Chapter 5: The Art Of Battle

The next morning arrived, sunlight peeking through the thin gaps in the closed window blinds. I awoke to the playful cries of Mira and Pyro as they wrestled around playfully on the floor. I sighed grumpily, pulling the pillow over my head in a futile attempt to stay asleep. Unfortunately, the slight movement prompted the two to move their antics up onto the bed. Apparently, I wouldn’t be sleeping in very much this summer.

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” Yawning and stretching, I made my way sleepily to the bathroom to clean up.

Breakfast was a short and simple affair, a nice bowl of cereal for myself and the rest of the carton of strawberries for Mira and Pyro. At the mere sight of berries, Mira’s mouth watered as she yipped excitedly. I guess she really enjoyed them last time compared to whatever her normal diet was. She happily pounced on the box as I put it down, knocked a few over to Pyro then dove into the rest of her meal. Pyro nervously sniffed the berries and nibbled one gingerly. After a moment of contemplation his expression immediately brightened, and he joined Mira in the scrumptious berry genocide.

I began packing all the gear I thought we might need on the road. Even though we could just return home if we needed to, it just didn’t feel in the spirit of adventure. What was the point of exploring a brand new world if you just returned home every evening? Plus, I wasn’t 100% sure how often we could actually teleport around, seeing as it took quite a while to recharge.

Luckily, camping equipment was no problem; Kevin and I had gone camping quite a few times and, with me having more storage space lying around, I ended up with the bulk of our gear. A one-person tent, sleeping bag, even lightweight cooking supplies, all packed and ready to go. I was sure he wouldn’t mind me borrowing them in the least. Having gathered and packed everything I could think of, I finally beckoned to Mira and Pyro after they had licked their breakfast portions clean. “Come on, let’s get going.” Pulling out their pokéballs, I recalled them before activating the ODT. The shining sphere filled my vision as I stood there, stoked for our new adventures.



My view cleared, vibrant green vegetation greeting me as expected. We were in the small clearing in the park; thankfully, there was no sign of our previous encounter with that crazy ‘Team Origin’ trainer. I hurried back through the trees to the pokémon center. Although it looked as if Pyro was recovering well, I still wanted to give him a checkup to make sure everything was alright.

I approached the front counter, “Excuse me, I’d like to give my Cyndaquil a checkup to make sure he’s healthy”. I released Mira and sat Pyro’s ball on the counter. She sniffed curiously at the ball for a second, then jumped to a comfortable vantage point on my shoulder.

The nurse glanced over and her eyes lit up with a wave of recognition. “Oh! You’re that trainer who registered the other day. I thought you had left town already.” She accepted Pyro’s ball and placed it on the scanner, then examined the data on the adjacent console. I fidgeted nervously in place, waiting for the results.

“No, I didn’t leave, but something unexpected kinda came up.”

A pause, while the pokéball in the scanner glowed brightly. “I do have a couple of questions though. Do you know anything about an organization called ‘Team Origin’?” She thought for a moment as Pyro’s results began scrolling down the monitor.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard of them.” The scanner beeped, and she handed me back Pyro’s ball. “It seem like you two’ve had quite a battle. Fortunately, your Cyndaquil appears to be recovering nicely. A few lingering bruises, but he should be completely healthy by the end of the day - just make sure not to engage in any rough battles in the meantime.”

I thanked her and accepted the ball, thinking in place for a moment. If this place was anything like the games, there should be a pokemon professor somewhere in the region. There, I’d have the best chance of answering my questions about the ODT and the mysterious team Origin. “Could you also give me directions to the pokémon lab?”

She happily pulled out a local map, indicating to me the location and route to the place. “The most direct path should be about a week’s worth of travel, but if you take the longer route here, you can stop at several towns a few days apart along the way.” Thanking her, I folded up the map and walked back out into the park.

I looked over at Mira, still perched my shoulder. “Might as well get going,”

She yipped in approval, and we set out along the road.



Nothing much happened that day; we made some good progress down the route, stopping a few times to rest and view the scenery. Unlike the suburban area I came from, we could travel through stretches of road that were completely devoid of any sign of human habitation, aside from the narrow dirt path. Lush trees lay on one side of the road and open grassland on the other, culminating in a few mountains that dotted the azure skyline in the distance. I had decided to stop at the first town right after the route forked to resupply, then head back down the scenic and more direct path. Besides, the scenery around us was absolutely beautiful. We set up camp for the night under a thicket of trees, Pyro lighting our campfire for dinner. I had kept him in his ball for most of the day so that he could rest and heal instead of wearing himself out by walking around with us. It looked like it was working, as he was back to his playful self by the end of the evening.

We got up early the next morning and packed up, setting out with a breakfast of trail mix on the road. I wanted travel at a leisurely pace and enjoy ourselves, and so that we could make it to the next town by nightfall; although I enjoyed camping, nothing beat a soft bed to sleep in if I could help it.

Around noon, we stopped on the bank of a quiet little stream crossing the road. The place seemed perfect for lunch - tall shady trees covering a nice grassy spot on the banks, plenty of fresh water, some berry bushes peeking out of the trees a bit downriver. I released Pyro, letting him stretch his legs and get some fresh air while I gathered and prepared our lunch. I had already let him out a few times along the way, but he had opted to just rest in his ball for most of the morning. Mira had spent the morning out of her ball, walking beside and riding with me and just enjoying the scenery.

