had already laid that topic to rest. "We will not lose here, right?"

Why was she even this nervous? I was the one with the type disadvantage here, and yet it was her frail legs that threatened to make her fall due to how much they shivered. Diamie, rather predictably, began to nuzzle her and lavish her with comforting flattery, which almost made me wonder if the Braixen was doing this on purpose. She didn't act like this when we faced the ground gym, and she did have a disadvantage back then. Was I missing something here…?

Then again, we had lost twice already, winning only one of the three gym matches we had partaken in. So perhaps her apprehension was understandable — not everybody was as composed and unfazed as me! So I couldn't let her anxiety affect me, and I definitely couldn't let that stupid nonsense she had said about Jarque not loving me affect me. Of course he did. I would prove that to her tonight!

It turns out the Coastline's gym building was only meant for administrative stuff like registering challengers and explaining rules, but fighting wouldn't take place inside. I did notice that, although it looked as garish as any other gym, the building was much smaller than those that hosted the dragon and ground gyms. And its staff was a lot more colorful too! The computer guy who was asking for our information wore a funny rainbow-colored shirt instead of the usual boring black suit. The sound of his fingers rapidly tapping on the machine meshed with the constant tapping of the heavy rain outside.

Each gym beyond the first had an extra special ruling, such as the ground gym forbidding the use of held items. I wondered what stupid gimmick we would have to deal with here just as the man began to explain. "The Coastline's gym is part of our largest beach resort, and we attract tourists and visitors from all around the region. Our goal is to give them the sweetest adrenaline-pumping show possible with our gym fights." Ah, yes. Jarque had eloquently described this as tourist bait. "Challengers spamming the same move over and over again would be boring to watch, so in the name of entertainment we impose the following simple rule: a pokémon may not use the same move twice in a row. Easy enough, right?"

As if I didn't hate the idea of fighting in a poison gym enough already. This ruling immediately conjured memories of being on the receiving end of the move Torment during the last gym battle. It would be as if I were under the effects of Torment through the entirety of the encounter! Not looking forward to it! Although the leader's pokémon would be fighting in the same condition, so maybe it would even out?

"Uh, mister?" The computer man was looking at his digital box-thing with frowning eyes right after explaining the rules. Oh no, that can't be good. "I'm afraid the moveset chosen for your Brionne is illegal in our gym. You're not the first to think of bringing Encore to game our rules, but clever as that is it would not be particularly fun to watch. There are a few moves that are specially vetoed for this gym to keep things interesting. No Torment, no Disable, no Taunt, and chief among them, no Encore! So could you choose a different third move for this pokémon, if you would be so kind?"

Ugh! Diamie had conveniently learned Encore very soon after evolving, and Jarque was quick to realize that her new move would counter this gym real bad. But of course they would have thought of that.

Jarque let out a drawn-out sigh as he tapped at his own cheek. Oh, I knew that sigh. It meant he was expecting this, but still found it annoying. "Well, I don't know. Growl seems fine for a third move I guess?"

The computer man with the funny shirt gave us a nod and a smile, and after explaining some more boring technical stuff only a trainer would care about, he introduced us to this young, pretty lady that worked at the gym, who invited us to follow her outside the gym. Wow, was her outfit skimpy. That skirt was too short and that cleavage too low. You could even see her navel! What a deviant! I couldn't help but grit my teeth as I noticed Jarque stealing peeks at her from time to time from under her umbrella as we followed her.

It took me a moment to realize that the skimpily-dressed girl was actually the gym's referee. And by 'it took me a moment' I mean that Valentine had to tell me with that telepathy of hers. She also told me the human girl must have been an entertainer or something. Well, Jarque certainly looked entertained glancing at her.

Okay, let me occupy my thoughts with something more productive. Were we ready? We were. Diamie looked a lot more lively than Valentine, both because it was heavily raining and because that's just how their personalities meshed, but we were all mentally prepared for the challenge ahead. But seriously, what's with this strong rain? Monsoon season indeed.

My ears drooped as I realized that the battle would take place outdoors. Under the rain. I didn't hate the rain as much as I hated baths, but it's not like I was fond of it either. Before we met the gym leader, Jarque asked me three times in a row if I was okay with been recalled into my sphere of red and white, even though we had already agreed to it beforehand. Why were humans always so cagey around the concept of pokéballs, when they were the ones that created them? They were comfortable enough and I could still watch the battle from the inside and leave at any moment. We had already decided that Valentine and Diamie would come out first since neither of them was weak to the gym's primary type, so it was better if I remained hidden from the leader's eyes until it was my time to join the fray. The less information was shared with the opponent, the better.

