Pokemon - Solo's Strange Journey

"You!" Captain Braviary points me out. "Get over here."

Gulp.

As I get closer to him, I can see Misdreavus receiving treatment from Chansey while Zoey stays beside her with a massive blush on her face.

Buneary hops to me and follows me with her own blush. I'm probably not much better off.

"Yes, sir?" 

He looks really fucking pissed. 

His face is contorted in visible anger.

"You're on thin ice Mr. Solo. First, you were about to cheat. And then you even took your eyes off the battle! A few more seconds of carelessness and you would have killed Misdreavus!"

Gulp. Shit. This is true. 

I should always make sure to watch what Buneary does. 

I can't forget that she is dangerous.

"If it was up to me, you could have said goodbye to your chance as a trainer just now. Maybe you could have become a trainer next year, after studying the damn rules again!" He takes a deep breath. "But you're in luck."

He grits his teeth, still seething in anger but trying to calm down as he looks down on me. "Instead you get a pop quiz. What happens when you kill another trainer's pokemon?"

"... My pokemon gets released and I lose my trainer license."

"If you know the damn consequences, why in Mew's name did you look away?! And why did you feel the need to cheat?!"

What do you mean, why did I need to cheat!? You forced a sudden battle on me! And it's not even cheating outside of league regulated battles!

But instead of that, I calmly reply. "My opponent changed too suddenly and our preparations were aimed against Lucas. I wasn't thinking, and I wanted to maximize our win chances. It will not happen again."

"It would better not happen again! And if I see you looking away from the battle again, I will make sure that you won't participate in a trainer battle again. You hear me?!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Now, get out of my sight. And get thicker pants if you have issues staying... calm in battle."

"Yes, sir."

Fuck me. 

I pick up Buneary and walk past Zoey back to our spot on the bleachers.

Buneary is seething in anger now. 

Feels like she was close to ripping that guy's throat out for talking down on us like that. 

Well, talking down on me.

I'm the trainer, so everything we do wrong, is my fault. 

That's the rules.

Still. What a fucking asshole. 

I hope I won't have to see him again after this stupid tournament. 

'Hey, let's put the normal type pokemon up against the ghost pokemon! Isn't that fun?'

Prick.

I just want to tear apart his neck and watch him bleed out.

"Hey, Swole!" Dawn rips me out of my thoughts.

Where the hell did that intrusive thought come from? Sheesh! Calm down Swole.

"Hey, Dawn..."

"Congratulations on your win! Wow, I did not expect to see that turn of events. I thought for sure Zoey was going to win this."

"Yea. I guess." I say as I sit down and put Buneary on my lap.

Man, that fucking asshole took all the fun away from the win.

"The guy's a massive asshole." Says Barry. "He's worse than your father."

"Snort. Shut up Barry. And, I think they are on the same level of assholeness."

"Your dad didn't make people around him cry."

"Hey! Shut up Barry! I wasn't crying last time!" Dawn denies the implied accusations.

Kinda true. 

It was the cruelty of the wilderness that made me cry. 

Dad just made me feel like I'm not good enough.

This guy on the other hand actually made Dawn cry last Friday. 

What an asshole.

"We found you in the bathroom corner with mascara streaks and a picture of your family clutched in your hands." Akari reveals the truth. "I understand the need for firm lessons, but this person is clearly an... asshole."

"However," Akari continues, "Let us talk about your fight instead. It took an entirely unexpected turn. Would you not say so as well? I can not say I have ever witnessed an opponent kissed into submission."

'You wanna try out that strategy?!' I stop myself from saying that.

"I know, right?" Lucas comments. "But, did anyone else get weird vibes from that? Swole, why did you have to read us that perverted book of yours? You made pokemon sexual."

"Shut up. The book is just a history book. And it's just one weird chapter. And... Buneary was just using Sweet Kiss and Draining Kiss... There's nothing weird about that. Unless you make it weird. You weirdo."

"You're the weirdo."

"No you."

"No you."

"Hahaha." Zoey's laughter interrupts our riveting dialogue. "We're all weirdos. You can't tell me any of us managed to watch the fight without any weird thoughts."

She cradles her passed out Misdreavus in her arms and sits down with us.

Yea. But I'm not going to admit to it.