After a quick sandwich and some harvested berries, I decided that we had some time to spare, so I directed thw two of them to another round of battle training. With the wide open space by the river, it seemed we had enough room for me to safely observe the technique on Pyro’s ember attack. Standing a safe distance behind him, I pointed at some medium-sized rocks jutting out of the middle of the water. “Pyro, I want you to try hitting those rocks with ember.”

“Cyn...” I watched as he focused on the target, breathing slowly and deeply.

“-da!” Flames sprung from his back and a thick stream erupted from his maw, the glowing embers shooting forward and distorting the air with heat. However, they drifted off-target, hissing as they missed and landed harmlessly into the water. Frustrated, Pyro dug his feet into the ground and prepared to try again.

“Try to focus on your aim and not so much on power. Hitting the target is much more important.”

He nodded in response and continued on with the exercise as I turned to look at Mira. To my surprise, she was staring intently at Pyro, watching him practice. When she realized that I was watching, she averted her gaze and tried to look uninterested.

I smiled, patting her on the head. “And as for you, let’s see if you can learn quick attack.” She rolled her eyes, nonchalantly standing up and taking the time to casually stretch her legs before she walked into position. I picked up a small stick and waved it around to get her attention. “Use tackle with as much speed as you can and try to catch the branch before it hits the ground.”

I tossed it a few dozen yards and Mira streaked after it. As she neared the target, I could see the beginnings of a white vapor trail behind her as she jumped to catch the branch a few feet off the ground.

“Great catch, Mira!” She walked back, grinning through the stick in her mouth. “You almost had it there.” I praised, “Let’s try it again.”

After a few dozen attempts, Mira seemed to have gotten the hang of quick attack, at least when she was concentrating hard enough. We stopped to take a break and to check on Pyro’s progress at the river. However, we were surprised to find the target boulders completely charred black and smoking. Instead, Pyro was busy peering at a group of dark shadows underneath the flowing surface, firing shot after shot, each hissing as they struck the flowing river. Seems like he was satisfied with his success and had decided to move onto moving target practice with the river’s aquatic residents.



I started packing up; that was enough for one day, we’d best get back on the road. I motioned for them to follow, but paused when I heard a soft rustle in the nearby bushes. I glanced over at Mira and Pyro, who shrugged. Nothing happened for a few seconds, so we began walking across the nearby bridge and down the path, sun still high in the cloudless sky.

Suddenly, movement, behind us.

A shadowy figure streaked across the water, leaping from stone to stone and landing on the other side. It had rosy pink skin, with a white cottony collar gleaming in the bright sunlight. It’s tail glittered a brilliant blue as it bent over to catch its breath.

Shoot, don’t remember which one that is... been too many years since I played these games. I fumbled in my bag for the pokédex, which automatically responded.

“Flaaffy, the Electric Wool pokémon. Its fluffy cotton stores vast amounts of electricity which it uses to paralyze foes.”

I peered at the flaaffy, who was now cautiously taking a drink from the stream. Another rustle from the bushes and the electric type jumped at the sound. It peered around fearfully, especially at the side of the river it had emerged from. Another rustle, this time from the treetops, then a few bright green blurs sailed from the branches and landed on the opposite shore, crossing the river in a single leap.

“Treecko and Grovyle, the Wood Gecko pokémon. No foe is able to outmatch their agility in the forest canopy.”

The three newcomers surrounded Flaaffy, menacingly baring their sharp fangs and claws. The single grovyle, which I assumed to be the leader, stepped forward and growled out a few words, probably some sort of threat or warning.

“What’s going on here...” I wondered aloud. This gang didn’t seem to be the most friendly pokémon around, especially as the flaaffy was practically quivering in fear. We silently crept closer to get a better view. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any serious action; the flaaffy would be at a serious disadvantage in a 3-on-1 battle without a type advantage.

The flaaffy took a few steps back, then realized it was backed up against the treeline, with no means of escape from the native treedwellers.

“Gro-vyle!” The grovyle leapt forward and slashed fiercely at Flaaffy with its razor sharp claws. Flaaffy barely managed to dodge the strike but I knew it wouldn’t last long in melee combat while boxed in like that. After a few swipes Flaaffy stumbled back, sporting a fresh bleeding gash on its leg. Grovyle smirked, knowing that victory was inevitable. Although I desperately wanted to help, there was nothing I could do; with Mira lacking battle experience, we were still outnumbered and didn’t really have any options.

Grovyle nodded at his pals and raised his claw, intending to finish the fight quickly.

Suddenly, a barrage of flaming embers struck one of the flanking treecko, knocking it down and leaving some mild burns on its abdomen. Everyone turned to look at the source of the attack and our eyes all fell on... Pyro. What in the world is he doing? There’s no way he can handle a fight like this! Evidently, Pyro wasn’t content sitting on the sidelines and instead rashly decided to jump into the fray.

The two treecko quickly recovered and, with a signal from Grovyle, ran over to engage the new threat, leaving Flaaffy and Grovyle some breathing room in their battle. Seeing as remaining hidden was pointless now, I abandoned my cover to give Pyro some direction; with two-on-one odds, we’d be lucky just to hold our ground. Mira rode on my shoulder with a deathly grip, gritting her teeth out of nervousness. The three of us faced off with our adversaries.

The treecko split, one running around to flank us and the other rushing forward. Its heavy tail glowed white as it swung with a hefty pound attack. Pyro carefully dodged to the side and turned to retaliate with another searing fire attack, only to get blindsided by a tackle from the rear. He clambered back to his feet and growled fiercely, ready to continue the fight. The treecko skirted in tandem around opposite sides of the battlefield to regroup. After a moment’s nod they darted in again, leaping into the air and twirling their tails in unison with a double pound.

