Copycat was a favorite move of mine. Copying another pokémon's move, how cool is that? But its weakest point was that it wasn't selective — it would mindlessly mimic the last move you witnessed, not the one you meant to copy. And, right now, in the middle of this gym dance, I had mistimed my Copycat and accidentally copied the Tentacool's Surf. A move that dealt friendly fire.

The only saving grace was that special moves weren't my forte. But that was little relief to the Braixen that was about to be on the receiving end of two consecutive tsunamis, one of them produced by her supposed ally. Oh, and it was raining too. It was just good news all the way here.

It all happened too fast for me to make sense of the situation at the time. The two Surfs clashed and then passed past each other, each of them battering against everyone but their caster. Valentine and the Muk were hit by both, but at least the Muk didn't have a weakness to water and had very solid defenses. I turned to Valentine, expecting to find the poor fox passed out on the floor but instead finding her kneeling on the ground, conscious but trembling badly from her toes to the tip of her tail. Her tail no longer had a glowing green moss on it.

I had no time to react when I felt a revolting lump of gunk crash against my face. Ugh, I forgot the Muk wanted to poison me. This was Toxic, right? I cleaned my face as fast as I could, but I had already swallowed a bit of the oozing dark slime. I felt a rising nausea, and I hoped I wouldn't actually puke in front of all these people. A hug from Jarque would feel so good right now.

"Do you want to fucking kill me?" Valentine. Her sudden outburst caught me by surprise, since she was usually so soft-spoken. Her entire body was in a sorry state, but I couldn't help but stare into her eyes. Those wide, bloodshot orange eyes. I held no doubt in my mind that, out of the three other pokémon present in the arena, she was the one most upset with me right now. "What's the big idea, leader? Do you think you can take on all three of the gym's pokémon on your own or what?"

I was low-key scared to talk to her. "T-That was just a mistake! I just mistimed my Copycat!"

"Or do you do this just to monopolize Jarque's attention?"

"Hey! That's not —!"

"I bet you felt happy when Diamantina fell defeated and you got your chance to come out and show off before our trainer!" Valentine said. I grunted in response. I didn't like the way she had pronounced that our. "At least try to deny it, Clover." That's the thing. In all honesty, I wasn't totally sure if what Valentine was speaking was false or not.

I wanted to shout at her. I wanted to call her ugly names. I wanted to tell her how horrible she looked right now. But instead I took a deep, deep breath. We were not going to win like this. Not in a million years. I needed to deescalate the situation, but I wasn't sure of how.

"You two quit it." It took me a long moment to figure out who the harsh but feminine voice belonged to, and I had to keep myself from yelping when I noticed it was the Muk of all people. "Hate us, not each other. Otherwise we have already won, and that's no fun."

The Tentacool nodded in a way only a jellyfish could. "Yeah, be more like us. We're chill. We're cool. You could even say we're Tenta — Nah, I ain't finishing that one."

It always surprised me how friendly and supportive gym pokémon were, even if they were fierce and merciless in battle. But it was all competition in the end. I turned to Valentine, who was looking down to her body covered in hideous wet fur. She was probably not enjoying the sight. I heaved out a sigh. This was kind of my fault. No, not kind of. I was entirely to blame. "Valentine, I'm s-so —" I felt an itch in my throat that made me stop. Oh, for goodness' sake, just spit it out. "I'm so sure we will win." Coward.

She looked to me and gave me a slow nod. Her eyes reflected the coldness of the rain. "I want us to win. I refuse to lose in this damn gym again." She was clenching her fists so hard it had to hurt. I was a bit confused about what she meant. This was our first time challenging this gym. Maybe the stress and the poison were starting to get at her.

I felt a strong cough coming, and I couldn't hold it back. Ugh, that was an ugly cough. Okay, quick review. What's the situation? I had screwed up and gotten myself poisoned. That one problem at least had an easy solution. I grabbed the pink tender berry I had stored on my right side under my leaf-handkerchief, mirroring the position of the flower on my left. Pecha berries had a sugary sweet flavor I was kind of indifferent to, but they were filled with antitoxins that could counter the specific kinds of toxins employed by poison-types, specially when combined with a pokémon's already outstanding immune systems.

I hungrily devoured the berry and breathed in relief when I felt the poison leave my body. Thank goodness Jarque had given me an anti-poison berry as a held item for this battle as insurance, but this was my one free save. I couldn't afford another mistake of this category. There would be no more free do-overs.

What else should I keep track of? Valentine, to my genuine surprise, was standing on her own with only minor difficulty. She was panting heavily, but she could still fight. She noticed my questioning gaze and brought a paw to her temple. "That Surf activated the Luminous Moss. That's how I'm still standing, if that's what you're wondering." It always made my entire body tingle whenever she used her telepathy. She was only a novice, so she needed to place a hand against her temples to achieve the required focus to communicate directly to a mind. "Jarque says that a Luminous Moss releases strong micronutrients when hit by a water move, which are then absorbed by the body to thicken your coat and make it easier to resist ranged attacks." Oh, I see. I was so jealous she could communicate telepathically with Jarque, you have no idea.

A cold sweat fell down my neck as I realized that, while Valentine seemed to have calmed down a little now, I still had not bothered to check on Jarque's reaction to my mistake. I turned to him, showing my back to the enemy. He was frowning and covering his mouth, which made it hard to ascertain whatever emotion he was feeling. I would swear he looked angry, but he wasn't staring at me but rather at… the Tentacool?

"Can someone explain to me how that Tentacool is still standing? Well, it is not standing, it is sitting on its tentacles, but you know what I mean! It is the only unevolved pokémon on the battlefield and it has received a decent number of attacks, so how is it still kicking? We took its Leftovers off! It's not like it can heal or — Oh, it's the fucking rain, isn't it. It has like Rain Dish or some bullshit."

The referee moved her umbrella away for one second to feel the rain before using it for cover once more. "While this gym does not condone that kind of language, you are indeed quite right, challenger! Mr. Tentacool here has Rain Dish as his ability, which will heal him continuously as he absorbs rainwater. It's like the ability version of Leftovers, except it only works while it rains."

