Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 44: Hopping Into the Ring!

Susanne was caught a bit off guard by this, "That's because I'm not a battler anymore, I'm an–"

"Aspiring chef, I know!" Dawn cut her off, "C'mon, for old times' sake?"

"Well..." Susanne looked away for a moment.

—

"Get ready to dodge, 'Anne!" Dawn yelled, running at the Lopunny.

Susanne awkwardly found a battling stance, preparing to counter her attack. She hadn't battled since she was a Buneary herself, and battling with this body felt off to her.

Dawn tried to use Double Kick on her cousin, which had been avoided. Susanne rolled off to her left before standing up quickly, "So... You spent a lot of time in Forest Grotto, didn't you?"

The Buneary suddenly stopped, "You have no idea..."

Dawn thought over the events that transpired while she was staying in the Grotto. Her thoughts began swirling as she thought about the Fight for the Grotto, her battle with Jacob, and her honorary membership of what is now Leah's team.

As she was thinking, she was suddenly interrupted by a kick to her stomach. It was Susanne, who had used her speed to run up and kick Dawn.

"Yes!" The older girl exclaimed, "I was always better at distracting you than actually winning the battles."

"Just like when we were younger, huh?" Dawn, who had hit a tree, strained.

Nine Years Ago

"I-I umm, I'm not so sure about this..." A younger Dawn timidly spoke, her eyes glued to the grass beneath them.

"You wanna learn how to fight, don't you?" A bigger Buneary asked, her paws on her hips.

"Y-Yeah I do!" The smaller Buneary exclaimed with as much courage she could muster, which albeit wasn't very much.

The bigger Buneary raised an eyebrow, as if she didn't believe her.

Dawn shifted a bit, "I-I don't, Susanne..."

"Why don't you?" Susanne asked, tilting her head confusedly.

"I-I could just tell my parents about what's been going on..." Dawn mumbled quietly, "T-They'd know what to do..."

"No way!" Susanne shook her head, "That would only make things ten times worse! If you want this problem solved as soon as possible, then you need to learn how to battle, Little D."

The timid Buneary sighed faintly, "O-Okay..."

Back to Present

"Yeah... Just like.... Back then..." Susanne's voice trailed off as she looked away from Dawn.

Susanne gently bit her bottom lip, her mind wandering off. Had she been the one to affect Dawn like this? Was it her that changed her mindset towards battling? Dawn used to hate battling, but what other choice did she have at the time?

The Lopunny took a moment to think it over. What would've happened if she insisted that Dawn come with her to Sapphire Town when she moved away? Maybe she wouldn't have turned out like this.

Suddenly, Dawn's battle bracelet went off.

Dawn looked at the bracelet, and gasped faintly, "Looks like we lost track of time!"

As the Buneary quickly ran off, Susanne ran inside of the house and to the kitchen. The Lopunny put an apron on, and began cooking something.

Running to the plains area of Sapphire, Dawn stopped as her battle bracelet went off. She looked at it closely before looking into the near distance. There were attacks flying in every direction.

This was the Battle Zone, alright.

Suddenly, a Pokémon began flying her way. It had been hit with an attack, and couldn't control its trajectory. Dawn avoided the flying Pokémon, listening to her battle bracelet chime.