“Quick! Defense Curl and flare your back!” I yelled.

Pyro braced himself into a small ball, large bright orange flames erupting from the glowing vents on his back. Unable to change their trajectory, both treecko landed their attack straight into the flames, sending Pyro sliding along the ground. They immediately jumped back clutching their newly burned tails. Seeing them preoccupied, I called out, “Use ember again!”

The treecko regained their composure just as Pyro fired a flurry of embers. One was able to dodge the stream but the other got nailed by the attack, knocking it unconscious with some severe burns. Seeing his comrade down for the count, the remaining foe retaliated with a blindingly fast quick attack. Pyro struggled to get back up after the impact, the wind knocked out of him. I could tell that he wouldn’t be able to keep going for much longer; one more direct hit and we would probably lose.

Treecko bounded back to regroup with Grovyle, who was still combating the stubbornly defensive Flaaffy. No longer being pinned the odds were more even between the two, and Flaaffy had managed to get off a few retaliatory hits. Grovyle was now limping as the two circled each other, one leg partially paralyzed. Seeing as they were making little headway, Grovyle paused to reassess the shifting advantage, then sounded to retreat. Collecting their fallen teammate, the two hastily jumped back across the river and disappeared like shadows into the woods.

“All right, good job Pyro!” He was pretty bruised up but at least he was still able to grin at the victory. Mira jumped down to congratulate Pyro, nuzzling him gently on the cheek. Meanwhile, I looked back at the Flaaffy, who was kneeling on the ground covered in lightly bleeding lacerations. I approached the figure cautiously, “Come on, let’s get you healed up.”

Alarmed, it growled a warning, and a few small bolts of electricity arced from its fleece collar into the surrounding ground with a loud sizzle.

I jumped back immediately. “Okay, okay, I’ll leave you alone.” Poor thing, must be scared out of its mind. Flaaffy seemed surprised at my acquiescence, but still eyed us warily. It slowly dragged itself to its feet and staggered into the forest, glancing back at us every few seconds to make it wasn’t followed. I continued to gaze as the figure slowly faded into the underbrush. I wonder what that was all about?

I felt Pyro paw at my leg and, remembering the battle, I pulled out some healing potions and gently sprayed Pyro’s bruises. He winced at the touch, but in a matter of minutes his injuries looked visibly better. We slowly started back down the path, hoping to reach the next city before nightfall.

- - -

It wasn’t until early in the evening that we crested yet another hill, finally spotting the next town, it’s glowing lights beckoning in the dim twilight. I was thoroughly exhausted after walking straight for two days; if foot travel was going to be my primary means of transportation, I really needed to get back in shape! We didn’t encounter anything notable along the way, only a few practice battles for Pyro against some of the weaker pokémon like rattata. Each was a piece of cake for him, even though he was a little sore from those troublesome trio.

Mira had fallen asleep sprawled atop my head, snoozing gently as I entered the town and made my way to the pokécenter. This town seemed to be a little bigger than the last, but still not a large metropolis. As we approached the center I noticed a large building next to it, inscribed with a large pokémon battle symbol. It appeared to be a battle hall, probably the kind of place where they would hold tournaments and other kinds of contests. In fact, as I handed over Pyro to the nurse, I spotted a poster for an upcoming pokémon battle tournament. Below it sat Mira, gazing up in wonder at the fierce battlers depicted: a ferocious Charizard facing off against a quick-footed Jolteon, fire and sparks flying between them.

I bent down beside her and pat her gently on the head. “Interested in battles, huh?”

She looked back at me and nodded timidly. It seemed like she was still unsure if it was a good idea, but I could tell she really admired Pyro’s prowess. I figured she could use some encouragement.

I picked her up in my arms. “How about this: let’s us three enter in this tournament, and see how it goes from there?” She gave me a warm smile in agreement, her confidence boosted. I didn’t know how well we would do, but I guess there really wasn’t any harm in trying. Besides, I knew Pyro would totally be up for the challenge.

As I received Pyro’s ball and released him, I inquired about the tournament poster. Evidently, the tournament was split into two days, with the qualification matches the next afternoon and the rest of the tournament the rest of the day after. Also, I found out that the each of the winners would receive a full set of elemental evolution stones! I didn’t how Mira felt about evolution, but the prizes would definitely come in handy should she want to.

Sign-up was at the center, since all the trainers came through anyways. I ended up entering in the 2-on-2 singles bracket, as well as reserving a room for the duration of the tournament. Exhausted, we all retired to our room for the night.



As evening crept in, I decided that we should all get a good night’s rest. However, before bed I ushered Mira and Pyro into the bathroom.

“Alright, you two. After a couple days’ travel, you two desperately need a thorough bath.” I thought Mira might enjoy a nice soak, but I suspected getting Pyro to cooperate was going to be difficult. Pyro’s eyes widened, finally noticing steam rising from the adjacent tub. He attempted to avoid my grip as I tried to coax the stubborn fire-type, only giving up once I managed to catch and pick him up.

“You don’t want to stay all dusty and filthy, right?” He wiggled a bit more in hopes that I would drop him and he could make a break. “I know you don’t like water, but think of it as training for any water-types we might face.”

At this thought his struggling diminished, but he remained tense as I slowly lowered him gently into the water. Mira had already jumped in and was happily soaking her smooth fur. Once Pyro appeared satisfied with the warmth of the water, I began scrubbing both of them down, soap lathering up in frothy bubbles. Mira purred contentedly as I rubbed behind her ears and her thick collar, the dirt starting to seep out. The steam gave the tiny room a sense of calm, even Pyro began to relax a bit once he got acclimated to his surroundings.