Jarque closed his umbrella as he sighed, like he didn't care anymore. "He uses a freaking rain team. Surf, Thunder, Rain Dish. He is a poison specialist and he is using a rain team." Jarque looked up to the sky, covered in light-gray clouds. "I get your strategy now. You brought pokémon with high defenses and survival items like Leftovers and Luminous Moss. Your plan is to poison us and then stall for time until our team falls to the poison. The rain synergies are there to speed up the process and as insurance in case I brought any pokémon immune to poison."

The gym leader, who was also umbrella-less, shrugged with a small smirk. "Perhaps."

Jarque supported his weight on the closed umbrella as if it were a cane. "Clover! Valentine! It's okay, we'll win this! You're both doing great!" No, that was a bald-faced lie, but I couldn't deny that it was comforting to hear. He wasn't angry at me! Or at least he was good enough at hiding it! Valentine by my side pressed her hand against her chest as she nodded to herself. I could tell she needed those words too. "That Tentacool cannot outheal the both of you. Gang up on it with super effective moves!"

We were not doing the thing again? Oh right, this gym didn't let you use the same move twice in a row. Valentine couldn't use Iron Tail again so soon. Maybe later? Luckily, this also meant that the Muk couldn't use Toxic right away again. That was good news! She would instead have to use another of her moves like Venom Drench or like — Oh. The memory of a Brionne flashed in my mind. No, this wasn't good news.

"Sludge Wave," Mus said in an impassive tone. "And Thunder on…" He paused for a second as he looked at one of us. I couldn't tell who because Valentine and I were already running towards the Tentacool. "Thunder on the Floragato."

My leg failed me for a second and I almost tripped, but then I kept running. Why me? Why would he target a grass-type with an electric move? Wait a moment. My ability was Protean. And although Copycat was a normal-type move, Protean took into account the typing of the move that was called through it. I had just used Surf.

Valentine caught up to me. I must have lowered my pace without realizing it as we ran. I looked towards Jarque. He was far, and the hefty rain clouded the air and made it hard to read his expression, but he didn't seem alarmed. A bit nervous, perhaps. Hard to tell. Did he not care what happened to me? We all knew that Diamie was far better at taking hits than I was, so if she couldn't endure a super effective Thunder, how could I possibly hope to? Should he recall me? Should I tell Valentine to contact him telepathically and ask him to recall me? I was going to faint to the Thunder anyway, so why bother suffering through the pain? Or maybe this was revenge for hurting Valentine before. Perhaps I deserved this?

Valentine stopped and grabbed her wand, preparing to launch a Psybeam. Leaving the Braixen behind, I kept running on my own. Alone. Only the Tentacool remained in sight, and the only sounds I could hear were the rain tapping against my cold fur and the terrifying sparkling coming from the clouds above. A subtle violet light flashed behind me. Valentine was preparing her Psybeam. If she kept fighting then maybe I should too. I should trust her and Jarque. I really wanted to. Uh, but what move was I supposed to use again? Jarque's command was to strike that Tentacool with a super effective move…

My feet felt lighter all of a sudden. Out of my three moves chosen for this gym, two of them were normal. Only the third would hit a Tentacool for heightened damage. It was a move that Jarque had taught to me through a TM. It was in fact the very first TM he had bought, in anticipation for this gym fight. It was a very cheap TM. It was a very shitty move. One of the worst, possibly. But right now, for this particular scenario, it was the best possible move.

I stopped in front of the Tentacool, and before he got a chance to release his attack I literally kicked the ground real hard to throw wet mud at his face. Hah! Now how do you like it when someone else clogs your face with mud, buckaroo? As far as offensive moves went you couldn't possibly do much worse than Mud-Slap, but here we are. I got down in all fours to hurl mud at the Tentacool with both of my hands, feeling one with the earth, feeling composed and unmoving, unflinching. I was gonna hurl so much mud at that cretin's face, and I was gonna enjoy every second of it!

"Not cool!" While the Tentacool rubbed mud off of his eyes with his tentacles, a flashing stream of violet-colored energy rushed parallel to me as if fired from a cannon. Valentine's Psybeam. The healing offered by Rain Dish was gradual, so all we had to do was outdamage his healing. Receiving two super effective moves in a row was too much for the Tentacool. My Mud-Slap had softened him up and distracted him, and Valentine's Psybeam had finally brought him down. The Tentacool lay on the muddy floor, barely conscious. He looked up to me with sad eyes as he raised a quivering tentacle. "You could say… it is Ober for me."

"Oh my god just go back to your sphere."

The Tentacool would harm us no more, but there was still a Muk loitering around. I looked up to the clouded sky as sparks gathered above me, but I didn't feel scared. And this isn't like when I said I wasn't scared but I totally was and I was just pretending to be cool. My legs didn't tremble and my heart didn't beat fast. I genuinely was not scared. I kept staring up as the massive lightning bolt fell on me, surrounding me from every direction with flashy hues of amber and cerulean. I had to close my eyes to not go blind, but that was the only discomfort I felt. The lightning sunk, absorbed by the ground at my feet, followed by a roaring sound hailing from the skies. I really felt no fear or pain. Is this how ground-types felt during thunderstorms?

I glared at the lone Muk, my gaze on fire, challenging. For the first time since the dance started I felt like we had a chance. Oddly enough, the Muk's body began to flutter and morph as her two thick arms shifted into thinner, longer appendages that were reminiscent of the tentacles that the defeated Tentacool sported. What's up with that?

"Okay, stop for a sec, guys!" the referee said. All participants knew well that the referee was the supreme authority when it came to how rulings were applied and how the battles developed. If she asked the pokémon to stop, we would until we were given the go-ahead again. "That was flashy in more ways that one, folks, but it seems like Mr. Tentacool cannot fight any longer! Mus, call your buddy back! As for the Floragato…" She looked at me as she leaned her head to the side, fidgeting with her umbrella. "Oh. What you know, it seems like this one can keep going just fine. She just tanked a Thunder to the face like a champ, but you would be forgiven for thinking she was targeted for a Splash instead. How could that be?"

Mus picked up a sphere of red and white and pointed it at the downed Tentacool to bring him back to safety. "Good job, Ober." As he reached for another sphere, he looked to me with an incisive gaze. "So my guess was right. Protean…"

Uh? How had he figured it out? Then that Thunder from before was aimed at me because he suspected me of having Protean and having turned water. Those suspicions were then confirmed after I used a ground move to annul the Thunder. I understood that gym leaders were very learned about pokémon, but would he happen to randomly know that the Sprigatito line can have Protean? Although my species were one of those that humans called starters and were often given to novice trainers, so the leader had probably fought a lot of starters. Even if my particular species was rare in this region, I shouldn't be too surprised that a gym leader would be knowledgeable about starters in general.