So here we are! The battlefield was easy enough to recognize since they all looked the same, although I didn't remember seeing nearly this many cheering people in the other two stadiums we had fought at. From inside my sphere of red and white I narrowed my eyes as I looked ahead. There was a young man at the other side of the battlefield. The gym leader!

He was wearing this black shirt with purple stripes and the word VENOM emblazoned on it in big bold letters. He had black paint all over his exposed arms and legs. I think humans called those tattoos? I also noticed small iron rings piercing through many different areas of his body, such as his ears and lips. Was this leader guy insane…? Notably, unlike Jarque and the referee girl, he wasn't holding an umbrella and was getting quite soaked.

The referee lady in the skimpy outfit moved towards the side of the arena, and all eyes followed. She raised one arm high in the air, making her chest bounce. I was pretty sure she had done so on purpose. "Hello, everybody! I hope you're ready for another thrilling, blood-pumping battle!" There was a small cheering crowd around the area. Other than your typical battle fanatics, there were also many people who I could only assume were tourists enjoying the show as they had their meals. "Our challenger today is this young boy with a single gym badge in his pocket and a big dream in his heart! Can you introduce yourself, challenger?"

I could see Jarque's hand trembling from inside my pokéball in his belt. "M-My nm —" Did he just bite his tongue? That happened to me all the time! I hoped he hadn't suddenly developed stage fright. We had never fought before this many people, and the fact that we were fighting outdoors meant that many onlookers and busybodies came just to see what the fuss was about. "My name is Jarque. Jarque Montecarlo. I come from Dagger's Dockyard, although I technically hail from the region of Holon."

"Best of luck to you, Jarque!" the girl said in a chirpy tone that I could swear was filled with arrogance. "And now, our gym leader… certainly needs no introduction! Everybody has heard of Mus, the Silent Venom! So how about we don't make you ladies and gentleman wait any longer and begin the match already?" There was a mild uproar from the peanut gallery. I was eager to begin too! "I hear you loud and clear, folks! Then let's not delay this any longer! Mus, Jarque, bring out your first two pokémon and let's get this swing started!"

It was time! Jarque made the faintest of gestures and Valentine and Diamie were quick to enter the battlefield. It would be the first time the Braixen and the Brionne would fight in a gym ever since either of them evolved. I hoped they wouldn't be too nervous with all the people cheering! Meanwhile, the gym guy adjusted his long black hair, the tips of which were dyed purple. Like, I get it, this was a poison leader, but his dedication to the bit was scary. He didn't say a word. He produced a sphere of red and white and a sphere of blue and white and sent both out at the same time. Time to meet our foes! Thankfully I had great hearing, much better than a human's, so I could listen to their conversations almost as if I were there. Almost.

One of the leader's pokémon was a small blue jellyfish-like creature with a small ruby above its eyes and two larger red gems on its sides. It had two short tentacles, one of which was holding some kind of fruit similar to an apple. It looked weak and unevolved, so we probably didn't have to worry much about this one. The other one was, uh, a large pile of oozing sludge of garish colors with tiny crystal shards scattered all through its body. What the hell. Stuck in its body there was a small green plant with no flowers that gleamed in a sinister yellowish light.

Some courtesy time was often afforded before the battle began so that the combatants could get to know each other. This was just a friendly sport after all. Jarque and I were together and far from the center of the battlefield where the four pokémon stood, so I was the only one with good enough hearing to catch and understand what they were saying.

None of us was surprised that the Brionne was the first to approach the opposition with a smile. She waved a flipper at them. "Good evening! Name's Diamantina. What nice rain we're having, right?"

"Yes, I agree!" the small jellyfish waved back with his free tentacle. It's not like he was smiling, but he was clearly the friendliest of our two foes. "The humans call me Ober. You know. Because when you're facing me, it's game —" He was interrupted by a soft jab coming from his oozy partner. He turned towards the attacker as he rubbed the back of his head with a tentacle. "Hey! That hurt, König! What was that for, dude?"

"Focus." The rough but feminine voice was commanding, but not threatening. She looked up to the dark cloudy sky, then her gaze settled on Valentine, making the Braixen yelp. "You are not as fond of the rain as these two water dorks over there, I take it. I am kind of ambivalent myself. What is your name?" The colorful pile of toxic waste waited for two seconds before speaking again, given Valentine no time to answer. "Never mind, I will probably have forgotten it by tomorrow. But I dig your style, girlie. It must take courage to stroll around with that much ear hair."