I managed to rinse out most of the grime in their fur, taking Mira out and drying her before she promptly shook water all over the bathroom. She fidgeted in my arms, trying to reach a comfortable position while I ruffled dry her damp brown fur. I was about to do the same to Pyro, but he gave me and the damp towel a sharp glare and immediately dried himself off with a quick burst of fire. I guess it helped to be a living hairdryer like that.

I flopped down on the bed, ready for a good night’s rest. Mira crawled over to curl up next to me and I reached out to hug her close, keeping both of us nice and warm. A indignant poke on my arm told me Pyro didn’t want to be left out, and as he snuggled up next to Mira the four spots on his back glowed a dim warm red.

I looked down at the two snuggling contently and closed my eyes. How did I get so lucky to have you two?

- - -

We woke up early, wanting to make sure we were prepared for what was going to be the toughest series of battles we’d faced so far. After a quick bite of breakfast at the center, we meandered out back to the training fields behind the battle hall.

Considering that the tournament started later that day, I was surprised to find the field not crowded with trainers. A small group of people and their pokémon were spectating a practice battle between a sandslash and a totodile on one of the fields. After watching the battle wrap up, we settled down on a small patch of grass away from the other trainers to get some last-minute practice in. I had Pyro fire rounds of slow, cool embers at Mira to give her some practice with dodging and speed and for him, aim. Not powerful enough to actually hurt her, but at least realistic targets that would sting a little. She looked like the exercise was intimidating enough but with mine and Pyro’s shouts of encouragement it appeared that she was making steady progress. I could tell that Pyro really enjoyed helping Mira train, sharing such an integral part of his personality.

We stopped to take a break and eat around noon, and I also wanted to check out who our opponent was for this afternoon. The first qualification match was a 1-on-1, so I already knew I was going to use Pyro to make sure we at least passed on to the next round. Some extra information on what we’d be facing wouldn’t hurt, though.

It turned out our first opponent was a trainer a few years younger than me and his vulpix, so we were in for a tough type matchup. I asked Mira to wander around and try and learn from observing the other trainers that were starting to trickle in, while I discussed strategy with Pyro. I was sure that she wouldn’t mind straying far from us, as there was plenty of exciting action to keep her occupied.

- - -

Late in the afternoon, the fields were cleared so that the qualification matches could begin; the city didn’t have a huge league-scale stadium with multiple battlefields, so to get all of the matches out of the way, they needed to use some of the practice areas. Our match was scheduled just before sunset so we had some time to spectate the other trainers that, should we win, we might be facing the next day. Most of the trainers we saw seemed to have more battle experience than I, and possibly also Pyro, did. However, our bracket consisted of a lot of younger teens, so maybe we would have a fighting chance against a few of the more naïve trainers. Not that I was particularly any better, but Pyro would have a fighting chance.

Finally, we were called up to the field. Like we had been earlier, there were a few trainers standing around and spectating the various matches so we had some audience, although not a huge crowd. Pyro stepped out onto the battlefield and Mira climbed up on top of my shoulder to get a better view of the field. We all waited as our opponent stepped up and released his pokémon.

“Come on out, Amber!” The trainer yelled, throwing out his pokéball.

The customary red light flashed out and solidified, revealing his vulpix. The rust-colored fox let out a high-pitched battle cry, either in anticipation or just trying to intimidate Pyro. Even if it worked, Pyro didn’t show it. Instead, the vents on his back began glowing bright red with heat, and he concentrated on staring down our opponents as we waited for the start signal.

After making sure we were both ready, the referee called, “And, begin!”

“Pyro, use tackle head on!” He charged forward with a speed I hadn’t seen in him before, but only managed to land a glancing blow to Vulpix’s flank as she nimbly dodged to the side. Pyro skidded to a stop and turned to face Vulpix, but was met with a quick counter attack as she let out a barrage of embers. Off balance, he was unable to do anything to dodge the move and got knocked back with a few stinging burns. With Pyro being a fire-type, I knew that it wouldn’t do much damage physically, but I was worried about multiple hits wearing down his concentration and morale. To make matters worse, Vulpix followed up with another move, leaving a blazing white trail as she bolted towards Pyro with quick attack.

“C’mon, dodge it!” He got up to his feet, thoroughly annoyed with his singed fur. With amazing reflexes he deftly jumped above the oncoming fox. “Good, now try a smokescreen!”

Black smoke poured out of his maw and obscured the two combatants from view. I could hear Vulpix cry out in alarm, not a clue in which direction Pyro had landed. Mira, too, gave a cry of dismay, unable to pick out her friend in the growing cloud. Suddenly, I heard a startled “Pix!” as a second burst of embers emerged from the smoke.

“Good job, keep up the ember!” We had planned this beforehand, knowing that Ember would be the attack that would make it the most difficult to pin down Pyro’s position, while still dealing some damage and wearing down Vulpix. It seemed to be working for a while, as staggered outbursts of cinders kept flying out from the smoke.

I heard a shouted command from the other side of the field. The heart of the black cloud glowed orange, before a huge spinning ring of fire expanded outwards, blowing back most of the obscuring fog and leaving Pyro and Vulpix panting on their respective halves of the field. It looked like the two were pretty evenly matched, as both were sporting some mild burns and a couple of small bruises.