"Protean…?" the referee asked out loud. This human wasn't as knowledgeable, it seemed. "What's that, Mus?" She waited for a moment, but received no response. "Boss, I know you're going for the whole enigmatic suave dude vibe, but you could try being more talkative when I need an explanation about something related to the battle, or these fine folks are going to think I'm dumb."

"I wonder why."

"Hey now."

"Your turn, Unter."

The gym leader hurled another orb painted half-red and half-white, this one releasing a small blue frog-like creature standing on two legs and smiling at us. Those were some really white teeth. I was pretty sure we had fought two or three random trainers in the past that used this pokémon. What was their species called? Uh… That's right, Croagunk! If memory didn't fail, weren't those poison / fighting? That meant they had a fatal weakness to psychic moves! Like, I understood why the poison gym would use a pokémon like that. The leader was expecting to fight challengers with ground, psychic and steel-types that would counter his poison pokémon. So that's why he brought a Tentacool with Surf and Hex to deal with grounds and psychics, and now a fighting-type to deal with steels. It's just that this happened to be a very favorable matchup for us specifically.

Which is why I was so befuddled when I looked to Valentine and I found the Braixen staring at the Croagunk with wide eyes and her wet tail tucked between her legs. She could take down the frog in one, at worst two Psybeams. It wasn't fear I saw in her eyes, but she was oddly wary of the newcomer. The Croagunk had some dark magenta goop plastered on his chest, which was probably a held item, but that couldn't possibly be the motive of Valentine's sudden apprehension.

"Unter's in the game, ladies!" The Croagunk said, raising both arms in celebration. "I'm sure you will find me very Unter-esting!"

The Muk let out a grunt filled with contempt as she looked at me and Valentine. "Do you see the shit I have to deal with every day?"

The Croagunk cackled. "No, that's okay! Perhaps you just need a second to Unter-nalize my coolness." He leaned in towards me as he rubbed his chin. "Hey there, hot stuff." I was going to punch his face in. He turned to Valentine. "You're sexier though." I was so going to punch his face in. "Hey, why the long face, foxy? Oh, it must be the poison and stuff, uh? Although… Um? Have I seen that pretty face somewhere before?"

The Muk pointed at her froggy partner with one of her appendages, which now had adopted the shape of thin tentacles. "Unter, I swear to god if you're trying to flirt in the middle of an official gym battle —"

"No, no! I'm a professional, König! I really mean it when I say I have seen that cute face before. I don't remember a Braixen though. Maybe you fought us back when you were a… what do these foxy guys evolve from again?"

A bit of healthy banter among combatants was expected, but this was nowhere near close to the direction I expected this conversation to go. Was the Croagunk just messing with us? This was the first time we were challenging the poison gym.

"I-I will win this time!" Valentine said in a stuttering tone, raising her head high. Sure, we will win, but why are you playing along? "It won't be like last time…"

Okay. I stared at her with a cautious frown. At this point I just had to ask. It was a stupid thing to ask, but still. "Valentine, uh, this is the first time we're fighting in this gym, isn't it?"

She lowered her head. She didn't look me in the eye. "It is the first time you are fighting here, I guess." She fired the briefest of glances at me. "Jarque isn't my first trainer."

It's as if I couldn't feel the rain anymore. I had known this pokémon for nearly a year and a half now. I had known her since she was a Fennekin. She had told me about her past, but she didn't consider this important enough to mention? Did Jarque know this? No, of course he didn't, or he would have told me. I saw a Braixen in front of me, but I felt as if I were staring at a total stranger. Hello, Ms. Valentine, nice to meet you. Name's Clover.

I placed a paw against my chest. God, was my fur wet and sticky. "You had already battled in this gym, and you didn't think of telling us?" I raised my voice a little bit more than I intended to.

"Y-Yes, with my previous trainer. Although I only remember the Croagunk, since gyms use rotating teams of pokémon and all. And I fainted too soon, anyway." Valentine wielded her branch with a trembling hand and pointed it at the Croagunk. "But do you think this is the best time to talk about this?"

"Hey!" The Muk's hoarse voice made us both fall mute. "You do realize that while we're having this fancy little chat our humans are only hearing us make grunts and cries and squeaks. Do you mind if we go back to the damned dance? Or is that too much to ask?" She made a snapping-sound with her whip-like arms, and the gym leader must have taken that as a gesture to proceed. In truth, it wasn't to our benefit to waste too much time, since Valentine was poisoned and the clock still ticked.

"Try poisoning the cat again, König!" Mus said. "Unter, fighting on… let's say the cat too!"

Aaah, why were they both targeting me? They probably figured that Valentine was too weakened due to the poison and preferred to soften me up next. But it was fine! Valentine could just shoot another Psybeam at — oh crap, no she couldn't. I kept forgetting that stupid ruling this gym had about not spamming the same move.

"Try the thing again against the Muk!" Jarque shouted.

Right, Valentine could use Iron Tail again by now. This time I had to time it right! I appreciated that Jarque hadn't pressured me with a 'but get it right!' or even tried to soothe me with a vapid 'you'll do fine this time!', since I would find that condescending. He trusted me. He didn't need to say anything else because he knew I would do it right.

Valentine and I didn't even bother to share a look for confirmation. I bolted off running and I soon heard the Braixen's feet tapping against the wet floor close behind me. I decelerated as we got closer to the Muk, since Valentine was the one that had to initiate the combined attack. C'mon! We must have practiced this dozens of times! Valentine made her tail as durable as steel once more and bashed the Muk with it. I made sure to pay close attention, my eyes glued to her disheveled tail. The move Copycat would allow me to make use of my subconscious to execute any move, but it only worked on short-term memory.

