Evolution

Volt - Chapter 4

I DO NOT own Pokemon.

Apologies in advance for any grammar or spelling errors.

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I followed Cinder for quite some time before he finally stopped. I caught up to him and caught my breath, then faced what he was looking at. He stood staring at the arena. "Wait, you wanna go in there?" I asked.

"Yeah, that'd be a fitting palce to fight, right?" He asked, "I mean, this place is kinda famous, y'know? If we're gonna be rivals, we should have a famous first fight!"

"I guess we can. There's no one in there, right?" I nervously asked.

"Uh, depends on what your definition of no one is. Maybe a couple hundred or so, not much to me, to you've never faced a crowd like I have."

"A couple hundred?! Well, fine. I guess I need to get used to this after all."

"That's the spirit! You'll get used to it, believe me. I've stopped caring about crowds to be honest. Look, you'll get used to it at some point. It's no big deal after you've faced the world stage, but it can definitely be nerve racking for a beginner. Just try to ignore them and focus on what's ahead of you. If you can do that, everything will go just fine." He explained.

"How do you do this so casually with so much on the line? If you lose even once your title is gone. Isn't that scary?" I asked.

"The title isn't what I care about anymore. It makes me seem cool and all, but you're right, there is a lot of pressure that I really don't want. So I wouldn't mind losing, no. If it meant I got to stop being expected to do this, or go there, or something like that, I'd be happy. I started out just wanting to be famous or popular or some childish dream like that, but being popular isn't as fun as it sounds. I kinda wish I could just live a quiet, lonely life on some peaceful, remote island."

"Living alone like that though, would you really want that? Not having anyone to talk to, no family, friends, or anything? I mean, I understand the not wanting fans, but that sounds like taking it a bit too far. Why don't you just start by getting away from the competition?"

"I couldn't do that easily, though. It would just let too many down if I threw a title match." He said with a sigh.

"Well then, don't throw. Give it your all! If you win, then your time to leave hasn't come yet. If you lose, then you get your wish."

"Y'know what? I'll do that. Hopefully we'll meet in the finals. If we do, then we'll get to see who really is the best."

"Hold up, first I've gotta qualify. I can't do anything unless I win these next few matches. If I lose, then there's no way I can make it in the tournament. I'd say we should fight here before we do an actual title match, though. I gotta warm up a bit." I explained.

"Hm, you seem to think you're pretty strong, huh?" He teased.

"I've earned my battle scars. If you think taking me down is gonna be an easy task, think again!" I said, half joking. I wasn't completely kidding, though, I was strong. After so many years of living alone, I had faced plenty of life or death situations, and learned to adapt quickly. This of course wasn't like that, but the same rules applied.

"Oh, you sound real tough. Okay then, let's see if you're all bark and no bite! You may think you're all that, but I'll still crush you!" He exclaimed, running in. I laughed and followed behind, quickly catching up. The second I stepped in, though, I quickly regretted it. Hundreds of fans stood around cheering as we stepped in, and I could only stand in awe as they watched us enter. It seemed like such a small arena from the outside, but from the inside, it felt massive. The amount of people inside seemed impossible for how small the town was.

"W-wow, this is... amazing. Do we just go in and fight?" I asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. This is just a friendly match, so it's not like we have to be fancy about this or anything. Most everyone just comes here on lunch breaks from work or when they're bored or something like that, but there's pretty much always someone here. Sometimes I just come here to see if there's anyone new around. Of course, I usually know everyone I see, and those know I don't usually aren't really interested in talking. I dunno, I must be boring or something!" He said with a laugh while making a silly face.

I laughed with him too, something I rarely did. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to laugh with friends. Cinder turned to me. "Well, are we gonna do this or not? Everyone here is probably dead tired of waiting. You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" I said, rushing off into the arena. I took my place on one side of the field, while he stood at the other. The crowd roared for their champion, clearly expecting him to get another easy win. Of course, I didn't doubt Cinder's ability, but I wasn't going to make this easy for him.

We stared into each other's eyes for a while, before I finally made the first move, dashing directly at him. He smiled, thinking he had my plan figured out, but he was playing right into my hand, or rather, my paw. He tried to counter against a tackle, but I jumped to the side without throwing a single attack, which he didn't seem to expect. I threw an electroball at his side, which he didn't have time to block, so it crashed directly into his side. He winced, but stood his ground.

I tried to get away before he could attack, but I wasn't fast enough. I felt claws cut through my skin, so I jumped away. I felt blood run down my fur, but Ii kept going. "You okay?" Cinder called.

"Yeah, I'm fine! I won't give up that easily!" I called back. I ran as fast as I could to put space between us, though when I turned around, he was close behind. I quickly turned and bit him using thunder fang, which clearly hurt him. He jumped back and used flame charge, but I was able to dodge it and electrocute him as he passed. He tumbled to the ground, but quickly got back up.

He used flamethrower to try to keep me at bay, but I was prepared. I sent a thunderbolt crashing down, directly hitting him. He stumbled before falling over, though he got up, but much slower than before. "You weren't kidding when you said you were strong, huh?" He weakly called.

"You wanna call it quits?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm not giving in just yet!" He responded, before charging directly towards me. I didn't react fast enough, and I took a direct hit. I stumbled backwards from the impact and fell over, though I managed to get but up. The ground was stained red from my blood, and both Cinder and I were panting hard. I regained my balance and turned to him.

The entire crowd was completely silent, as they clearly hadn't expect the fight to be as close as it was. If I thought I was goign to lose at any moment, that was the moment where I felt it the most. I tried to will myself to keep going, but I just couldn't. Both Cinder and I collapsed and hit the ground. Even though I hadn't lost, it was a tie.

If any Pokemon in the crowd wasn't silent before, they were now. I stayed in the dirt for a few minutes before I finally found the strength to stand up. When I did, I found Cinder approaching me. As we met and shook paws, the crowd began to roar, as their champion had met a worthy opponent. "You really are somethin' Volt!" Cinder said, "I knew you were strong, but I sure as heck wasn't expecting that!"

"Heh, looks like you've got a new rival! Be prepared for some tough competition from here on out!" I said with a smile. He nodded and smiled back, then we both turned to the crowd. I had finally found a place where my strength was celebrated, not feared. Where I had found a single friend. A rival. A new life.