This really wasn't meant to be so long in coming. I've just been bogged down with a lot of personal stuff lately and I haven't had all that much time for writing. But the update is here now, sorry to any of you who've been kept waiting.
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Chapter Two
A fire crackled warmly in the hearth, the television quietly played out some kind of old late night film and the soft breaths of sleeping beings echoed softly through the living room of the Brown’ s household. Anna Brown lay stretched out on the leather sofa that was positioned opposite the fireplace, with Mara the houndour laying across her feet – twitching and grunting every so often, as if lost in a dream. Peter and Clara sat in the plush armchairs – Peter in one that was adjacent to the fire and Clara in another placed adjacent to the sofa and at a right angle from Peter’s chair, about two feet away.
Peter gazed idly at the young stantler that rested at his oldest daughter’s feet. After a trip to the town’s Pokemon Centre, its damaged leg was now bandaged and the gashes in its side had been stitched up. Peter’s eyes met his daughter’s and she smiled at him. He spoke gently, “If you’re still set on it… I have some money put aside… You know, for a rainy day. It’s not much but-“
Clara interrupted, “Dad. I appreciate it, I really do, but I have money saved up from work - at the shop. I rarely need to use it, so there’s a decent amount to start me off.”
“I have to give you a little something, I‘m your father,” Peter insisted.
Clara smiled and shook her head, she wasn’t going to win this one. Instead she decided to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Don’t you miss battling, Dad? It must take up so much of your life and then… Just to stop. I don’t understand how you could.”
Peter smiled and replied to his daughter, “I do miss it, from time to time. But your mother and I, we were ready to settle down. It seemed like the time.” Peter paused before saying, “Battling was how I met her you know, your mother. Have I told you the story?”
He had, but Clara had always enjoyed the story, and there seemed to be a new detail added every time it was told. So she said, “I don’t think so, Dad.”
Anna stirred, lifting her head and yawning. “I know I’ve not heard it.”
“Okay then, Anna, but you’re going to bed after this,” Peter stopped as he thought of a good place to begin. “I was about 17. I was battling in a tournament that’d been arranged in Goldenrod City to mark the start of summer…”
•••
Peter sat in the lobby of the main arena. He had made it to the final; he who was the rank outsider, the dark horse; he, the nobody from a town no one had ever heard of and he who couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
The people going past gave him hearty congratulations, and he’d even been stopped for an interview. Peter had given credit to the fantastic fighting spirit which his pokemon had fought with and the interviewer had replied saying he was modest and at least some of it had to be down to good training. Peter has smiled and blushed at that. He’d then been asked what he thought of his next opponent, and in truth Peter had had to say that he didn’t know much about this ‘Rose Leigh’.
Which lead him to what he was doing know. Idly browsing through the data and videos collected on her during the course of the tournament. From what Peter could tell she was a very intelligent battler – her strategy seemed to adapt from opponent to opponent. Peter smiled, this could be to his advantage, he didn’t like to apply rigid battle strategies and this girl’s strength seemed to play off being able to counter the strategies of others. Peter glanced at his watch, only an hour left.
Let’s show them what a nobody can really do.
***
The battle theme started. The announcer spoke their names, their home towns, the terms of the battle. All as customary. Neither battler could hear over the pounding of blood in their ears. Peter looked out across the field. Rose did the same. Peter found himself staring at a tall young woman, with blue-grey hair cut to a pixie length and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing denim shorts and a red vest-top that was hemmed in yellow; her pokeballs were clipped to a studded belt.
Equally, Rose found herself looking at a boy that was roughly her age – with short, spiky brown hair and adorned simply in a white t-shirt and jeans, with black fingerless gloves and, like her, his pokeballs were clipped to his belt. He gave her a slight smile as their gazes met and she returned it.
They shared a similar (albeit sarcastic) thought,
Good luck.
The crowd roared and the referee raised a flag. Two pokeballs were tossed into the air. The red light receded, revealing two hulking forms.
Peter shouted the first command, “Quickly Rhydon, surf!”
“Mirror it, Nidoking!” The girl cried.
The two walls of water collided with one another and then washed over the battlefield – leaving both Pokemon looking slightly dazed. Rose realised that this match-up would inevitably end up in a stalemate. She called back her nidoking and tossed another pokeball into the air, a sly smirk on her face. A sunflora stood at her feet, ready to fight.
And then, confusion, her opponent was smiling too. “Megahorn!”
The rhydon charged towards the smaller flower pokemon with its horn glowing a bright white, pounding up a trail of dust, as it growled ferally.