I closed my eyes to concentrate on the recent memory of the Braixen hardening her tail to use it as a weapon. She used a combination of body heat manipulation and psychic shenanigans to turn the strands of fur in her tail into something akin to iron threads. As a half-flora creature, I could achieve a similar result by cleverly distributing nutrients through my tail, and the rest was artful deception. If I convinced this Muk that my tail had turned hard as iron, her mind would do the rest of the trick and make her feel as if she were being struck with steel. I opened up my eyes to slam my tail against the poison-type. My tail was short and stubby compared to a Braixen's, but it wouldn't hurt any less.

Success! We did the thing! Jarque had proposed making the most of my Protean ability by turning me into a type that was immune to poison, but I didn't know any poison or steel moves. But Valentine did! By copying her Iron Tail, I could achieve an immunity to poisoning!

The Muk released another burst of Toxic on my face. I felt steadfast and unshakable, not even flinching when the horrid-smelling gunk covered my face. I had subconsciously hardened the fur around my face in response, making the black slime fall off my face as if sliding down a well-polished surface. Good luck trying to poison a steel-type, bitch! Oh, yeah. As a grass-type at heart it felt amazing to finally be able to fend off poison moves as if they were nothing. Hah! I felt on the top of the world! There was nothing that could —!

I received a punch to the face that sent me flying. That hurt more than any punch I had ever received in my life. Must've been the Croagunk, duh. But what attack was that? How did it hurt so bad? It's not like I was weak to — goddammit, I was weak to fighting now, wasn't I.

"Drain Punch to the face! Aha!" the Croagunk boasted.

Valentine helped me stand up as she glared at the Croagunk. "Drain Punch on top of that Black Sludge? Are all of you using defensive strategies?" She turned to me for a moment and pressed two fingers on her temple. "Black Sludge is the item he is holding, according to Jarque. It's like Leftovers for poison-types," she told me through telepathy. She must have communicated with Jarque a moment ago.

The Croagunk snickered as he beat his gunk-covered chest. "That's not all, babe! I got me a Dry Skin that makes all forms of water heal me, including rain! That's three different ways for me to recover health!"

The Muk whipped him with one of her long appendages. "Now don't go revealing your tricks to the enemy, will you?"

"Bah! It's not like they can tell their human!"

Valentine placed a paw on her temples, and I could just tell she was telling Jarque everything this loudmouth pokémon was spilling to us. Envious as I was, I had to admit that her telepathy did come in handy. Jarque would surely come up with a good strategy with all this info.

Still, uh… What was a good plan here? Protean always activated if I used any move, so I would lose my steel-typing if I did anything. Was this even a good typing for this dance? Sure, it made me immune to the gym's type specialty, but it also made me weak to the Croagunk's fighting moves. Besides, there was still the Muk's Thunder to deal with. I could alternate between Mud-Slap and a mimicked Iron Tail to block each of the Muk's attacks, Thunder and Toxic, but was that really the best option?

And how about Valentine? I don't know how much longer she would last. Both she and the Muk had been on the battlefield since the dance started. Probably the only reason Valentine had lasted so long was the Luminous Moss item she had stolen from the Muk, which was then triggered by the Tentacool's water attack. Its effects still lasted, boosting Valentine's endurance against ranged attacks.

"König, Thunder on the fox! Unter… ugh, Knock Off on the cat!"

There we go again. It seemed like the gym leader wanted to spread the damage, which made sense. I understood why the Muk would target Valentine, since I could just use Mud-Slap to block her sparklies. But, uh, Knock Off? Wasn't it that dark-type move that could, well, knock an item off? Neither me nor Valentine held any items anymore, since we had used them up. That was a strange choice of a move.

"His third move must be poison," Valentine relayed to me through her mind. "Jarque thinks that, since the Croagunk cannot use Drain Punch again so soon due to the gym's rules, his last move must belong to a type you are immune or resistant too. Since you are a steel-type right now, that probably means poison."

Oh. That's why he would retort to something random like Knock Off. Like, it's a good idea to bring a dark move to a fight where challengers are likely to bring psychic-types, but that attack wasn't particularly good against our team.

"Valentine…!" Jarque's voice! Here came our orders! Valentine and I waited with bated breath, not facing towards our trainer in order to avoid turning our backs to our opponents. "Valentine…" My fur felt scratchy. Why was he taking so long to issue an obvious order? Valentine knew Psybeam, she could use it right now, and we had a foe in front of us with a dual weakness to it. What was the holdup? Had Jarque suddenly gotten cold feet? No! I had learned that whenever the actions of my friends seemed weird, that probably meant I was missing something. "Got a plan! Valentine, Psybeam the Croagunk! Trust me! And Clover, you Copycat the Croagunk, targeting it!" Got it! I didn't like that he had mentioned Valentine first, but this was a very tense moment so it was all forgiven!

I ran towards the ever-smiling frog as his hands became covered in a dark mist. So Copycat a second time in a row, uh? This was a fancy little trick Jarque had come up with, and the gym people confirmed that it was allowed. Even in this gym, the rules allowed you to spam Copycat due to a technicality, since Copycat immediately makes you use a different move. It was in fact impossible to use Copycat twice in a row, since it would always call a move in between. For instance, I would have used Copycat, then Iron Tail, then Copycat, then Knock Off. So I wouldn't be using any move twice in a row, see!

As I stood in front of the Croagunk I noticed a purplish gleam in my peripheral vision. Valentine must have launched her Psybeam. All of our attacks came out in a matter of just a few seconds, although it felt like much longer. The Croagunk managed to punch me in the stomach with his dark fist before I could do anything, showing a better reaction time since he was the healthiest pokémon currently on the battlefield. That Knock Off hurt a bit. In spite of having no type advantage, he was a strong one. But now I would pay him back with his own coin!

… Or should I? I faltered for a fraction of a second. He was a fighting-type, so he would resist any dark moves I threw at him. Sure, Knock Off would remove his Black Sludge item, but did that matter when Valentine was sure to take him down in a single hit? Wouldn't it make more sense for me to focus on the Muk? Because she was casting a Thunder and — Hey! I could copy the Thunder! The Muk didn't resist electric moves herself! Valentine had already scored one knockout against the Tentacool, and everything pointed at her soon earning a second one against the Croagunk. I wanted to take down at least one pokémon myself! I didn't want all of Jarque's praise to fall on Valentine!