Valentine grabbed the long twin orange tufts of fur growing out of her ears, made soggy due to the rain. "T-They are twin braids!" No they weren't. Although they weren't exactly ear hair per se either. Valentine was far from us so I could only see her face from a distance, but I noticed her lips trembling. Was she this nervous because of the rain? It would probably weaken her fire moves. "You two are not pokémon I recognize. I suppose gym leaders must use quite a few…"

From my position I could barely see Jarque's face if I looked up. He was scanning the bodies of the two pokémon the gym leader had sent out, as if looking for weak points. He was muttering something, but I could barely make it out. "…then that green grass is probably… Fuck, we have to do something about that." He was anxious to start, I could tell. He looked towards the referee, not with any lust this time, but simply waiting for her to give the go-ahead.

The human girl raised an arm. "Let's not make you good folks wait any longer!" She brought her arm down in a quick swing. "Let the battle begin!"

"Valentine! Psybeam that Muk! Now!"

Jarque didn't waste a moment, and spoke with urgency. Muk? Was that the name of the species of that pile of ooze? I did remember fighting a random trainer that had one of those some months back, but weren't those purple? This one instead displayed many stripes that were green, yellow, blue, and of course also purple. And then there was that weird green grass stuck on the pokémon, looking way out of place.

Whatever. That Muk wouldn't last long. None of them would. As much as I hated to admit it, Valentine had the largest advantage in this fight due to her powerful Psybeam. She wouldn't be a psychic-type until she became a Delphox, but she had already developed great mastery with her mind attacks.

The Braixen drew the twig stuck in her tail in a swift motion, spun it around and then pointed it at the Muk, taking aim before firing a blast of energy. It always amazed me how she could materialize her thoughts into the physical world in such a flashy way. The beam glowed in a color that didn't actually exist but could be misinterpreted as purple, flying towards its nearly unmoving target. The Muk was too big and too slow to try to escape, so she just stood still. Finally, the Psybeam reached the Muk… and phased right through her, vanishing and leaving her unharmed.

Both Jarque and I stared at Valentine in confusion while the Braixen looked down to her wand, wondering what went wrong. She hadn't missed. It wasn't something simple like that.

"The challenger seems to have committed a common mistake!" the referee said. The gym leader hadn't spoken a word yet. We had only heard him grunt. "You would expect a Muk to be weak against psychic attacks due to their poison typing, but the challenger failed to take into account that Mus' pokémon is an exotic variant imported directly from Alola! This colorful Muk is also part-dark, and thus invulnerable to attacks to the mind!"

Okay, thanks for the explanation, but we could tell as much. The gym leader smirked as he let out a chuckle, just loud enough to be heard under the strong rain. But again, it wasn't him who would speak, but the referee. "Oh, has Mus realized something that he deems funny?" The poison guy pulled out a wallet from his pocket, pointed at it and then wagged a finger. "No… items? Oh, of course! It seems our challenger has forgotten to equip his pokémon with any held items before the fight! My, what a rookie mistake!"

"Held… items?" Jarque looked at the enemy pokémon, probably noticing the strange fruit held by the Tentacool and the green plant sticking out from the Muk's body. He then he looked at Valentine and Diamie, who carried nothing except for the Braixen's wooden branch. "Fuck. I knew I was forgetting something."

This Mus guy laughed again, enervating me. Was he making fun of my Jarque? He extended one of his heavily tattooed arms forward. "Inflict poison. Prioritize the fire-type." Oh my god, he was speaking. He was speaking! Poison dude could speak! I thought he was mute for a moment there, but no, he was just lazy. But speaking was hard, I could sympathize.

"Valentine, steel on the Muk! Diamantina, actual normal on the Tentacool!"

It felt odd to listen to Jarque's commands and realize they weren't meant for me. Valentine dashed towards the large Muk while Diamie turned to face the Tentacool. The Muk smiled at the approaching Braixen. "You're making this too easy for me, fox." But her smile shrunk in size when Valentine did a little hop in front of her and turned around in the air to slam her tail against the poison-type. She focused her mind to strengthen the strands of fur that composed her tail, making it rock-solid instead of fluffy for a brief moment. Iron Tail! This was a very rare move for her species, and one she had inherited from her parents. The damage was only moderate since Valentine wasn't that good with close range attacks, but she still managed to shove back the enemy as copious amounts of sludge fell from the Muk's mouth.

Parallel to this, Diamie had been approaching the Tentacool slowly, lifting herself forward with her flippers. A Brionne on land was clearly out of her element, although the Tentacool was in a similar position. The way Diamie did her best as she advanced was kind of clumsy and cute, the kind of view that pulled at your heartstrings. The Tentacool just stared at her unflappable as the two large gems on his head gleamed purple, not even trying to get away from her.