Not waiting a moment, the other trainer called out for Vulpix to use Dig. Vulpix smiled, burrowing into the ground in a puff of dust, faster than I thought was even physically possible.

“Careful, Pyro, try to figure out where she’ll come up.”

He stood still, trying to feel the vibrations in the earth below. After a few seconds of nothing, his eyes widened and he twisted to face the emerging Vulpix as she surfaced under his right side. She still flung Pyro up into the air with the powerful blow, but he was able to reorient himself and landed relatively safely on his feet. He stared down Vulpix as she emerged from the second hole and casually shook off the dust that was coating her fur. It seemed like we were at an even standoff.

Suddenly, Pyro let out a loud cry and began glowing with a brilliant white light. I can’t believe it! Pyro was evolving, during a battle of all times. Luckily, our opponent was just as stunned and didn’t try counter attack while he was helpless to dodge. Pyro’s outline shifted and reformed, the light fading to reveal a larger but similarly-colored quadruped. Pyro opened his bright red eyes, making a quick inspection of his new body, then returned his concentration to the continuing battle.

“Quilavaaa!” Pyro roared triumphantly and gave an intimidating leer at Vulpix, vigorous orange tongues of flame rippling out of his head and rear. Vulpix looked somewhat worried at this new development, backing up and shifting to a more defensive stance. Pyro’s pointed ears twitched at the slight sound and he prepared for the inevitable attack order.

“Now, let’s finish this with a fast tackle!” He dug into the ground and immediately sped off towards Vulpix. To my surprise, he was accompanied by a glowing vapor trail, mutating the tackle into a quick attack. He struck a surprise blow to Vulpix, who could only brace herself against the speedy impact. “And once more!” I called. Pyro dashed towards her again. Instead of trying to dodge, though, she opened her jaw to try and soften the blow with her ember attack.

“Spin and dodge it!”

Not quite as I intended, he spun head-over-heels directly towards the oncoming attack, maybe to try and jump over or slide under the stream. However, he made no attempt to dodge the glowing embers and instead plowed directly into the heart of the attack. The spinning flames on Pyro’s head brightened and ballooned upon contact with the hot coals, then his entire body burst into a spinning inferno. The embers dissipated upon contact as he continued on towards Vulpix with his newfound Flame Wheel attack; I guess all quilava learned the move instinctively when they evolved. With such a surprising tactic, I could see why Vulpix was unable to do anything except take the powerful blow head on. She slid to a stop at the feet of her trainer and collapsed to the ground, knocked out.

“Vulpix is unable to battle, so progressing to the tournament is Mark and his Quilava!”

Mira and I both cheered for Pyro as he bounded over and knocked me over with his new size as he gave me a spirited lick on the face. I congratulated him on evolving, as did Mira. She was busy sizing up his new physique, now considerably larger than her, much to his amusement.

Meanwhile, looked over to gaze at the other trainer. He bent down to pick up Vulpix. Smiling, I saw him give her a hug before recalling her back to her ball. He noticed us watching and gave a congratulatory salute before walking off. Although happy that we had won, I was relieved to see him take the defeat with good sportsmanship; we had to be pretty lucky considering that I had just began as a trainer a few days ago.



We returned to the pokémon center for the rest of the evening. Although we all were in a celebratory mood, the tournament had just started so we were nowhere close to winning just yet. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to ignore Mira and Pyro’s excitement, eventually breaking down and buying them some sweet treats called ‘poffins’ from the center’s mart. We hung out in the main lobby for a while, me watching the other tournament-goers and Mira busy trying to balance on Pyro’s back as he ran around in a circle playfully, enjoying his new agility.

“Hey, you! Mark!”

I looked up to find my last opponent walking over, his Vulpix following by his side. She wore some light bandages around her front flank and neck due to our match, but it didn’t look too serious. The nurses at the center probably took care of these kinds of injuries all the time.

“Oh, hi.” I didn’t know what else to say, since I didn’t even know his name. I had forgotten to introduce myself before or after our battle, but I guess he had looked me up in more detail afterwards.

“I just wanted to say congrats, I thought we had a great battle. My name’s Tyler, by the way.”

We talked for awhile, although I was careful not to gloat about us qualifying for the next round. He didn’t seem to mind a whole lot, as he explained that they entered into the tournament just for fun, to see how well they might stack up against other trainers before deciding if they wanted to take on the Gym Challenge. He asked how I came to own Mira and Pyro and I explained that I had befriended Mira first, then also Pyro before tagging them with pokéballs. Of course, I neglected to elaborate exactly how or where this happened, or where I was from.

I heard a yelp off to the side and looked over; apparently Mira had playfully tried to pounce onto the unsuspecting Vulpix from above and had received a light smack to the head in response.

“Come on you two, play nice.” Mira quietly muttered a small “Eevee” in apology and resumed playing with Pyro, with Vulpix just watching contently on the sidelines. Tyler merely smiled at the commotion, “Amber’s just a little bit wary of surprises, no harm done.”

He explained that he had obtained Amber as a starter pokémon about three months ago. Up until now, they had been travelling around a lot, just journeying to see the world without much of a goal in mind. Amber casually began grooming her bronze fur and I noticed an odd-sized chunk of her ear was missing. When I asked about it, Tyler explained, “About a week in, Amber got a little too curious and accidentally provoked a group of wild rattata. We managed to get away, but not without injury.” He motioned to her ear, and a few thin scars on his own forearm. “That’s why she doesn’t like being caught off-guard.” Amber lifted her head at this comment and nodded, apparently listening in on our conversation.