"Nope. Never had a weird thought in my life." - "Me neither." - "Nnnope." - "Nu uh." - "I believe the fight was sexually charged."

We all look at Akari with weirded-out looks and she seems confused as to why. "What is the matter?"

I can only shake my head. "Anyway. Zoey."

I force myself to wipe the grin off my face. "I need to apologize. First for the... sexual harassment. And then for not looking at the battle. I didn't notice Misdreavus had already passed out..."

"Don't worry! I don't think Misdreavus minded it too much and from my angle, I could see that Buneary had already stopped attacking by the time Captain Braviary stopped the battle." 

She says as she affectionately strokes Misdreavus' hair, and Buneary starts blushing and avoiding my stare.

So I got chewed out for no damn reason?

I can't believe that I thought the guy was cool...

"HEY! I SAID LUCAS DIAMOND AND AKARI PLATINUM! MOVE YOUR FUCKING ASSES DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Sheesh! 

The guy transformed from a cool hype-beast into an anger-machine. 

Did someone shit in his lunch during break?

...

Someone should shit in his lunch.

---

Narrator-POV:

The combat instructor is increasingly becoming more and more angry.

The poor students who have to face his anger are not even at fault. 

His anger stems from the phone call he received shortly before recess.

A representative of a coalition between Team Galactic and the Platinum League has ordered him to push the students towards excellence and to test them for their problem solving capabilities at their limit.

On its own, the order had sounded innocuous and Captain Braviary had accepted the conditions for his continued employment without any complaints.

But after the first battle, he found out the problems that come from pushing young people in that direction.

Young people do not care about rules.

'My job is to release competent trainers. Not exceptional mercenaries!' Is what he thinks of the situation.

Without the rules of battle, an arena can easily turn into a slaughterhouse. 

It is what he had experienced shortly after beginning his tour across the Sinnoh region:

A young, ambitious, fresh-out-of-school trainer had challenged him to battle without a referee, in the middle of nowhere. 

Without further thinking about it, he accepted but in an accident near the end of the battle, the young trainer's pokemon had killed his Rufflet.

The young trainer had his license revoked and was excommunicated from his social circle.

... But that did not manage to bring Rufflet back to the living.

Now, he is furious about the next generation of trainers.

'These young people... Some are better suited for the wilderness than for civilized society. And others should not be allowed to have any authority over pokemon at all.'

He believes that Swole Solo has no future as a trainer, but would make a great soldier instead. 

The victory is his first priority, everything else comes second. Even if it kills his opponents or gets him disqualified from battles.

But even worse than that, is Paul Shinji. 

Captain Braviary's glare moves over the students and stays on the one student, who would not have managed to pass trainer school last year.

'The boy who risked his life and made his pokemon pay the price.'

Paul Shinji, also known as Asshole by his classmates, has 2 pokeballs on his belt. 

One belonging to his Elekid, the other to a Teddiursa that he caught in the wilderness.

Both his Starly and his Chimchar were abandoned in the wilderness to fight Teddiursa's angry mother off, while he ran away with his newest fighter.

Captain Braviary gnashes his teeth. 

"HEY! I SAID LUCAS DIAMOND AND AKARI PLATINUM! MOVE YOUR FUCKING ASSES DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

In fact, he did not call them down before. 

But nobody cares about the truth when an angry man, muscles bulging, veins popping, face red with anger, calls them down.

Akari and Lucas scramble down the stairs to the battlefield.

'Akari Platinum. Another brat that cares nothing about rules. The footage from the wilderness survival lessons have shown that she is more like a wild pokemon than a human. She and Swole are even pulling their friends down with them. Absolutely disgusting savages. These children need Mew.'

"GET ON WITH IT!"

"Come on out, Buizel!"

Lucas throws out his pokeball and his Buizel comes out, ready to fight and with no visible exhaustion at all. 

Unlike Cyndaquil who walks onto the battlefield a little more sluggish than usual. 

Although an observer who had never seen Cyndaquil before would not be able to tell this.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, sensei." - "Yes, sir!"

"Begin!"

Neither trainer gives an order to their pokemon. Both have picked out their strategies well in advance already.

For Cyndaquil, that is plan A. 

For Buizel...