Big mistake! When his guard was at its lowest, Diamie took the chance to hoist herself with her hind flippers and hop in the air with sudden elegance, swiftly slipping behind the Tentacool as she slammed her body against him and borrowed that delicious-looking fruit held by his tentacle. Covet! A weak normal-type move that could plunder an opponent's item right under their nose through wile and deceit. This one she had learned from her mom, apparently.

There was though no time to celebrate. The gems on the sides of the Tentacool's head kept glowing brighter and brighter, until they faded all of a sudden as the jellyfish did a little hop. He then began to release a black thick slime with a consistency similar to that of mud. He kept spurting out more and more of this liquid as it grew in volume and began to spread around the arena like a crashing wave.

"Sludge Wave…?" I heard Jarque mutter. Whatever that was, it didn't sound good. I was immediately reminded of that one Shellos using Surf during the last gym. Was this the poison-type equivalent of Surf? The dark wave crashed against Diamie and Valentine, and it caught Diamie in particular by surprise, forcing her to ingest a small amount of the gooey slime before she closed her mouth. I didn't like the facial expressions she was making.

The enemy Muk was also caught in the crossfire, but she resisted poison and was evolved, so she must have barely felt anything. Even after receiving nearly simultaneous attacks from both the Braixen and the Tentacool, the Muk didn't flinch. A horrid looking purple gunk was flowing freely from her mouth as she breathed in, then she spitted at the Braixen in front of her, covering her face in a thick layer of toxic wastes. Valentine hurriedly cleaned the noxious muck from her mouth and eyes as she took a step back, coughing violently with teary eyes. Some of it must have made it inside her body.

The referee soon confirmed what was plain for all to see. "And with this excellent maneuver, Mus has managed to poison both of his opponent's pokémon at once! Now this is a battle against the clock for them!"

I could hear Jarque's breathing speed up. I always found it funny how humans reacted in such a frantic way to seeing pokémon getting poisoned. I guess it made sense since humans were a lot more vulnerable to toxins, but a pokémon's immune system would naturally clear off foreign harmful substances like poison in time, leaving no aftereffects except under extreme circumstances. But for the remainder of this battle my two teammates would feel weaker and weaker over time, and would eventually pass out from exhaustion if the match went on for too long.

I heard a distant human laugh. That Mus guy again. I had heard the gym leader laugh more times than I had heard him talk. Once more, the referee spoke in his place. "Let me guess! Mus is probably baffled that his opponent hasn't taken the very obvious preparation of bringing a pokémon with Safeguard to a gym battle against a poison specialist! Is that accurate, Mus?"

"I did look into it!" Jarque complained. "Do you have any idea how expensive Safeguard TMs are? I only had enough cash for two very cheap TMs." Yes, money was tight. We only had one badge. I figured we would sort that one out in the future as we became stronger and fought battles with more money on the line.

As the humans spoke, I couldn't help but cringe as I looked at Diamie and Valentine. The Braixen was done cleaning off most of her face, although there was still some grime on her cheeks and forehead, made wet because of the rain. I noticed a glowing wet herb glued to her tail. It must have stuck to her tail when she rammed it against the Muk. Both of my teammates were aching from the poison, coughing sporadically. Diamie took a small bite out of the fleshy fruit she held in a flipper, the one she had stolen from the Tentacool, and that seemed to soothe her pain a little.

The gym leader grunted something like an 'mph' as he looked at the four pokémon on the battlefield, but for once his tone didn't sound disdainful. The referee girl took notice of this. "But not everything seems to be going in Mus' favor! It seems like the supplies his pokémon were holding have fallen under control of the enemy! How could this be? I'm guessing the move the Brionne used was Covet, and that's how she took hold of Mr. Tentacool's Leftovers. But how did the Braixen end up with Ms. Muk's Luminous Moss? She just attacked with her tail."

"Oh." The poison guy began to toy with the piercing on his right ear. "Magician."

"Uh… okay? As thrifty with his words as ever! Is that some kind of ability, perhaps? Maybe that's how the Braixen managed to swipe that item for herself! Just remember that items traded with your opponent must be returned at the end of the fight."

After the fiascoes with Protean and Liquid Voice during the last few gyms, Jarque had made sure to figure out Valentine's ability beforehand this time. Which, uh, wasn't easy to do since her ability interacts with held items and not many rookie trainers are running around with properly outfitted pokémon. There were some moves like Covet or Thief that stole a foe's item through subterfuge or deftness, but there was one very rare ability that granted all of your moves that same property: Magician, Valentine's ability. If any of the Braixen's attacks connected, her subconscious would go into overclock to figure a way to rob the opponent of their item. Humans considered this a valid tactic under official tournament rules, as extracting an enemy's held item was otherwise difficult and risky.

