Chapter 30: Battles
The next morning I woke up to see Dawn fully dressed, packing her bags. She seemed a lot calmer than she had been last night.
"Good morning," she said as I rolled up my sleeping bag.
"Why are you packing up?"
"If it doesn't bother you too much, I'd like for us to make our way to Verdanturf by tonight and stay at the Pokemon Center. It'd make getting ready tomorrow easier."
"Fine."
"Ok. After breakfast, let's leave."
I frowned. She didn't seem to mind bossing me around when she had a purpose. If I knew the Contest thing was a permanent thing, I would have argued, but since it was only a one day thing I decide it was best to plow ahead without causing any avoidable drama.
We ate quietly. Dawn seemed to glow with excitement now that she wasn't scared to death. To me, it was such an odd display. When I battled, it made me feel powerful and important. When Dawn did anything Contest related, she seemed even giddier and girlier than usual.
I shook my head to myself- we were so different, even if we were now accustomed to each other's presence.
We left camp after eating, Dawn walking faster than normal. She didn't talk often and I replied back curtly, not really in a good mood now that we were going back to populated areas where people talked to me to be polite and didn't understand that I hated people bothering me, even for the sake of that pesky thing called manners.
"There it is!" Dawn exclaimed an hour later. We'd made good time.
The town looked a lot different than it had the last time I'd been here. Last time, the only large modern building had been the Contest Hall. Now, it seemed like houses and shops were cropping up in the more vacant areas of town. Its population was growing pretty exponentially by the look of it.
"Let's go!" Dawn tugged my arm for a second, pulling me forward a bit. I scowled, not enjoying feeling like a rag doll. Piplup smiled at me smugly from his Trainer's arms and I gave him a look of annoyance.
We walked into town. Not many people were milling about and I guessed most of the population was at work. The Pokemon Center was at the very edge of town and it wasn't long before we walked through the front doors.
Dawn and I handed in our Pokemon to be examined by Nurse Joy and Dawn said, "I'm going to call my mom. I'm pretty sure the Contest will be on TV, so she'll want to watch."
"Ok. I'll make sure we have two rooms booked and then I'll be... around."
Dawn nodded and hurried off to the computers.
Great. Now what? I thought moodily after asking Nurse Joy for two room keys- one for myself and one for Dawn. I'd have to spend about half an hour before my Pokemon would be handed back to me, I wasn't hungry, and I was in a town full of people. We didn't need to restock supplies since we were staying here for at least another day.
Grumbling, I began to explore the Pokemon Center. There was a fitness room, which didn't interest me. I preferred doing exercises that didn't require machines. A large pool was also inside and a lot of Water Pokemon were swimming. Some Trainers were swimming as well, treading water as their Pokemon swam circles around them.
The next room I came across was a large library. It had a couple hundred books and I sighed in relief, settling myself among the rows of knowledge.
I found a book about the rules of Hoenn Contests and decided that I should at least skim through it to understand exactly what would be going on in the Contest tomorrow. In no way would I make a fool of myself by not knowing about the "glitz and glamour" that was used in the world of Coordinators.
Dawn came in half an hour later. She was so quiet that I didn't hear her approach until she was right behind me, reading over my shoulder. "So, reading up on Contests?"
I flinched and held back a snarl. "It's rude to sneak up on people."
I slammed the book shut and stood up, glaring at her. She beamed back. "It's ok. I think it's nice that you're taking interest."
"I'm not taking interest, meddlesome. I'm learning about the gruesome world of Contests so I can properly watch yours tomorrow."
"Either way, it means a lot to me," she said softly.
I crossed my arms. "Are our Pokemon ready yet?"
"Yeah, but let's have lunch first before we pick them up. I'm hungry."
We went to the cafeteria, ate a large lunch, and then went to see Nurse Joy who handed us our Pokemon, telling us they were all perfectly healthy.
"I know that look." Dawn eyed me with a smile. "You're going to go battle someone, aren't you?"
So I had a battle look that was easily decipherable by her, did I? I frowned and avoided her question. "What are you going to do?"
"I've decided to give my Pokemon a break today. We've done all the training we need, so I'll go watch you battle."
I nodded and decided to go outside where a group of Trainers were talking near the practice field. There were five of them. One of the teenage girls looked strong, so I went up to her. "Want to battle?"
She eyed me critically before grinning. "Sure."
We walked over to the battle field where her friends decided to join us on the sidelines.
"Come on, Em!" A boy with long brown hair cheered as she released a Swampert.
"Go, Manny!" the girl next to him yelled. She had the same happiness about her as Dawn exuded.
Also in the group was another boy who seemed content to observe quietly and a girl a few years younger than the rest who didn't seem to know if she wanted to cheer or just watch in silence.
I returned my attention to the Pokemon we'd be battling. The Swampert crouched low, which I found strange. They usually stood tall, but this one seemed shy.
Pushover, I thought before saying, "Torterra, stand by for battle."
I threw his Poke Ball and Torterra landed heavily on the field. I also released Bagon so that he could watch the battle.
"Alright, Manny, use Ice Beam!"
The Swampert stayed close to the ground and fired an Ice Beam.