Buizel aims a Water Gun straight into the air while Cyndaquil produces a massive cloud of pitch black smoke to cover her part of the arena.

When the water falls back down in small, rain like droplets, the damage it does to Cyndaquil is negligible, but the disruption it causes to the smoke cloud is great enough for Buizel to see the outlines of his target through the smoke.

"Yes! It worked! Now use Quick Attack!"

Just as Buizel starts his dash across the arena, a bright purple light comes from the center of the smoke cloud.

The outline of Cyndaquil distorts and moves in an unnatural way, causing Buizel to doubt his aim and slow down.

Just then, two purple flames appear in the distortions. 

Instead of eyes, the corrupted outline of Cyndaquil has purple flames.

They are malice. 

The spectators watch in awe and suspense. 

Buizel freezes in place. The eyes focus on him.

All of a sudden, the distortions turn into a shady figure who speeds out of the smoke cloud. 

It swiftly flies over the battlefield and smashes straight into Buizel, enveloping him in the process.

Goosebumps form on skin of the audience, the referee and on Lucas as the shade slowly enters his target and manifests in a nail, floating over Buizel's head.

Akari and Cyndaquil have spent most of their time training up their ghost type and the results speak for themselves.

From the barely successful curse a week ago, to the scary monstrosity that paints a single, bleak future for Buizel.

Lucas realizes, that his plan to counter the curse, did in fact, not work. 

The nail lowers an inch and finally, Lucas remembers that he still has a battle to fight. 

"Buizel, snap out of it! Use Water Gun! Spread it out but focus on the center of the smoke cloud!"

Buizel recovers from the fright as his trainer's voice breaks through his terror. 

The water type energy charges up and a blast of water comes forth, aimed at the center of the Smokescreen.

From the darkness, the staccato sounds of many pops ring out. 

The occasional, glittering Swift star shoots out of the smoke, only to slam back into the Water Gun while they try to home in on Buizel.

Lucas thinks as hard as he can to figure out a way to win. 

Cyndaquil is still following her plan A without any adjustments at all.

She keeps waiting in the relative safety of her Smokescreen.

The nail lowers another inch and the end of the battle becomes obvious to even the slowest observers.

"Dammit! We surrender!"

---

Swole-POV:

"Dammit! We surrender!" Lucas finally shouts out and Buizel turns to his trainer with an ashamed look on his face, at the same time as the nail dissipates into thin air.

Zoey starts cheering and Dawn, Barry and I follow her lead. 

Akari and Cyndaquil are bloody brilliant.

Her plan A is just sooo OP if allowed to be completed.

"Holy shit, I can't believe how sick that Curse looked! It felt like I was going to get cursed just by being nearby!" Zoey is amazed with the performance.

"I think it's more impressive how she won the battle without a single command. I can just barely get Buneary to remember 3 orders, but those 2 had the whole battle figured out from the start."

Buneary gives me a betrayed look but then changes the target of her look to Cyndaquil instead.

"Oh shit!" I suddenly remember. "I need to fight against that next... I wonder if the Smokescreen is necessary at all for her Curse... Do you think it's just a diversion?"

"She always used the Smokescreen while training." Explains Barry. "She is either serious about keeping her secrets a secret, or it's necessary for the ghost type. She hasn't told us, because she's still waiting for the money from professor Rowan."

"Makes sense..." In that case, chasing Cyndaquil around and staying away from any Flame Charge and Will-O-Wisp, still seems like the best option for us.

Cyndaquil also has some pretty good proficiency with Swift. 

The homing effect of that move could be trouble... "Buneary, could you deflect the Swift projectiles like Piplup's Bubble Beam?"

This seems to snap her out of her brooding and her head snaps back to me. 

She nods confidently as she looks up to me from her position on my lap. "Bun. Bunea- Buneary!"

"Nono, I trust you. You're definitely tough enough. I'm just verifying all I can before the fight. Just so you know, our basic strategy will be to stick to Cyndaquil like glue and to not give her a second to act unmoles-- without us kicking her ass."

Wait... molesting... hmmm... "Actually, be ready to use Sweet Kiss if we get the opportunity. Everything we can do to make it harder for Cyndaquil to act."

"Oh, and be ready to tank a lot. Without Defense Curl or Baby-Doll Eyes we will lose or tie most direct trades."