The referee made a sound of wonder as she twirled her umbrella around. "But a pokémon can only steal their opponent's item if they are not holding one themselves. Could it be that our challenger didn't equip any items on his pokémon on purpose?"

"Who knows?" Jarque said, grinning as he looked away. "And maybe launching a psychic attack against the Muk was done to lull you into a false sense of security too." I giggled from inside my sphere. Yeah, no. That one was a genuine mistake, Jarque. But not bringing items on Valentine and Diamie was on purpose! He figured that any items we could afford with our current money couldn't be better than whatever a gym's pokémon were equipped with.

I followed Jarque's gaze to the center of the arena, where the poisoned Brionne took a bite out of the fruit resembling an apple that she had acquired from the Tentacool. How did the humans call the fruit of life again? Leftovers? This glossy red pome was famed among pokémon for its great nutritional content and tasty flavor. It was however too energizing, so if you ate too much too fast you would develop some terrible cramps. You were supposed to take small bites now and then, the fruit of life slowly reinvigorating you over time. Perhaps it could help stave off the poison.

I wasn't acquainted with Valentine's item, the small glowing plant stuck on her tail, but I noticed that it would shine more intense for a second whenever a raindrop hit it.

This time it was Jarque that let out a soft chuckle. "This should dissuade you from ordering your Tentacool to use Surf."

The gym leader raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Some murmurs were heard among the people watching, so the referee raised her voice to speak above them. "It seems like we have a superfan of the Silent Venom if you know all of his pokémon's movesets by heart! Challenger, what makes you think Surf is one of the three moves Mus picked for his Tentacool for this battle?"

"We both checked the weather, I'm sure, even if I'm the only one with an umbrella. We both knew it would be raining at the time of our match, so of course you would want to use strong water moves to capitalize on that." Yes, I remember Valentine telling us about this once. Water-type pokémon absorb the moisture on their skin to unleash their attacks, and rain helps moisturize them and raises humidity, so water moves become stronger. On the other hand, fire moves obviously become weaker under rain. "Plus, you equipped your Muk with a Luminous Moss, which reacts to pressurized water. That means you expected your Muk to get hit by water moves, which is odd since you lead a poison gym."

I nodded, which was silly since I was inside my sphere of red and white and no one could see me. If I understood correctly, the Muk had been holding an item that triggered when receiving a water-type attack. Perhaps the rain wasn't strong enough to activate the moss on its own, but a pokémon move would for sure do the trick. So their plan was for that Tentacool to use a wide-reaching Surf to hit his opponents at the same time they triggered the Muk's Luminous Moss. That must be why Jarque wanted Valentine to steal that item with so much urgency, before they managed to activate it. But now, if they used Surf it was Valentine that would be getting the buff!

"Very well," the gym leader said. I felt a shiver whenever he spoke with that soft voice of his, barely above a whisper. "König, Ober, exploit the poison."

Jarque shifted his posture to a more aggressive one in a way that made my sphere shake in his belt. "Valentine, Psybeam the one that's not a dark! Diamantina, pseudo-water!"

This was the first important battle that I was watching from Jarque's perspective, and it was really confusing to follow the action as the four combatants all traded blows at once. How did humans manage to strategize and guide us in the middle of so much chaos? Valentine fired an extrasensory burst of energy channeled through her wand towards the Tentacool at the same time that Diamie projected her voice to instill fear into the hearts of our foes with a water-typed Growl. Her voice was always so gentle and so warm, that it was alarming to hear her dispensing such an ominous roar. Thank goodness she was on our side.

And at the same time, the opponents prepared their attacks. The Tentacool's gems glowed purple as before, but I noticed that they had a more faded coloration compared to last time. Was this not a poison move? The Muk on the other hand was very obviously preparing a poison attack, as made evident by the dark goo escaping her mouth. She was aiming to produce enough of the thick venom inside her body to launch whatever attack she was preparing next. I had no understanding of Muk biology, and I was happier off that way.

All of the attacks came off at about the same time. Valentine's Psybeam traveled towards the Tentacool with Diamie's growling as the background music, and landed on the Tentacool right as the shimmering of the rubies on his head faded all of a sudden. Had he finished charging up his attack? Next thing I noticed, there were floating obsidian flames surrounding Diamie, and she had no hope to escape them. To make things worse, the Muk discharged a massive blanket of slime that was reminiscent of the Tentacool's previous attack, except this wave was more gooey and was aimed only at her opponents, sparing her tentacled partner.