Yes! This was so clever! I turned towards the Muk, leaving the Croagunk behind me. The gleaming crystals scattered through the Muk's gooey body ceased to glow, indicating that a Thunder was about to fall. This one was targeted at Valentine, right? She had a natural high resistance to ranged moves, plus she had the protection of the Luminous Moss. Still, due to the poison I wouldn't bet on her enduring more than one. We had to win fast!

I looked to my side for but an instant, just enough to burn into my mind the image of the falling lightning bolt. Would I be able to copy that? Thunder was a very high-end attack. No, I had to trust myself! I raised an arm high, so high that it hurt, and I stared at the soft-gray cloudy sky. I saw it happen. I had identified the pattern of the sparks among the clouds. And I felt energized and lively. I had no idea what I was doing, or how I was doing it. But when I came to be, I was witness to a massive thunderbolt descending on the Muk. Copycat was a scary move.

To my surprise the Muk remained conscious, but she covered her body with her tentacled gooey appendages. Not the result I expected, but she couldn't possibly take much more abuse before she fell. I turned back towards the Croagunk, just in time to witness how Valentine's Psybeam finally landed on its target. This had all happened in a matter of seconds, but a pokémon could perceive time almost as if slowed down in moments of great tension.

After all was said and done, the Croagunk ended up lying face down on the floor. Now, the Muk withstanding the Thunder I could have seen coming, but I would have never imagined it possible for the Croagunk to take a direct hit from a psychic move and then stand up, albeit with difficulty. He had not fainted. How? I thought back to the beginning of the dance. What was I missing…?

My eyes widened. Venom Drench. It had completely escaped my mind. Valentine should still be under the effects of the Muk's crippling slime that lowered offense and speed in poisoned pokémon. The crafty vixen had used Flame Charge to counteract the speed loss, but there was nothing to do about the power drop other than grin and bear it. Valentine's Psybeams weren't at full power, that's how the Croagunk had endured one. I brought one paw to my leg, clasping it. If I had used Knock Off on the Croagunk as Jarque had asked, the extra damage might have made the frog faint. What's even worse, he would now heal due to his ability and his held —

I gritted my teeth so suddenly I nearly bit my tongue. Where was his item? The Black Sludge was no longer to be seen plastered across his chest, even though I hadn't used Knock Off against him at the end. Cold drops ran down my back, and I couldn't tell if it was my sweat or the rain. Valentine and I had different abilities, but they had one thing in common: they were uncontrollable. We couldn't choose not to activate them. So long as the Braixen was unequipped, she would always subconsciously try to steal any items from her foes.

I understood. Too late. But I understood. The gym leader had commanded his Tentacool to use Surf earlier to activate Valentine's Luminous Moss on purpose, anticipating that he would soon bring out a pokémon holding a Black Sludge, an item beneficial only to poison-types. Valentine's Magician ability was only operative while she didn't hold any items, which was why the leader went out of his way to activate the Moss so that it would be used up.

That's why Jarque was so hesitant to ask Valentine to do the obvious thing and Psybeam a Croagunk. Because that meant she would end up holding a Black Sludge whether she wanted it or not, regardless of whether the Croagunk fainted or not. I don't even know how a ranged Psybeam can steal an item. Teleportation? Telekinesis? Who freaking cares. That's not what matters here. Magician would always trigger if she attacked any equipped foe, but Jarque had figured out a way around it! If I had copied Knock Off as asked, I would have removed his item and then Valentine would have safely knocked him out.

Hesitant, I turned towards Valentine. She was badly hurt, poisoned, and now that Black Sludge would act as a second layer of poison. She seemed to have trouble breathing as she tried to no avail to remove the purple grease that had become stuck to her chest, letting out desperate pants. The mild-mannered fox was always such a prissy princess, so it probably caused her great distress that her fur was wet and dirty and covered in mud. We both hated baths, but I think neither of us would mind one right now. She kept trying to remove the Sludge, but it was stuck not just to her fur but to her skin. Once the battle ended it could be easily and safely removed thanks to human technology and the assistance of other pokémon, but there was no getting rid of that in the middle of battle, not with her naked paws.

I took one trembling step towards Valentine as she slowly turned her head to me. "How could you miss your timing again? How can someone be so careless?" She let her arms hang, abandoning the idea of scraping the Sludge off any time soon. "You struck the Muk. That wasn't even your intended target, Clover." She held herself in an embrace. "… Did you do this on purpose?"

"A-Ah." I stared down to the mud-covered ground, my tail hanging low.

Valentine's eyes widened by the moment. "Oh buttercakes, you did do it on purpose! Do you hate me so much?" I dared to look at her. I expected to find anger in her eyes. Indignation. Perhaps hate. But I no longer felt an inch of warmth in my body when I realized that the only emotion reflected in her eyes was fear. "Do you want to monopolize master so much? Well, you know what? He's all yours! I don't give a shit anymore! Just leave me alone!"

The Croagunk interceded with palms held together. "Now, girls, let's play nice with each other…"

Valentine threw an accusing finger at him. "You shut up, you creep!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"I'm going to beat the crap out of all of you! I'm sick of being a loser!" Valentine turned to me, anger returning to her eyes like moths to a flame. "And then master will praise and love me."

Wait. Wait. I'm the one that's supposed to be clingy here!

"It's okay!" Jarque said. No, no it wasn't. He had no idea what we were talking about. "This battle cannot last much more. Just please endure for a little longer!"

The referee giggled. I don't know why that slut thought this was an appropriate moment to giggle, but giggle she did. "Uuuh, there's so much drama going on in here! I kind of wish I could understand what they're saying, don't you, folks? I bet they just made up and swore friendship to each other, and it was very emotive and cute! Mistakes happen. That's okay. But, well, how about we continue the battle?"

The gym leader watched with mild amusement, then brought a tattooed hand to his mouth as he shook his head. "What pitiful teamwork. This will be trivial. Double poison on the cat!"

They were still trying to poison me? Like, sure, this was the poison gym and all, but geez! Read the mood here! At least this had an easy solution. I just needed to become a steel-type again!

"Do the thing once more!" Jarque said. "Target the Croagunk!"

Yup, that's the plan! Valentine was free to use Iron Tail again after her previous Psybeam, and I was always allowed to use Copycat. By copying Valentine's steel-type move, I would gain a temporal immunity to the poison moves our opponents were about to use. Focusing my gaze on that annoying blue frog, I made a gesture to Valentine without looking at her, and then I dashed in the Croagunk's direction. A second passed, and I didn't hear Valentine's steps. I slowed down my pace. Another second passed, and still no Braixen steps within earshot. I slowed down my pace further, growing worried. Finally, before the next second passed, I began to hear the tapping of soft vulpine feet running across the muddy ground.