"Bun!" She replies and punches her fists together.

Ready and reliable. As always.

... I lean in a little closer. "You're the best." I say quietly, so the others don't hear the cringe. "I don't think I say it often enough."

But Akari is probably the best trainer today.

We have many loose conditions that I know of. 

And she might have who-knows-how-many aces hidden in her kimono sleeve.

"No matter what happens next, you already went above and beyond against Zoey and I'm proud of you. Let's give it our very best against Cyndaquil too, alright?"

"Bun!"

I give her head a little pat and scratch, and then look back to the arena to catch the last battle of the quarter finals.

"... and Paul Shinji! Get down here, now!"

Never mind, I don't care.

Akari is still down there, waiting for her turn, getting free healing from Chansey.

Zoey, Dawn and Barry are up here with me. None of them are looking at the battle either.

One of my arms sneaks around Buneary's stomach and I hold her a little closer to me.

Should I watch the battle after all? 

... Nah. I can just spectate their group's finalists, when they battle it out in the semi-finale.

Probably going to be Asshole and Ash... Actually, Ash Ketchum, formerly known as Guest 3, was already put into the semi-finals bracket.

Me versus Akari is right after this... With any luck, Akari doesn't get enough time to heal up at Chansey.

My other arm sneaks around Buneary too.

In my head, I'm just drifting along... 

Thinking of bullshit that Cyndaquil could pull off against us.

What if they predict our Quick Attack opener and just counter with Flame Charge? 

That would instantly cost us the match.

As for a Will-O-Wisp opener, I'm confident enough in Buneary's skills to use the dirt to block it...

The dirt... The wet dirt? 

... When did the arena turn muddy?

Was it when Buizel shot his Water Gun into the air to defog some of the Smokescreen?

If Buneary covered herself in mud, would the fire attacks become weaker?

I lean forward. This needs my whole focus. 

That could be a winning strategy!

We can't waste time or Cyndaquil just Curses us and disappears in a massive Smokescreen.

... But what if... our Quick Attack opening isn't aimed at her, but at the ground in front of her?

That would counter both Will-O-Wisp and Flame Charge. And we would be close enough to counter Smokescreen.

"Psst. Buneary. I have a new plan." I whisper to her and she looks up.

At some point she ended up pulled in tight to me, and her face is now directly below mine. Her ears are pressed into my chest.

"Do you still know the first step of plan A?" She nods confidently. "Quick Attack. Right. But let's throw up as much mud as we can, alright? Get yourself and Cyndaquil covered in as much mud as you can."

She is still for a moment, trying to understand why but eventually just accepts the order as it is with another nod.

"Paul Shinji and Elekid are the winners! Next up are Swole Solo and Akari Platinum! Move it!"

---

Gulp.

My heart is racing. If I win this, I will at least get 80.000₽ or better yet, a pokemon egg.

I walk down the steps and Akari is already waiting for me on the other side of the arena.

Her Cyndaquil is still in Akari's arms and luckily, they didn't have the time to get treated by Chansey!

"You still remember everything?" She nods determinedly. "Let's go."

Buneary and Cyndaquil jump to their ready positions at the same time.

I look toward the referee. 

We need to be as fast as possible. 

If Cyndaquil can set up a Smokescreen then we risk losing instantly.

Speed is going to be our greatest ally.

The referee looks back at me, then at Akari. 

He is giving each of us a look of contempt and malice.

"Are you both ready?!"

I honestly expected him to just start the battle. "Yes!"

"Yes, sensei." Akari responds as well. 

Her eyes are focused on Buneary.

My own switch to Cyndaquil. 

Akari is not going to give orders anytime soon, so I better watch her pokemon instead.

I don't need to watch the referee. 

Buneary knows her orders. When the battle starts, she runs.

Watching Cyndaquil is most important.

"Begin!"

Neither of us say a word but from the corner of my eye I can see Buneary picking up speed across the muddy ground.

Her feet, leaving deep prints in the muddy soil.

On the other side of the battle, Cyndaquil is preparing something. 

Smokescreen? 

I can't tell.

But no matter what, Buneary is faster and jumps the last few meters for a higher angle of attack.

Then, a thick stream of black smoke rushes out of Cyndaquil's snout and almost instantly covers her quarter of the field in an impenetrable veil of darkness. 