I was so lost. I had no idea what was going on anymore or who was winning. How did Jarque manage to make sense of double battles, or any other human for that matter? He grunted, but I was the only one close enough to hear him. "Hex and… what was that? Maybe Acid or… oh fuck, Venom Drench?"

Jarque would later explain to me that Hex, the move the Tentacool had just used, was a ghost-type move that capitalized on any maladies afflicting the target. That move would deal more damage against foes that were poisoned or affected by other altered states. Poison plus Hex was a simple enough combo, but it worked.

"Pointless Growl," the gym leader said as he glared at Diamie. "None of my two pokémon on the field will use physical moves. Only my third one will."

Wonderful. At least the Tentacool had taken a direct hit, but so had Diamie, who made sure to take another quick bite out of the fruit of life. And what was that poison move the Muk had just used? Both Valentine and Diamie were covered from head to toe with a syrupy mauve goo that looked thick enough to hinder their movements. It didn't look to me like they had received any actual damage from it, which was always a bad sign. I wondered what it was.

Referee to the rescue. "Venom Drench! A quirky move that can only affect poisoned pokémon, but it slows them down, screws up their reaction times, and weakens their attacks! Mus might yet have the upper hand, folks!"

This was another weird move that Jarque would explain to me later, and then I would understand why he looked as worried as he did right now. Venom Drench released a kind of sludge that accelerated the work of toxins in the body. It was normally harmless if a bit sticky, but if you were poisoned it would lower your speed and the potency of all of your attacks, physical and special.

But, ignorant of this, I thought at the time that we were on the lead. We had stolen their items and that Tentacool had to be on the border of defeat. That made me wonder — what would happen if Valentine and Diamie won this battle completely on their own? What if they defeated all three of the gym leader's pokémon without either of them fainting, not giving me the chance to come out and fight? That would be… good? It would mean we won. It would mean another badge. I would mean Jarque would be happy and proud of us. Proud of them.

I still would rather prefer to come out and show off a little, even if a poison gym wasn't my best matchup. It was so annoying that switching out wasn't allowed in gym battles! But did this mean I actually wanted one of my teammates to fall defeated so I could relieve her? That's… not what I wanted, was it? Because the thought didn't alarm me as much as I thought it would. I wanted to fight. I wanted to make Jarque proud. But if that meant my teammates getting hurt… is that something I would wish for?

Jarque fidgeted with his umbrella as if not sure of what to do next. "Valentine, fire on… it doesn't even matter! Just fire! And Diamantina, you uh…" His eyes skimmed the battlefield as if looking for an answer that wasn't there. "Water? Uh, on the Muk!" I wondered for a moment why he wasn't asking Valentine to keep hurling Psybeams at the weakened Tentacool, but then I recalled that this gym forbade pokémon from using the same move twice in a row.

Valentine was the first to react, running towards the Muk. Her movements were noticeably slower because of the slime covering her. As Diamie began to fill her mouth with high-pressure water, the gym leader gave his commands. "Ober, Sludge Wave again! König, finish the Brionne!"

Finish. What kind of command was even that? The many small crystal shards on the Muk's colorful body began to emit bright sparks, which was worrisome, but my attention was then captured by the Tentacool's head gems gleaming dark. At least this time we knew a Sludge Wave was coming.

Even with the glop from the Venom Drench dragging her down, Valentine still managed to act faster than her opponents. While not as fast as me, I could begrudgingly admit that the Braixen was a decentish runner. Her whole body became enveloped by a veil of fire, made thinner and less intense because of both the rain and the Drench lowering her body temperature. Enveloped in a Flame Charge, she tackled the Muk's body and pushed her back. The full-body fire armor didn't last long, but it lasted long enough to burn away a significant part of the slime that covered her, allowing her to recover some of her lost speed. Clever!

Diamie and the Tentacool attacked in unison, Diamie releasing a torrential flurry of bubbles from her mouth aimed at the Muk just as the Tentacool let out another large wave of noxious mud. Valentine and Diamie endured the poisonous flood as best as they could, and I was thankful they couldn't get poisoned twice. And although the Muk was struck by both Diamie's Bubble Beam and her own partner's Sludge Wave at the same time, she barely reacted, the crystals in her muddy body sparkling yellow. I understood that the Muk was a fully evolved pokémon, but she had just taken three consecutive attacks to the face in less than five seconds and she acted as if she were unscathed. How tanky could a pokémon be?