We talked for quite a while, even Pyro and Mira tired themselves out and settled down to relax and enjoy the company. As the lobby emptied of trainers, I bid farewell to Tyler and Amber before heading back to our room. They had decided to leave immediately and keep training on the road, since there was no point in staying for the rest of the event. However, we exchanged contact info so we could meet up sometime for a rematch. I didn’t know exactly how large the pokémon world was, or if we would ever see each other again, but I was glad to have at least one friend out here besides my companions.

I made sure that Mira and Pyro got to bed early, since our next match was first thing in the morning. I figured that, at this point, rest was more important than worrying about who our opponents would be; regardless, we would all just try our best to win.

- - -

We woke bright and early and grabbed some breakfast amid the bustling lobby. I made sure Pyro didn’t eat too much; the last thing we wanted was to lose because of a full stomach. Mira, however, didn’t have much of an appetite, which I could only attribute to her being nervous. She’d only had a few sparring matches with Pyro as a Cyndaquil, so she had to be at least a little concerned about facing another pokémon that was focused solely on knocking her unconscious.

A sizable crowd was already congregating outside the nearby battle hall, jostling for a place in line to buy tickets; I guess tournaments like these were the closest equivalent of professional sports in this world, which made up for the lack of entry fee for trainers. We bypassed the line and entered the lobby where the rest of the other trainers were already waiting. A few signs were posted on a bulletin board, showing the layout of each single-elimination bracket, each of about 8 - 16 trainers. I would be facing another trainer named Ashley, after which only two more victories away from winning our bracket.

Next to the board stood a glass display, containing the tournament prizes. About a dozen cases lined the shelves, each filled with four small sparkling stones. An inlaid elemental symbol shone on each oval gem, color radiating out from the center almost like energy flowing to give the stones their distinctive hues. They seemed small for what I was expecting for elemental stones, each only about a third the size of my palm.

I sat down with Mira and Pyro in a quieter corner of the lobby to give a little pep-talk before our match, mostly for Mira’s benefit. She kept pacing back and forth, peering at the other combatants as they loomed over her diminutive figure.

“Okay, this is it. The big day, and an especially exciting one for you, Mira.”

She hopped up onto my lap as I continued. “But I know that we’ve had quite a lot of practice, and I’m confident you can hold your own in battle.” A thin smile curled up at the corner of her mouth, and she gave me a cheerful lick on the cheek.

“Quilava-la” Pyro chimed in, patting her on the shoulder with encouragement.

- - -

We didn’t have long to wait, as ours was the fourth match to begin. I stepped out of the entrance tunnel into the brightly lit field. A loud roar erupted from the crowd and I turned to wave at them. Mira anxiously ducked behind my legs for a moment, shielding herself from the cacophony and blinding lights as she gradually acclimated.

Our opponent walked out of her tunnel opposite us. She looked to be maybe 16 or 17 and stood pretty tall, a white cap covering her dark brown hair that ended around her shoulders. A determined look shone in her eyes as she sized up Mira and myself. I attempted to look as confident as possible, nudging Mira slightly with my foot to get her out from behind me.

Pictures of both of us with our names lit up the scoreboard above the field: Mark versus Ashley, 2 on 2. The official motioned to start the match. I nudged Mira and she meekly strode out onto the field and widened her stance. A generic picture of an eevee lit up on the scoreboard next to my name. Ashley didn’t look surprised at my first choice, considering we had just entered onto the field together. However, I noticed a somewhat intriguing smile on her face as she twirled a miniaturized pokéball around in her hand with a flourish before expanding it and tossing it out.

“Come on out, Chikorita!”

The bright light flashed and reformed into the small green quadruped. The plant pokémon swished the vibrant green leaf on its head around with anticipation. Its bright red eyes gleamed brightly as it gave a loud, intimidating “Chika!” Mira stood her ground, trying to show absolutely no fear.

“Participants ready? And, begin!”

“Quick Attack, Mira!” I directed, trying to get the initial upper hand. Mira zigzagged across the field displaying some amazing agility. Chikorita tried to deflect the blow with a retaliatory smack from the leaf on her head, upon impact only skidding back to a controlled stop. Mira, however, staggered at the blow, unprepared for the stinging distraction.

I heard Ashley call out to use Razor Leaf but there was nothing I could do besides yell for Mira to dodge. While Mira tried to regain her footing, Chikorita fired a volley of leaves that sliced through the air as they spun. She weaved expertly back and forth through the raining projectiles, avoiding the brunt of the attack. The few leaves that did impact didn’t look like they did a lot of damage, but some of them did leave some stinging cuts along the fur on her back.

“Retaliate with a Tackle!”

With an angry growl, she blew past the drifting remains of the attack and plowed into Chikorita and both of them sprawled clumsily to the floor. They rolled around for a moment, wrestling for the upper hand, until Mira finally managed to pin Chikorita underneath her, her tiny fangs bared fiercely. I had never seen her act so aggressive before.

“Close range Tackle, now!” I called, hoping to press our advantage. Mira reared back to land another blow, but suddenly she relaxed and her eyes grew dull and disoriented. Chikorita scrambled away from her and I began to smell an intoxicating aroma wafting in the air. Sweet Scent! Mira couldn’t overcome the fascinating incense, so it wasn’t much of a contest when Chikorita rammed her to the ground with a tackle of her own.

“No!”

Mira slowly scrambled to her feet and shook her head, still a little muddled. “Come on, you can do it! Quick Attack!” She tried to execute the attack but wasn’t able to concentrate for more than a few feet. An order rang out and some vines extended out from Chikorita’s collar, snaking their way along the ground over to Mira.