"Block it with Stone Edge."
A wall of stones erupted around Torterra like a shield, blocking the Ice attack.
Our opponent frowned. "Ok, use your own Stone Edge."
Rocks erupted around Swampert and flew at Torterra.
"Frenzy Plant," I commanded.
Roots as thick as Torterra's legs sprouted from the ground, swatting at the stones before viciously heading toward the Swampert. I smirked- they were goners.
But the girl smiled and said, "Counter."
The Swampert stood still and began glowing. As the Frenzy Plant hit him, the roots were directed back to Torterra, whipping him in the head and pushing him backwards. He growled in response, limbs trembling.
Hm, so they knew how to play.
Manny seemed tired, but his Trainer yelled, "Ice beam!"
"Stone Edge again."
"Circle around with Surf!"
Manny let loose a huge wave, which he rode expertly. Torterra became immersed in so much water that he his feet left the ground. The rocks floated uselessly as the Swampert began hitting Torterra with an Ice Beam.
"Giga Drain."
Torterra's back glowed green and I saw Manny begin growing weak as its energy was zapped away, but he kept up the Ice Beam. It became thinner and thinner until the attack stopped and Manny stood panting and shaking. He collapsed, spent.
"Oh, Manny!" His Trainer ran over, looking worried. "Are you ok?"
The Swampert trembled, but nodded.
"Thanks for battling. You did a great job. Return." She held out her Poke Ball and Manny escaped to the confined space. The girl strode over to me, brushing her long brown hair out of her face and frowning. She shook my hand. "Nice battle. I wasn't expecting such a fight. My name's Emma, by the way."
I shook her hand, not really wanting to. "I wasn't expecting Counter."
She grinned. "We just learned that move."
"Hey, what about us!?" One of the boys yelled from the side line. "We want to battle too!"
I couldn't help but smile a bit at his enthusiasm to lose. The other three kids with them seemed a lot quieter and kept to themselves, which I approved of.
"I'm up next." He ran over to me and grinned. "My name's Daniel. What's yours?"
"Paul," I said unwillingly.
"Ok, Paul. Are we going to battle or what!? Come on!" Daniel whined.
I rolled my eyes, but kept my most vulgar comments to myself. "Patience is a virtue."
He scoffed. "I'll learn it tomorrow. Right now I'm rearing to battle."
"As you wish."
"Alright, Jay, come on out!" Daniel yelled.
A Swellow appeared, circling the field energetically, crying out and performing acrobatics very astounding for even a Flying Pokemon. I heard Bagon give a little sigh of awe and longing.
"Torterra, return. Electivire." Electivire appeared and stood in front of me, electricity sparking the air as he stared at his opponent.
Piece of cake.
"Alright, Jay, use Hidden Power!" Daniel stood triumphantly across from us as if he'd already won.
"Protect."
A green sphere-like shield sprouted up in front of Electivire and the brown orb of Hidden Power collided with it, unable to do any damage to Electivire.
"Thunder," I ordered.
Electivire was about to unleash his electricity from his hands when Daniel shouted, "Double Team!"
The Swellow erupted into a dozen different Swellow, all but one an illusion.
Electivire hesitated and listened, trying to figure out which Swellow was the real one.
"Hidden Power, Jay!"
All of the Swellow pointed their beaks at Electivire and fired a ball of energy. It hit Electivire and he winced, looking pretty hurt.
Must be a Ground type Hidden Power. I didn't want to overuse Protect, but now I knew which attack to avoid.
"Aerial Ace!" Daniel smiled.
How stupid, I thought. "Grab him."
Even though a dozen Swellow rushed at Electivire, he heard the real one's wings and wrapped his wire-like tail around him, squeezing tightly. Swellow cried out in pain and its copies faded away.
"Thunder."
Before Electivire could start, Jay let loose a couple of Hidden Power attacks at Electivire's back, making his grip weaken enough for the Swellow to fly away, although he now seemed to be paralyzed.
"Awesome. Ok, use Facade!"
Swellow sped towards Electivire, the light glowing red around him as if he was a rocket.
"Thunder Punch," I commanded.
The attacks met head on and a plume of smoke clouded the field. As it cleared, I saw that Electivire had sank to one knee, grunting. The Swellow was on the ground. It had fainted.
"Awe, Jay... I thought you'd pull through." Daniel frowned. "That's ok. You still did great. Return."
Daniel walked over to me, grinning ear to ear. "Great battle! I learned a lot."
Is it just me, or is no one intimidated by me anymore? I frowned. This was really weird.
I heard Dawn giggle from the sidelines and gave her a questioning look. She just shrugged and kept trying to hide her smile.
Hi, Readers!
Just wanted to say thanks for sticking to the story up till this point. I promise I have plenty of fun, exciting battles, an epic Contest, and uncountable new Dawn and Paul moments coming up. If you could leave a comment about how much you love/hate the story, it'd be much appreciated :)
Also, thanks to my friends who are absolutely the most fun to write about and awesome Trainers. Especially Daniel, who is the only person I know who wouldn't be intimidated in the slightest by Paul. Keep flying! :P