The Muk raised a gooey appendage high, the yellow crystals stuck in her arm giving the appearance of menacing claws, although not as menacing as the sudden loud roar that erupted in the skies. A thunderstorm? Right now? The clouds were gray, but the TV program Jarque watched at the inn didn't warn us the monsoon season would get this bad! Then Jarque uttered a single word that made me tremble inside my pokéball. "Thunder…?" Oh, dear. Of course this wasn't a natural phenomenon. Was this really the Muk's work? Thunder was to my knowledge one of the mightiest electric-type moves that a pokémon could call upon, but its immense power was counterbalanced with the difficulty of aiming a freaking lightning bolt from the skies towards a grounded target. Thunder was infamous for its inaccuracy, as it only became accurate under…

Oh.

Oh.

Fuck.

That Mus dude absolutely knew it would rain today. Potent rain would dampen the skin, which would act as a lightning rod of sorts to attract the bolt to whatever target the caster intended. Thunder would never miss under rain, barring very unusual circumstances. There was nothing anyone could do as a silent flash of lightning fell upon the poor Brionne, followed by a thunderous roar from the skies seconds after. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to watch this. I resisted electric moves and even I was a bit afraid of thunderstorms. I couldn't even imagine how terrifying this would be for a water-type.

What followed was the deafening sound of rain, no one daring to make a sound. "That's enough, folks!" And of course the silence was interrupted by the referee, who sounded a little too chirpy. "That poor Brionne won't be fighting again any time soon! Challenger, recall your pokémon and bring out your third one!"

That's it? We don't even get a second to mourn her? I slowly opened up my eyes, fearing what I would find. I wasn't so sure I wanted to join this fight now. Diamie was breathing, that was the first thing Valentine made sure to check, but she was unconscious. You would think she was sleeping. Under the referee's order, Valentine picked up the fruit of life, the Leftovers, and threw it at her. Since the pokémon currently holding the fruit had fainted, the item would go unused for the rest of the battle.

Jarque grabbed the sphere of red and white that sat by my side on his belt, his hand trembling. Then after a short wait I heard him kiss it and whisper a soft 'sorry' before returning it to its position now with a Brionne inside it. Jarque's fingers then clasped my pokéball. This is what I wanted, wasn't it? I wanted one of my partners to fall so that I could get a chance to shine. And yet my body couldn't move. And I kinda felt like vomiting. And it occurred to me that maybe I was a terrible person and Jarque would hate me forever. Oh, for sure. I would fail miserably in this battle and he would hate me forever. I could see that happening, yep.

My trainer brought my sphere of red and white to his face, and gave me the fakest of smiles, and I couldn't tell if he was trying to reassure me or himself. "Ready, Clover?" I shook my head, but he wouldn't see me inside my sphere. I clasped the flower I kept on the left side of my neck, and the berry I had stored under my scarf-leaf on the right. I had to do this. Just think of the thrill of winning! Just think of the celebration!

In just a few more seconds I found myself in the middle of the arena, and I realized I hadn't quite mentally prepared myself. The first thing I felt was the heavy rain. I hated baths, and I hated getting wet. The second thing I felt was the terrible stench of all the poison moves that our opponents had used all over the battleground. Why were humans so wary of pokéballs anyway? They were so comfy in comparison. I would much rather be in my sphere right now that under this stupid rain and under this dizziness-inducing odor.

I looked to my side, to the Braixen that stood valiantly as she glared at her opponents. Her fur was always so beautiful and well-kept that it made me green with envy, since mine was always rumpled and hard to tame. But right now I was clearly the winner, as Valentine's fur was an absolute mess, soggy and covered in wet muck. But I somehow failed to feel good about being the clear victor for once. Damn, I had only seen her from afar, so I was not aware of the miserable state the fox found herself in.

"W-We will win, right?" she asked me. I could nearly cut the despair in her words with my claws. "Clover?"

Oh, not the time to fall mute. "Maybe?"

"What do you mean maybe…? I-I don't want to lose again here."

"Uh, no, I meant we're absolutely winning!" I let out a chuckle that came out as more nervous that I meant it to. As the leader of the team it was my duty to ensure my teammates didn't lose spirit, but it was hard to lift someone's spirit when you're not too convinced yourself.

I took a deep breath. Okay, calm down. I was a little appalled because of the suddenness of Diamie's defeat, and Valentine probably was too since she had watched it from the front lines, but was the situation that bad? Sure, it was a two vs three right now since the gym guy still had a third pokémon in store, but that Tentacool was too weakened to continue fighting for long. Perhaps we yet still had a chance?

The referee clapped her hands while still holding her umbrella. "So the challenger follows up with a, uh… with a cool kitty! Okay, I have never seen that pokémon in my life."