I kept approaching the Croagunk, but I couldn't help but feel nervous. This stratagem that we had dubbed the thing was a combined tactic that required Valentine and I to work together and time our moves. A terrifying doubt manifested in my mind. Would she actually do her part? Could I be sure that Valentine wouldn't leave me hanging, using a different move instead and leaving me at the mercy of my attackers? I had a hard time imagining the Braixen openly disobeying an order from our trainer, but before this I would have had a hard time imagining her getting this angry with me.

I had to trust Valentine. I wanted to trust Valentine. But goddammit, it was so hard to do. I looked to her chest, the Black Sludge stuck to her fur a reminder of my failure. I had screwed up, and she had ended up hurt because of me twice now. And even if I never did it on purpose, I couldn't deny that my blunders where in part caused by me wanting to stand out to attract Jarque's attention and getting too risky. Perhaps she would be justified if she disobeyed Jarque's command just to spite me and have me end up hurt for once. But I had to trust her. She wasn't like that, no matter how angry she was.

I stopped before the Croagunk, looking back to Valentine soon to reach us, and preparing to use Copycat as I paid close attention to the Braixen. I then had all of two seconds to react. The Braixen pressed hard on the ground with her right foot, putting her weight on her right leg. My body tensed up. I had seen her use the move enough times to know that Iron Tail's starting motion wasn't like that. She was supposed to rotate on that leg, not press it against the ground. I had all of two seconds to ponder my choices. I was about to be attacked by our foes, so there was no time to doubt. I had to make a decision now.

It hurt more than I thought it would, but it looked like Valentine had opted to use a different move and abandon me to my luck. What move? It couldn't be Psybeam again. What else did she have for this gym? Oh, Flame Charge. Yes, when using that move she would often bend her knee like that to begin a sprint. Should I Copycat it? I glanced to my side for a fraction of a second, noticing the Muk's Toxic aimed at me. No, there would be little point in copying that. Should I do something else? Other than Copycat and Mud-Slap I had…

Worth a try. My third attack required a bit of preparation, so I had to get to it right now. I grabbed the pink flower bud pinned to my chest with one paw, holding the vine that tied the flower to my body with the other. I could wield it like a short-range disk weapon, slinging it at the enemy and then exploiting its spin by pulling on the vine to make it return to me. It was similar to one of those toys that humans call yo-yos. This was an efficient way to put a little extra strength behind my attacks. I had very little time to prepare if I wanted to knock out the Croagunk before he had a chance to hit me back. I curved my vine to swing the bud to my left, taking a step forward so that the Croagunk would be within reach.

As I looked back to Valentine, my regret was immediate. She had repositioned herself, twirling around her ankle to slam her tail against the Croagunk. She really was using Iron Tail. The arena was covered in slippery mud due to the rain and all the poison attacks. Did it really not occur to me that Valentine could have simply slipped, and only needed a second to readjust her position? I also just recalled that Iron Tail was a particularly imprecise move that was hard to aim with. The Croagunk, little sneaky guy that he was, leaned back just in time to dodge the unsteady tail attack. Really, the surprise was that Iron Tail had not missed until now, given how inaccurate it was. The worst part was that Copycat could copy a move even if it missed.

Was I in time to follow up? I was in the middle of executing a different move, and I wasn't sure if I would be in time to interrupt it and copy Valentine's Iron Tail before any of our opponents attacked and messed with my timing. I had screwed up — again — but it was too late to go back on my decision now. If I stopped now there was a high likelihood I wouldn't get a chance to get an attack in at all.

A repugnant sludge soon covered my face. The Muk's Toxic, uh. Valentine and Diamie had both been poisoned during this battle, so maybe it was only fair that their leader also ended up in the same condition. As much as I wanted to use my paws to frantically scratch off the disgusting goop covering my mouth and nose, my hands were busy handling my bud-weapon. I forced a smile. The situation was terrible and I felt terrible and I smelled terrible and I didn't think for a second that we had even the slightest chance at victory anymore. But I smiled. Because I was the leader of Jarque's team, and a leader can never give up.

I threw my left arm forward and the hard flower followed its trajectory in an arc and then lunged ahead, crashing against the Croagunk at great speed. It was a piercing, stabbing strike, like the stinger of a bee or the thrusting of a rapier. Regardless of my ability I was a grass-type at heart, so it felt miserable to sense the poison flowing through my veins and tarnishing the already-marred fur and leaves on my body. But my opponents could never tell, given the wide smirk of confidence beaming in my face. All pain comes from within the mind after all, so that was the real target. My enemies had to believe I had everything under control, no matter how much it hurt inside. If needed, I would put on a front. A bluff. A phony mask. A Facade.

Money was hard to come by when you only had one badge, but Jarque had gathered just enough to buy two TMs, and both he had taught to me: Mud-Slap and Facade. Facade was a normal-type move of medium strength that different pokémon executed in different ways, but it usually involved putting on a brave front and attacking with all your might, leaving yourself unguarded. Imagine a pokémon that's badly burnt, or benumbed by an electric attack, or suffering from grave poisoning. You would expect them to remain docile, to barely fight back, to be easy prey. Now imagine such a pokémon suddenly lunging at you fiercely. You would assume that they must be incredibly strong to keep fighting despite everything!

That was Facade's trick. It resulted in an interesting psychological effect: the more you were suffering, the more pain the opponent would feel. And damn was I suffering.

The Croagunk made a shrill screech as the Facade struck him, then my yo-yo flower returned safely to its owner and was placed back near my neck where it belonged. It was a strong hit. But you need more than strong hits to take down a gym's pokémon.

He lunged at me, one eye closed, his face contorted by pain. I was pretty sure that the Croagunk would fall to literally any attack at this point. If it weren't for the rain healing him, he would already be down. But he managed to land his attack against me, his fist reaching across my stomach as it gleamed violet.

Each of this gym's pokémon had at least one move to capitalize on poison. The Muk had Venom Drench. The Tentacool had Hex. And, as I would be told later, this Croagunk had Venoshock, a poison move that dealt extra damage to foes already affected by the condition.