“Sunflora, defend with Leaf Storm!” The sunflora raised its arms defensively, which then began to glow a neon- green. Leaves surrounded the pokemon, circling it in a cyclonic manner. Rhydon drew closer, its momentum too great to stop the charge now. The horn made contact with its target, the glowing leaves converged over the rhydon, and the sunflora was sent hurtling back towards the direction of its trainer. Rhydon shuddered violently before crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
Peter cursed as the referee raised his red flag. “Rhydon is unable to battle!”
Peter wasted no time, a red and white blur rotated briefly above his head before a red flash revealed a screeching skarmory. “Air Slash!”
Air began to be sucked towards skarmory into a glowing blue sphere of air, whipping up dust and debris from the battlefield, it brought its wings together with piercing metallic clash and the ball went hurtling towards the recovering flower pokemon. The pokemon attempted to dodge out of the way but it had been reasonably injured by Rhyhorn’s megahorn and its current opponent’s attack was rushing toward it far too quickly for it to manage. The grass type took near to the full force of the attack and was knocked to the ground.
Several seconds passed. The sunflora hadn’t moved.
“Sunflora is unable to battle!”
The crowd gave a raucous cheer,
far louder than they cheered for her, or so Peter thought, at least. Skarmory turned its head towards him and Peter smiled his approval. Both turned their gaze towards their opponent, Peter was irritated to notice that she didn’t seem particularly phased.
When the red glow drew back and her pokemon was revealed, Peter couldn’t help but be confused. Standing on the field was a hulking (reaching just under the height of its trainer) graveler.
Surely someone like her knows that rock moves aren’t as effective because of a skarmory’s steel typing?
Lapse of judgement, maybe? Peter smiled,
All the more in my favour then.
“Rubble,” Rose’s face had remained impassive, “
Dig.”
The pokemon dug into the ground, but the earth wasn’t deep in the arena, and the graveler was large, so there was a clear bulge in the terrain where it was positioned. Peter ordered his skarmory to hover above and be ready to attack with Steel Wing when it appeared. The action on the battlefield was frozen for a while. The crowd seemed to be simultaneously holding their breath. And then, a torrent of fire erupted forth from the ground, with the rock type shortly afterward.
Rose chuckled quietly, with Rubble making a similar noise. “Quickly, Flamethrower again!”
“Skarmory!” Peter barked with urgency. “Dodge it!”
But the steel-bird was too dazed from the first attack to move with enough speed to avoid the torrent of flame that spewed forth from the graveler’s mouth. It crashed down to the ground with a loud clanging thump.
“Skarmory is unable to battle!” as the referee raised his red flag, those of the crowd supporting Rose, gave a hearty cheer. She smiled confidently, she had two pokemon left. Her opponent had one.
Peter surprised her by smiling too,
oh it ain’t over yet. He kissed his last pokeball before throwing it into the air,
its just me and you again…
“Amalia!” The rapidash tossed its fiery mane proudly as it was released onto the field. It shared a confident look with its partner.
Rose’s face flickered to an unnerved state for a second. Then back to a self-assured mask.
Nidoking could take it out easily. But I’ll play it careful, Rubble can wear it out some first.
“Hypnosis!” Peter ordered.
Rose’s eyes widened as her graveler started to sway and then thudded to the ground. A soft rumbling snore emanated from it. A small wave of laughter rippled through the audience. Rose cursed and returned the pokemon, calling out her nidoking once more.
I’ll have to be careful, she warded herself,
its weakened from that surf earlier.
Peter had already ordered an attack of Giga Impact however, and the rapidash was charging in her direction – the characteristic aura of shining purple and fiery orange spirals making it look wild and menacing.
“Protect!” There was a hint of anxiousness in her shout, but the green shielding orb did its job and the fire type rebounded off it as if had charged solid metal. It slid backwards and lay panting in the dust.
Rose hastily ordered the attack of Surf whilst the equine was immobile, an untamed roar escaping the nidoking’s jaws. It road the towering wave until it crashed into its opponent, causing Amalia to loose a pain-filled whinny. The waters dissipated into the ground. The poison type was panting heavily. Amalia shuddered and winced before standing. She shook her head; her flames grew a little in intensity. The fire type took a fighting stance.
“Fire Blast!”
The command had barely left Peter’s lips and the flames were engulfing their bulky opponent’s form. The nidoking blinked. It put an arm forward as if to retaliate. It then toppled forward and collided with the ground, causing a loud crash.
“Nidoking is unable to battle!” The red flag was raised. The crowd gave a cacophonous roar.
Rose tried to keep her expression blank but it kept flickering into an arrangement of frustration. She called the graveler onto the field, and of course it was still under the effects of the rapidash’s previous hypnosis. Her opponent had a grin on his face.
