Pokemon Otome

Paul Route: Episode 5 Choice B

"You can do it, Sayuri! Show him how great Fairy types are!" Quartz called out from the sidelines and I tried to shoot him a confident grin.

I should've sent out Alcremie second, then he couldn't type match me, I scolded myself internally. But I wasn't about to back down now. I had gotten one win, which it was obvious Paul hadn't been anticipating, so that gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I could surprise him again.

"Alright, Alcremie, you're up!" I said as I tossed out her Pokeball. When she appeared I felt a small smile twitch at the corner of my lips. Say what you will, but Alcremie was C-U-T-E cute. Unlike most Alcremie's, mine was a pale yellow color with deeper yellow on the bottom tips of the loops of cream that framed her small face, and two four-leaf clover barrettes gave her a pop of green coloring.

Paul, on the other hand, released a purple pokemon that was my height and sported a yellow mohawk made of electricity. I grimaced slightly as the obviously strong Toxtricity stuck his tongue out and gave a "rock on" sign before strumming a chord on his chest plates. I had faced one or two Toxtricity's since I came to the Galar region and I had always been impressed with their power and unique typing of poison/electric. I had actually considered catching one for myself to complete my team, but now that I saw Paul had one I found the idea less attractive.

Shaking my head, I focused in on the battle ahead of me. I was at a clear disadvantage, but I had one trick up my sleeve that just might turn the tides. Deciding to just go for it and see what Alcremie could do, I clenched my fists and decided on my strategy,

"Alcremie, use Decorate," I said before Paul had called his first move. A shimmering half orb encased Alcremie and small lemon wedges and sparkles flew around her, which raised both her attack and Special attack stats.

"Use Toxic," Paul said without mercy. Alcremie tried to hop away from the bubbles of noxious purple liquid, but several of them burst open, staining her yellow cream with the deep purple color and I could see her shuddering as the poison seeped into her little body.

"Venoshock," Paul said, sounding almost bored, but I wasn't about to let it end there.

"Use Psyshock, now!" I cried out quickly. Alcremie, appearing affronted at having her dress ruined by the toxic bubbles, let out a quiet squeal and suddenly dozens of pale purple balls floated in the air surrounding Toxtricity. The poison type looked up at the orbs of psychic energy, apparently too stunned to move, before all of them shot forward, spearing him with dozens of psychic shocks which caused him to cry out in pain.

"Yes!" I cried out, jumping a little bit in my excitement and I could hear the kids cheering on Alcremie and I. Paul looked over at me and I thought I saw surprise flitting across his usually icy expression, but then he smirked and pointed casually at Alcremie.

"Venoshock." he said coolly. Toxtricity was already shaking off the super effective move and I cried out in frustration as my Alcremie was doused in poison, which was twice as potent since she already was poisoned. She managed to live through two more attacks and Toxtricity was looking decidedly ragged before she finally lost her energy and collapsed delicately onto the ground.

"Oh, Alcremie," I said sadly, walking over and picking up my sweet pokemon. "I'm so sorry," I whispered to her, stroking her marshmallow-like cheeks until she opened her green eyes tiredly and gave me a small smile.

"Wow, your Alcremie was so great!" one of the little girls said excitedly, running over and hugging my legs. I bent down so she could look at her and the little girl patted her on the head. "You tried so hard, Alcremie! I hope I can train an Alcremie like you one day!"

"Yah, your Alcremie is so different from Grammy's! She was great!" Quartz said, scrambling over and patting Alcremie along with his friend. Soon I was surrounded by well-wishing little ones and Alcremie was smiling contentedly.

"You are a strange trainer." Paul's deep voice cut through the children's excited chatter and I looked up to see him giving me a complicated look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked with a huff and he frowned then shook his head.

"Nothing... Battle me again tomorrow," Paul said abruptly and I blinked my eyes in surprise. Before I could respond though, he turned and walked towards the Pokemon Center without a backwards glance.

"What a weird guy," I muttered to myself as I watched him walk away.

The next day, Paul and I went to the Fairy Gym and took on the challenge and the gym leader. I found the quiz portion of the challenge quite fun, to be honest, but Paul had been livid that he had to waste his time answering questions that "any simpleton" would know. Paul had absolutely decimated Opal in the gym challenge, and I was surprised to see that he used pokemon from other regions in the gym challenge instead of the pokemon he had used against me just yesterday. Seeing the incredible strength of his team made me feel a little intimidated, to be honest, and I wondered why he had said he wanted to battle me again when he was obviously miles ahead of me in experience.

After stopping at the Pokemon Center so Paul could trade out his experienced pokemon for the one's he was training from Galar, we made our way into Glimwood Tangle together. Cufant once again walked along with me and gleefully battled all of the Impidimps and their evolved forms, Morgrem, whenever they popped out from behind a glowing mushroom. Paul didn't speak as we traveled, but I saw him watching Cufant carefully as she battled with a gleeful zeal.

"She looks close to evolving," he suddenly said after she had chased off another stronger-than-average Morgrem.

"You think so?" I asked, surprised that he was actually starting a conversation.

"All of your pokemon are unusually healthy. And most of them seem to have a higher than average stamina," Paul said with a frown, glaring down at me like he suspected me of cheating at something. I felt myself bristle defensively at his tone and folded my arms grumpily.

"Why are you so surprised by that?" I asked in an annoyed growl. Paul frowned and shrugged, glancing away from me.

"I've been a trainer for over a decade and I haven't seen any pokemon quite like yours. Why are they different?" Paul asked with a scowl and I blinked in surprise before smiling cheekily.

"It's because of my breeder training," I said smugly. Paul's scowl deepened and he turned away but I grabbed his arm and he looked down at my hand with a frown.

"I'm serious! The breeder I trained under taught me all about the different types and what minerals and vitamins they need as supplements in their food to be in top shape. I was also in charge of the strengthening exercises so I got to learn how to help different pokemon compensate for their weaknesses through specific exercises and training strategies." Paul's eyebrow quirked up in a look of mild disbelief and I rolled my eyes at him, folding my arms once again in a huff.

"Honestly, I don't know why you think breeders are so useless," I muttered angrily and Paul looked away from me without a word.

We continued walking in a tense silence when Paul suddenly stopped and met my eyes.

"Show me," he demanded in a quiet voice.

A/N No choices to make this time. I hope you are excited about the ending. Paul has a rough exterior but we're about to see just how soft and gooey his center can be ;)