“Watch out!” The vines struck a few stinging blows to Mira’s head, making her even more dazed. Then they coiled around Mira, picking her up and launching her up into the air about 40 feet. “Veee!” I could tell this wouldn’t end well, already she could barely concentrate, let alone land without some seriously painful injuries. At this point, there wasn’t much hope of winning the round, and I didn’t want her to get any more hurt for no reason. As she arced parabolically and began her descent, I pulled out her pokéball and clicked the activator to recall her before she hit the ground.

Nothing. Out of range.

I desperately mashed the button as she fell, picking up some dangerous speed with each passing moment.

30 feet.

20 feet.

Finally, the activator beam darted out to Mira’s falling form just before impact, absorbing her back into massless red light. I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she hadn’t been seriously hurt.

“Eevee has been recalled! Therefore, the winner for this round is Chikorita!”

Only now did I realize the crowd had been cheering louder with every attack, up to a roaring crescendo. Mira’s picture on the scoreboard went dark as I put her ball away, leaving me at an unfortunate 2-on-1 disadvantage. I rolled Pyro’s ball around in the palm of my hand before expanding it. Come on, Pyro, you can do this.

I confidently tossed out Pyro’s ball for the next round; with a type and evolutionary advantage and Pyro’s abundance of experience, how could we lose to a leafy plant? As he materialized, Pyro roared to intimidate his opponent, his head bathed in a halo of flames. Chikorita back up slightly, but refused to show us any indication of apprehension.

The bout began in earnest as Chikorita made the first move. She ran along the edge of the field, firing off a volley of leaves towards Pyro. Almost lazily, he eyed each projectile, and breathed out a few embers to burn each leaf to a crisp, well before they reached their target. Seeing as razor leaf wasn’t working, Ashley directed Chikorita to close the distance and use tackle.

“Pyro, try a Flame Wheel,” I called. With a single sweeping motion, Pyro’s head flames broadened and engulfed his entire body in a crimson conflagration. He rolled forward to meet Chikorita head on, accelerating up to full speed in mere seconds. They impacted in the middle of the field and Chikorita, unable to maintain her momentum against the painful blow, sailed out from the flames, her leaf singed and smoking. Pyro returned in front of me, waiting for the next command. I gazed out to see where Chikorita was but, to my surprise, the judge ruled Chikorita unable to continue. I knew beforehand that it wouldn’t be a difficult round, but even I was surprised with Pyro’s new power.

My joy was rather short lived; a moment later, Ashley released our second foe, and the bright white light faded into a long distinctive blue shape. White and cobalt fins adorned its length, as it almost casually stretched its legs and prepared for battle.

Oh no... a Vaporeon.

It let out a taunting cry, making Pyro tense up noticeably, his head and rear flames growing significantly in preparation; even he knew this was going to be a very tough fight. After making sure we were both ready, the official waved for us to start.

I directed Pyro to try an ember, just to test the waters a little. He dug his feet into the ground and let loose a powerful head-on volley. Unfortunately, Vaporeon shrugged off the attack like it was a light rain, completely unfazed. It was time to change our tactics a little bit.

“Circle around with Quick Attack and Smokescreen!”

Pyro nodded and sprinted off, dodging a couple of water blasts. Thick smoke poured out from his mouth, forming a dense wall trailing behind him as he edged around the field. He was moving fast enough that Vaporeon was having a tough time aiming for any ranged attacks. I gradually lost sight of Vaporeon as the smog spread across the battlefield, but unfortunately the vaporeon didn’t look worried at all. In fact, its body shimmered a violet-blue color in the spotlights, giving it an almost watery-like appearance.

Undeterred, I ordered, “Now attack with a Flame Wheel!” If ranged attacks weren’t strong enough, then we might as well try some direct physical force. With the smokescreen up, Pyro would have no trouble surprising Vaporeon from any angle.

A bright orange light shone in the heart of the cloud, zigzagging left and right before I heard a loud crash, and a startled yelp, “Vap!” I started to cheer and call for Pyro to do it again. Suddenly, a second cry emerged from the field; for me, it was unmistakable.

“Laaaava!”

Pyro flew out of the haze and tumbled to the floor with a semicircle of bruises across one of his legs. That vaporeon must’ve had quite a strong jaw to hurl such a large foe across the field. Pyro wasn’t nearly out of the fight just yet and quickly scrambled to his feet. To both of our horror, a large plume of water rose up from the center of the field, swirling around in a vortex. Like a long appendage it twirled around then sliced down through the air, aimed right at Pyro. He quickly dove out from under the crosshairs, but that didn’t stop him from getting drenched as the ice-cold water hit the ground beside him and splattered everywhere. The attack also cut a path through the fog, blowing aside the bulk of the smokescreen.

Vaporeon stood on its end of the field, watery skin still glistening with a purple hue as the blade of water receded back to its tail and evaporated. Intending to try to finish off Pyro, it rushed forward while opening its maw to fire a water gun at the tired and panting Quilava.

“Counter with Ember!” I yelled in desperation, knowing that even though fire attacks were weak to water, we need to make a stand; he couldn’t keep dodging like this forever. Grounding his feet once more, Pyro reignited his flames with renewed vigor, smoke trickling out the corner of his maw as he let it loose. The two attacks collided in the center of the field, hissing in a huge cloud of steam. Through the mist I saw the fiery orange glow of his attack dim and flicker, then vanish with an accompanying yelp. As the moisture settled, their two forms gradually emerged. Pyro lay on his side breathing heavily, his vents extinguished. Vaporeon stood over him with one paw on his neck, ready to blast him again if he tried to resist. Clearly, the fight was over, and even Pyro knew when he was outmatched.