“Poison Jab!” He exclaimed, and once again the fiery steed charged forward, its small horn emanating that toxic purple aura that identified a poison type attack. As the other pokemon’s charge neared however, Rubble woke up and made a motion with its hands as if to stop Amalia’s attack. It had little effect however, the attack collided and the rock type winced. Not only had the attack caused pain, but its recipient was now also poisoned.
One sure strike, that’s all I need. Then he’s done.
One sure strike, that’s all she needs. Then I’d be done.
The adrenalin pounding through her system caused Rose’s shout to be at a pitch higher than it should, “Rubble, Earthquake!”
“Amalia,” Peter made his fast command, “Bounce!”
The ground trembled and shook, cracks began to appear and widen. Amalia tensed her legs and sprang into the air. Poison racked through the graveler and it flinched sharply. The tremors stopped and the horse pokemon plunged back towards earth, driving its diamond-hard front hooves into its opponent’s head. Pieces of rock splintered and chipped away causing the pokemon to yowl in pain, as the force of its adversary’s attack drove it into the ground.
The rapidash fell back and stood before its master. Both waited. The graveler didn’t so much as twitch.
“Graveler is unable to battle! Peter Brown of Firbridge town is the victor!”
The crowd went wild with cheering and applause. Peter rushed forward and put his arms around his partner’s neck. “We did it, Amalia. We did it!”
***
Rose sat in a nearly empty Pokemon Centre, one that was a part of the Goldenrod Battle Complex, quietly sipping coffee. The lobby-waiting room in which she sat was big and airy. She sat on a chair, which was part of a line, facing the large floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the front of the centre. The tournament was winding down and she watched as merchants packed up their stalls and as cleaners walked past collecting litter into large black rubbish bags. In front of her and to the left, a television set suspended from the ceiling was showing a news broadcast.
A news broadcast that was prominently featuring an interview segment with Peter Brown. She’d like to curse him, insult in every way she could think of, but she was unable to. She had learned something from battling with him. Rose relied mainly on strategies when she battled, taking advantage of a pokemon’s abilities and typings. Whilst it was true that this Peter had to do that to some extent, Rose also saw that he put a heavy amount of importance on mere determination and courage. Especially with his rapidash.
I wonder if that was his first-
“Rose…” The girl turned around sharply, she felt a hand tap her shoulder. The face of her defeat stared back.
“Can I help you?” The question wasn’t brusque or impolite, as Peter had expected, but courteous and inquisitive.
“ I – Er – That is…” He stuttered and blushed. Rose raised an eyebrow but smiled. “I wanted to say thank you. That was… Like… One of the best battles I’ve had. In a long time,” He finished and scratched the back of his head, blushing slightly once more.
Rose hesitated, unsure at first how to reply. “I think I should return the sentiment. Your battling style is so fresh and bold. Inspiring, you could say. God… I sound like an art critic or something. ”
They both found themselves laughing at this and then Peter spoke again, this time more confidently, “Do you wanna grab something to eat maybe? It’s just, your strategies seem amazing, I’d love to talk to you about battling s’more. The Flamethrower–Dig combination your graveler pulled off was just… Really cool and stuff.”
Rose laughed again then nodded. Standing up she said, “I’d love to, Peter.”
•••
“… And afterwards we decided to travel together. Somewhere along the way we fell in love. You could almost say that you two are the products of pokemon battling,” Peter finished.
During the course of the story Anna and Clara had moved to sit next to one another, cuddling close together as they listened to the tale.
A question came to the front of Clara’s mind, “Amalia… That’s name of Maya’s mother isn’t it?”
Peter nodded and there was a tinge of sadness to his voice as he spoke, “She contracted a deadly strain of Pokerus when you were young, Clara. The name Maya is actually derived from the Spanish Amalia…
Amalia... “He sighed.
“I miss our mother…” Anna said very quietly, staring at the floor.
The room was silent at this. Clara too gazed at the floor and Peter’s eyes glazed over.
He then shook himself and spoke as if he hadn’t heard, “Come on now, both of you need some sleep!” His daughters made no argument.
Peter waited until the sound of footsteps and shuffling about upstairs had faded away. He let out a long, drawn out sigh. “Oh Rose… What could have happened to
you?”
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So this chapter got dominated by the flashback, that wasn't my original intention, but it kind of seems to fit, don't you think? Critique is gratefully accepted because I'm unsure of how well I managed to pull the whole big battle scene. Was it too boring or anything?
Thanks for reading thus far, and I'll try my best to keep on top of things from now.~