It was simply too much. I wasn't made of stone.

I fell on my back, watching the fluffy, pure-white clouds above get blurry as I felt the cold mud dirtying and dampening the fur on the back of my head, the repulsive stench that surrounded me making my stomach snarl. For once, I wouldn't mind a bath right now. At least I could count my blessings that I didn't fall on my face. I tried to move my arms to pull myself up, and when that didn't work I tried to flail my legs, but those didn't respond either. This was it. I couldn't fight anymore. We had lost again.

"Hold on a second!" Ugh, the referee's voice. I had my eyes closed, but her annoyingly gleeful voice was unmistakable. "I don't think that poor Floragato can go on!" You don't say. "Challenger! Recall her!"

I would soon find myself in the comfort of my sphere. Any time now… But before leaving the battlefield for good, I did hear one last lament from someone near me. "I will win if I have to do it alone…"

I think I drifted off to sleep for perhaps a few dozen seconds, just a quick rest. When I came to be I was inside my sphere of red and white. The technology of humans was impressive; I was already feeling a little better. I was still dirty and my fur was a mess, and I could still feel the poison coursing through my veins. We would need to pay a center a quick visit to solve that last one. Thankfully, pokéballs exploited a few particular quirks in how our immune systems worked, granting a calming, sedative effect such that even if you were badly hurt at least you wouldn't feel pain or get any worse. Why did some pokémon not want to have trainers? They were so missing out.

"… Psybeam!"

It confused me that the voice came from above. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that it was Jarque issuing out a command. Right, I was back on the pokéball on his belt. I wondered if Diamie was watching the dance too, from the sphere by my side. What would happen now? Had we lost? It was now Valentine alone against two opponents. Yes, maybe we had lost already.

My attention was drawn to the arena due to an intense flash of purple. The Croagunk threatened to make contact with a fist attack — presumably Drain Punch — and there was simply no way Valentine could take another hit in her current state. So how fortunate it was then that she managed to deliver her psychic attack before the Croagunk got close enough to endanger her. Venom Drench or not, the Croagunk had now received a total two psychic attacks plus many other weaker blows through the battle, so he couldn't possibly endure any longer. And, rather predictably, the frog fell flat on his face within the next second.

"Woo, this is getting interesting!" the referee said. I get that she was only trying to liven up the show for the humans and pokémon watching the gym match, but I kind of hated her attitude. "Now even Mr. Croagunk can go on no more! This has become a one-on-one now, folks! You would think we are one of those boring regions out there that fight their battles like that!"

This was perhaps about the worst thing that could happen. Great, give us false hope. Make us believe victory is still within reach, only to steal the prize from before our eyes at the very last moment and make defeat feel even worse. Ugh. I just wanted this to be over. I wanted a bath and a hug. Because, strong as Valentine was, she was one mean glare away from falling unconscious. She had been suffering through the poisoning and the Black Sludge for far too long. The Braixen was incredibly determined to have endured this far, and I was kind of amazed at her extreme loyalty towards our cause, but that Muk was just too strong. But hey, at least the Muk wasn't healing. Can you imagine…?

"Impressive display, Unter," Mus, the gym leader, said to the sphere of red and white he held in his hand before storing it away. "Now, shall we end this already?"

Jarque peeked up to the sky for a second, then looked back to the gym leader. "Now hold on a sec here. Uh…" He looked over the battlefield as if looking for something, then pointed at the Muk with an open palm. "How is that one still kicking?"

The tattooed man chuckled. "Her species boasts great defenses and endurance. How is your pokémon still standing?"

"We stole your Luminous Moss, remember? And then most of the attacks you have used in this match are special, which my Braixen already has a decent natural resistance to." He pointed a finger at the Muk as he wagged it. "But, uh… your pokémon has endured too many attacks in any case, so what is, uh… oh, I know! What is its ability?"

Mus adjusted the piercing on his lips. That looked kind of creepy on a human. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you by this point. Power of Alchemy."

"Oh!" Jarque clapped his hands as he nodded his head. "No clue what that one does. Care to explain?"

Mus sighed as he closed his eyes. "I suppose it is an extremely obscure ability, unique to her species. It allows her to adapt her body to copy the ability of the first ally that faints in her presence."

"That was…" Jarque placed his hands against his temples as he looked up, thinking hard. He knew it was the Tentacool. Had he forgotten? Or was he just trying to be an entertaining showman before all these people? "Oh! It was the Tentacool, wasn't it? That's why your Muk's arms have adopted tentacle-like configurations! And the Tentacool's ability was…" C'mon, you cannot have forgotten already. Now I was sure he was delaying on purpose. "Right! Rain Dish! And, uh, what did that one do again?"

"… It allowed my Tentacool, and now my Muk, to heal under the rain." Mus crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at my trainer. "Are you stalling for time?"

Jarque was quick to sway his hands from side to side. "No, I'm just surprised you can hold a conversation at all. I think you have spoken more in this convo than through the entirety of the match."

Mus stayed silent for a moment, and Jarque made no attempt to interrupt this pause. "Your pokémon is poisoned and afflicted by the Black Sludge. There is a nonzero chance that she will faint if we just wait. It only benefits us if you stall for time." He raised his arms in a flair of unnecessary drama. "Still, I would rather end this on my own terms. König, win us the match!"

The Muk's last used move was Toxic, so she could immediately use a perfect accuracy Thunder again. It was over. Even if Valentine was faster, and she probably was, none of her attacks was super effective against the Muk, who was still relatively healthy due to Power of Alchemy turning into Rain Dish and healing her.

"Valentine, chain Iron Tail and Flame Charge and keep alternating between the two! Don't wait for orders! Just keep bashing that Muk!" Neither move was a good choice. Iron Tail was inaccurate, and Flame Charge was weakened by the rain. But they could at least hit the dark-type Muk at all, unlike Psybeam.

In a flash, Valentine struck the Muk with her hardened tail as the Muk's crystals gleamed yellow, making her wince. But that wasn't enough to take the Muk down. We were so damn close. The Muk raised her tentacle-like arms and summoned a bolt of lighting from the skies. Then, showing an impressive reaction time, Valentine took a quick step to the side and dodged the lightning strike, even if just barely.

