Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 62: Burst A Bubble!

It crashed into the Dark type's body, sending it flying across the battlefield into Harry's arms, with its fur being completely tattered and parted where the Dragon Rush had struck Poochyena. Lucas quickly ran over to the battlefield where Vibrava fluttered, looking at Poochyena with deep disappointment like it had expected something much better from its opponent. It had remained victorious, but it didn't feel good, especially as Poochyena was completely taken out by the blows that Vibrava inflicted.

Harry looked just as disappointed as Vibrava did and quickly returned Poochyena to its Pokeball with a sigh, saying to Lucas,

"Well, at least we know what to work on for the battle tomorrow. Thanks for that."

Harry walked off into the Pokemon Centre, clearly defeated as he saw Poochyena's poor performance as a bad omen for whatever would happen tomorrow. Lucas sighed and turned to Vibrava,

"Please be a bit more gentle next time. I know you're just trying to win, but maybe tone down your attacks unless you absolutely need your full power."

Vibrava rolled its eyes and slid back into its Pokeball, completely unbothered by Poochyena and Harry's loss. Lucas sighed and returned to the Pokemon Centre, his mind stuck in the battles of the future in the tournament.

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"Torchic, Ember!"

Flames erupted from the chick's mouth, licking the air and breathing fire out into the Cacturne it was against. Cacturned stumbled as the torso of the cacti-like creature became burnt from the ember. It placed one hand over the burnt patch, then fell to its knees, falling to its fire weakness. Torchic let out a smoke-filled breath as the referee declared Torchic the winner. The Pokemon energetically hopped into Lucas' arms, as Lucas ran onto the battlefield. Lucas gave Torchic a small kiss on the head then tossed the Pokemon into the air. As Torchic landed smoothly on Lucas' shoulder with the elegance of a ballet dancer, Lucas went over to the opposing trainer and held out his hand. The opposing trainer grinned and slammed his hand into Lucas', leading to a hearty handshake,

"A great battle! I've never felt so intense in a battle. Thank you."

"Thank you for a great battle, I hope we can battle again!", Lucas said as his hand was relieved from the tight handshake. They both then went their separate ways after they were given orders to part by the referee. Lucas hopped off of the battlefield and looked to the tunnel, noticing a shape in the shadows. He was leaning against the wall, clearly deep in thought. But, as Lucas came closer, it became apparent who it was.

"Good luck, Harry.", he said as he gave Harry a small fist bump before disappearing into the tunnel. Harry looked behind at Lucas as he walked away and sighed.

"I'm gonna need it.", he thought as he stepped into the open air of the stadium. He walked along the platform of the stadium, breathing in. And then out. Over. And Over. Again. Truth is, for one of the first times, he was nervous about the battle in front of him. It wasn't usual. But, how Poochyena got destroyed had certainly left a dent in his confidence. Meanwhile, Bubble strutted along the platform on cloud nine, smiling all around and then smiling at Harry. The referee was even caught in her contagious energy, letting out a small, uncharacteristic, smile before shaking their head and yelling.

"Ok. Now will be the battle between Harry and Bubble. Both competitors may only use three Pokemon, there is a time limit of thirty minutes and no items are permitted. Now, throw out your first Pokemon!"

"Beatifly, fly free!"

"Numel, let's rock!"

Harry's Pokeball spun and curved upwards, then fell towards the ground, splitting open and revealing the Pokemon inside. The camel-like creature spurted shots of lava into the air as a show of intimidation, but Beautifly was feeling too euphoric to give even a second thought about intimidation or other tactics.