The official called the round, and Vaporeon let up on Pyro and walked over to Ashley. Amid the rousing cheers from the crowd, I ran out onto the field and picked up Pyro. Thoroughly drenched, he was still conscious but vigorously shivering from the icy water. He looked a little bummed by the loss, avoiding my gaze.

“Don’t feel bad, it’s the experience that counts, not who wins.” I gave him a warm hug, although his body was awkwardly a little too large to carry in my arms so I recalled him to his ball. Looking up, I found myself face to face with Ashley. She held out her hand, which I shook.

“Good match. I hope your pokémon didn’t get hurt too badly.”

I nodded back, “Some rest and they’ll be fine.” We both walked out of the stadium and headed back to the center to get our team healed and rested, Vaporeon tagging along at our heels.



We handed over our pokéballs to the nurse at the counter and sat down to wait. Vaporeon curled up beside Ashley; from the looks of it, it hadn’t been noticeable hurt during our battle. Pyro could barely land a scratch with his fiery attacks. She struck up some conversation to pass the time.

“I don’t think I’ve introduced us, my name’s Ashley, and this is Kai.” She motioned to Vaporeon, who lay motionless, probably just resting in preparation for their next few matches.

“Mark, and you’ve already seen Mira and Pyro.”

She nodded, and began stroking Kai along the back. “So you became a trainer not too long ago?” I told her just a few days ago and asked how she knew. “Your Eevee, Mira, was it? She doesn’t seem to have been in many battles.”

“Yea. I figured we probably weren’t going win any prizes, but we’d at least get lots of experience.”

She waved her hand dismissively, “Lots of trainers do the same. Although evolution stones aren’t that valuable.” She motioned to Kai, pulling into view a necklace around his neck that I hadn’t noticed earlier. A blue gem hung from it, sparkling in the light. “When he evolved, I had the water stone made into a necklace, as a keepsake. It’s still just as potent, though, since stones don’t lose their energy for hundreds of years. It’s never hard to find a trainer with the stone they’d let you borrow.”

We continued chatting and a few minutes later, the nurse came back out and returned our pokémon, tired but healed. Ashley turned to leave, “I have to get back for the next round, but I hope you stick around for the rest of the tournament. Lots of cool action to see.”

“Yep, not going anywhere today, we’ll be sure to cheer you three on. Good luck!”



I let Mira and Pyro out of their balls. They seemed to be fine, just tired, although both were somewhat sluggish, probably just down from losing earlier.

“Cheer up, you both were amazing out there.” I ruffled Mira’s fur and picked her up into my arms. Pyro would be fine, he’d seen plenty of victories and losses, but something like this could deter Mira from ever battling competitively again.

I filled both of them in on what had transpired during the other’s match, making sure to emphasize Mira’s contribution to beating Chikorita. I think it lightened her mood somewhat, as she began attentively listening to my description of Pyro’s bout. When I got around to mentioning Kai, I saw her ears pique with interest.

“I was wondering, what do you think about evolving, Mira?”

Of course, I couldn’t tell exactly what her reply “Eevee, vee” meant, but I think it would be best if she didn’t rush that kind of decision; if the inclination came in the future, I’m sure she would let me know.

We rested in the center and watched the bustling activity of trainers, eventually grabbing a bite to eat before heading back out to the stadium around midafternoon, this time as spectators. By now it was the third round with only about 20 trainers remaining, a few per bracket. I looked up the standings in the lobby, and was surprised to see Ashley at the finals for our group, to battle again in several minutes. Well, more impressed than surprised, as she had beaten me quite handily.

We filed into some reserved seats for participating trainers near the sidelines of battlefield. The current match ended with a charmeleon toasting a scyther for the win, and Ashley and her opponent entered. A quick handshake, and they retreated to their respective halves, and released Chikorita and a Raticate. By this point in the tournament, the crowd’s cheering had risen to a cacophonous roar, and the battle began.

Mira and Pyro eyed the two combatants, cheering vocally whenever Chikorita landed a hit; if we had to lose, we might as well lose to the eventual champion. Although wielding quite a bit of power with its fangs, Raticate was too slow to dodge Chikorita’s many ranged attacks, quickly ending in defeat for the large rat. She switched out for Kai when their opponent sent out a nasty-looking Fearow, and the experienced Vaporeon put the beat down on the bird with his icy water attacks, grabbing Ashley the win. The three of us probably cheered the loudest at this, as we watched the winners from all the brackets line up for their prizes. Mira appeared to enjoy watching the battles tremendously, having a great time relaxing and not brooding over our own battle.

By this time it was already evening, so we ended up staying another night at the center, planning to continue our travel towards the lab the next day. Thankfully, the sport of battling was profitable enough that all participants that passed the qualification round got a consolation cash prize, enough to resupply us for the next few days.

We hung out in the pokémon center lobby for the rest of the evening, letting the two socialize with the other trainer’s pokémon, while I kept a watchful eye; I was determined to not let this become a repeat of last time they roamed off by themselves.

Eventually, we headed to our room for a good night’s sleep. Mira snuggled under the covers next to me, while Pyro sprawled out on top. The red spots on his body radiated dimly in the darkness, glowing with warmth in tune with his breathing. I stoked them both on the head gently, before dozing off.

“Good night, my two champs.”