I heard Diamie gasp in the sphere by my side. I made no sound, but I wasn't any less baffled. What we had just witnessed should be impossible. Thunder never missed under rain. I looked up from inside my pokéball, up, up above, to that cloudy but otherwise dry sky.

The rain had abated.

Uh. I forgot the rain could just do that. Monsoon seasons were really weird. Thunder was a fearsome move in a rainy battleground, but it became slightly less fearsome when the skies were clear since it could at the very least miss. In fact, a natural Thunder was on the inaccurate side. I knew Jarque had watched the weather channel quite a bit back at the inn, but I just thought that was because he found the forecaster hot or something. He must have been stalling on purpose before because he knew today's rain wouldn't last that long.

That, however, didn't mean we had won. Valentine, trying to make the most of the ensuing confusion even though she was a bit puzzled herself, was quick to launch a Flame Charge against the vulnerable Muk, who had already assumed the fight was over. Since it no longer rained, she could now use her fire moves at full power!

They traded attacks so fast, that it was probably hard for the human eye to follow. It was hard for me to follow. Seeing the Muk's lack of reaction, Valentine tried to whack her with another Iron Tail, but the poison-type managed to avoid this one. The gym leader had not issued a command yet because he was still processing the situation. He took a quick glance at the sky, and he understood. "König, continuously alternate between Thunder and Venom Drench! Await no further orders!"

The Muk fired a layer of weakening sludge at Valentine. Her Flame Charges would at least make up for the speed loss, but her attacks would become weaker and weaker over time. But that didn't stop her. Valentine unleashed another full-power Flame Charge against the Muk. She responded with another Thunder, but Valentine anticipated it and avoided it in the nick of time. Valentine counterattacked with another Iron Tail, then didn't stop as the Muk released another Venom Drench, and cut through it with her Flame Charge. It's as if the Braixen was in a mad frenzy, gone berserk. As the Muk prepared another Thunder, Valentine managed to get an attack in before she did, striking with her tail once more. And that was the move that would close out this dance.

The Muk lay in a puddle, interrupting her Thunder. She closed her eyes. "Knew you had it in you, kid…"

Silence. Anticipation. Referee, you decide to pick now to stay silent?

"I don't think Ms. Muk can fight anymore!" She gave her boss a look of confusion, as if waiting for his approval. The gym leader sighed, stretched out his arms above his head, then nodded to her with closed eyes. "Gotcha! We got ourselves a winner, folks! And to almost everyone's surprise… the challenger gets the victory!"

Cheering. Lots of cheering. Also a few boos, but those were drowned out by all the cheering.

Valentine knelt in front of the Muk. "C-Can I faint now?"

"You have been declared the victor already. Knock yourself out."

"Oh, thank freaking goodness."

Valentine let herself collapse on the ground, the mud softening the fall. She hated getting grime on her fur perhaps even more than I did, so she must have been totally drained to just fall down like that instead of at least sitting down with care or something. She hadn't fainted, not yet, but I wouldn't bet on her staying conscious for much longer.

Jarque darted towards the Braixen, getting his shoes wet with mud and nearly falling as he haphazardly rushed through what now amounted to a mire, then knelt by her side as he held her head high. Ugh, he was going to get his pants dirty if he crouched like that, and he didn't have that many spare ones. Human clothing was surprisingly expensive, apparently. Mus, the gym leader, also journeyed through the slippery mud towards the center of the arena, but he advanced with more care and taking more measured steps, although not slowly.

Jarque caressed the nearly unconscious Braixen's forehead and removed some dirt off her face. I would be jealous if it weren't because of her sorry state. Given her impressive feat, this girl deserved that much at least. Valentine gathered whatever little strength she had left to lift an arm and roughly point at Jarque's belt, unable to gather the energy to speak to his mind. She wanted to return to her sphere to mitigate the pain. Understandable.

Jarque gave the back of her head a quick pat, then reached for her sphere of red and white. "That takes a lot of guts to keep struggling after going through so much, Valentine. I'm real proud of you, and I hope you are too." I had to remind myself to keep my envy at bay. Valentine had done a magnificent job, and we owed this victory to her. I knew that. All the praise she was getting was more than well-deserved. I knew that. So this didn't mean Jarque now liked her best, or anything. I was surely still his favorite. I… knew that. Right?

The gym leader also had some formal although warm words for his Muk, then both humans recalled their downed pokémon to signal the official end of the gym match. Honestly, tattoos and piercings and all, this Mus guy didn't look that scary from up close. I wondered for a moment if his aloof persona was just a facade for his fans, a mask he would put on in front of an audience. Well, not that it mattered to me. He offered Jarque a hand to help lift him up, which my human accepted after a pause of disconcert.

"Here you go." Mus placed a small item in Jarque's hand while the referee entertained the audience. The shiny metallic object had a shape similar to one of those containers Jarque uses to drink. "This one's the Cup Badge," Mus explained, then produced another metallic object, this one flat and purple-hued. "Also, here's the customary TM for clearing a gym challenge."

Jarque let out a low chuckle. "Finally. The TM for Rain Dance."

"No, you doofus, that's Toxic."

"Now, I might not be the most polite guy around, but calling me toxic is kinda harsh."

"Just grab the damn disc."

Still chuckling, Jarque picked up the item and stored it into his backpack. We were strapped for money and TMs were expensive, so we were not going to say no to such an enticing gift. Or rather, not a gift — this is something we had rightly earned!

"Lucky victory. Now get out of my sight," Mus said in a loud voice, then leaned in and whispered. "You and your team gave the crowd a great show. Congratulate them on my behalf." He leaned back, going back to a loud although temperate voice. "Go! Scram!"

Humans were even harder to understand than I thought. But at least it was official now — two badges! Six more to go!

Six, uh. That's kind of a lot. But that was a problem for future us. For today, we focus only on commemorating the occasion! I was already anticipating how we would celebrate tonight and how much fun we would have. Maybe my trainer would be even more affectionate than usual! First, a quick visit to a pokémon center was of course customary — literally all of us were poisoned — but after that it would be all rejoicing and letting loose until then moon was high in the sky, and then even further on! I wondered how many hours of sleep I would get tonight, if any at all!

As for Valentine… she had gotten a little mean with me, but she would, uh, calm down for sure. That was just the stress of the fight…