"Floragato," Jarque said in an annoyed tone. "Seriously, what's wrong with this region? First a ground gym using Blizzard, and now a poison one using Thunder? And you use those teams against a guy with a single badge!"

"Aw, it seems our challenger is throwing a hissy fit! How indecorous!"

"W-What? No!" Jarque covered his mouth and cleared his throat, suddenly recalling that he was surrounded by dozens of people watching. "We haven't lost yet! Uh, Clover, use —"

Mus began to speak over him. "König, poison the newcomer. Ober, use Hex — no, hold on." The tattooed man stared at Valentine for a moment, and that made me but not her shiver. "This might be the last chance to remove the Moss. The Magician ability is uncontrollable, but only triggers if the user is unequipped. That ability will come to bite you. Ober, Surf!"

Oh my god, the Tentacool did know Surf! Even if it would trigger Valentine's item, it was still a powerful water move boosted by rain. A fire-type like Valentine couldn't possibly take many of those to her face, specially since she was weakened by poison. Speaking of poison, did this guy just ask his Muk to poison me…?

"Clover! Valentine!" Oh, Jarque! And he said my name first! "As we practiced! Do the thing!"

Oh! Oh! The thing! It was time! I looked to Valentine with a silly smile on my face, feeling equal parts nervous and excited. Her expression mirrored my own. Sure, this gym's rules forbade a pokémon from using the same move twice in a row, but there were no rules against two different pokémon using the same move!

Both me and Valentine made a mad dash towards the Muk. I kept my pace a little down so that the slower Braixen could keep up with me. I sped up at the last stretch to stop before the Muk, who was preparing some noxious concoction within her mouth to hurl at me. Once Valentine reached us, she did a little bounce followed by a quick pirouette in the air to slam her moss-covered tail on the Muk as she had done near the beginning of the battle. I observed with close attention how the fur on her tail became sharper and hard as iron as the Braixen readied her Iron Tail attack. My eyes were as glued to her tail as the Luminous Moss was.

Once her attack was over, I took a single step forth and stopped. I heard humans cheering beyond the cacophony of the falling rain. Distracted, I looked to the side for just a second. Uh, it hadn't dawned on me just how many humans were watching us, with many of their pokémon out and also enjoying the show. I got nervous all of a sudden. No! This was no time to suddenly develop stage fright! It was time to shine bright. It was time to use one of the moves that complemented me best: Copycat.

I had always known this move since I was born, but I never got around to using it much since it is very technical and difficult to use right. I think Jarque called it an 'egg move', which means I must have inherited it from dad. Copycat mirrored the last move you witnessed to near perfection, whether it was used by friend or foe. Valentine once explained how it worked to me, something about close observation combined with self-suggestion or something. I don't even care. What matters is that this is a cool move that lets me replicate nearly any move in existence.

I prepared to use Copycat. I rotated my waist a little, ready to imitate Valentine's Iron Tail. C'mon, we had practiced this tactic many times in preparation for the poison gym. I knew no steel moves myself, but copying Valentine's Iron Tail would allow my Protean to make me immune to poison! My legs trembled for a moment, and I feared my attack would miss if I continued. I was taking a little too long, but I needed to straighten my posture to ensure I wouldn't fail and make a fool of myself in front of all of these people and pokémon, not to mention Jarque.

As I watched the spectators I caught an accidental glimpse of the Tentacool, his rubies shining in a conflicting blue. Oh, no. I forgot he was preparing a Surf. I hurried up to complete and execute my Copycat, feeling my paws grow cold. Suddenly, the pink flower pinned to my chest felt heavy. It was not meant to feel heavy. I looked down, and I noticed water running down it. Uh, was this the rain? No, the water was leaking out from my flower. I felt calm. I felt so calm it was eerie. I felt serene like a placid sea.

My throat failed to make a sound as I realized my mistake. The Tentacool, still plainly within my field of vision, began to dispense a large volume of water. It was reminiscent of the Sludge Wave move he had already used twice before, except this liquid was crystal-clear and reflected the cold gray of the sky. Another pokémon had successfully cast a move before I was finished with my Copycat. I watched in horror as my trusty pink flower continued to ooze spurt after spurt of water until it became a continuous ever-widening stream. I anxiously tried to cover my flower with my paws, but water was leaking everywhere. Eventually the pressure of the water became too much to contain, and it burst out as a second crushing wave made in the image of the one the Tentacool had called forth.

I had mistimed my Copycat and accidentally copied the Tentacool's Surf. A move that dealt friendly fire.