Can't see the results of our plan now.

"Kick her out of there with Double Kick!"

"Counter with Flame Charge!"

Bam!

Whoosh!

Cyndaquil shoots out of the smoke cover. Flames struggling to escape her mud covered body.

Buneary comes running out just a second later. Muddy.

"Yes! Stay on top of her! Quick Attack and Double Hit!"

"Use Swift!"

Cyndaquil rights herself in mid air and releases a small shower of stars.

"Continue your attack!"

Buneary sprints after her target. Star shaped projectiles homing in on her. 

Some are nimbly dodged and the projectiles slam into the ground. Failing to readjust their course. 

Others are deflected. 

They hit her limbs that are covered in the normal type energy of Quick Attack.

But some projectiles still hit Buneary and take their toll.

She tanks the move and persists with her attack.

Bam! Pow! Pow!

The combo attack hits the mark and spikes Cyndaquil into the soil.

Clumps of baked dirt are breaking off.

"Flame Wheel! Get yourself some space!"

New flames erupt from Cyndaquil's back upon hearing the order. 

Her muddy casing has burned dry and flaked off enough to let her use attacks again.

They are running away. 

She can try but we won't let her. 

Buneary is already running after her, slowly closing the distance due to the difference in speed. 

"Stay close then attack with Jump Kick!"

Jump Kick is slow. But Double Kick risks being countered by Flame Wheel.

Flame Wheel even has a chance to leave a burn so we can't half-ass the trade.

Buneary sticks closely behind waiting for the best moment to strike. 

Fighting type energy primed for the next move. 

Ready to dodge at the first sign of a counter attack--

All of a sudden, Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel starts shining brightly. 

How?!

What are they planning? Are they somehow super heating their attack? 

Overheat!? 

"Buneary, retreat!"

"Cyndaquil!? What is happening? Are you okay?" 

Akari has no idea what is going on either. 

Is it Overheat? Did she suddenly learn it?

The brightness increases more and more and I'm forced to turn my eyes away--

Oh no! 

Oh shit! I know what that light means!

As fast as the light became blindingly bright, it also receded again, equally quickly.

In the place of Cyndaquil who, up until now, was rolling around in her Flame Wheel, is now a Quilava!

Her fur is mostly purple, just her stomach and chin are covered in yellow fur instead, and she is about as tall as Buneary now.

Her eyes have a piercing, dark ruby-red color and the flames on her back and on the back of her head are burning brightly with occasional motes of dark purple fire interspersed.

"Fuuuuck." I let out a deep breath that I was holding in. "Congratulations, Akari!" I shout across the field.

This is so bad for me though.

"Thank you, Swole!" Akari responds.

I take another look at Quilava.

She looks menacing. 

Are the purple bits from her unusual affinity to the ghost type?

"HEY! Stop your chit-chat and continue your fight!" Comes the voice of the combat instructor.

"Oh, right! Buneary, get back into the fight with Quick Attack!"

Buneary, who had retreated closer to me, runs back into the battle.

"Cyn-- Quilava! Use Flame Wheel!"

Shit! Her Flame Wheel is visibly a lot stronger now! 

There is no way we can compete with Quick Attack! "Change to Jump Kick!" 

Will that be enough?

Her speed slows down and then she jumps feet first against the flaming shell of Quilava.

They clash for a moment, pushing against each other in the air as the type energy is expended and neutralized. 

But then the equilibrium ends.

Buneary did not have enough time to charge up Jump Kick well enough and she was thrown back to me once again. 

Then comes the recoil damage from a failed Jump Kick. 

Sparks of energy arc over Buneary's legs and lower body.

"Shit!" 

I didn't even think of that!

We lost the trade and took a huge chunk of damage.

Only a little bit of Quilava's power broke through the trade but the recoil damage makes up for it!

Fuck! We can't risk losing a trade like that again!

What can we even do now? The mud coatings on both Buneary and Quilava are already gone. 

Reapplying that seems too risky. 

Most moves could be countered and I still can't give Quilava time to set up any of her bullshit.

And the random evolution is too much!

Suddenly, I notice Swift projectiles coming in. 

I was thinking for too long. 

"Buneary, dodge as much as you can. And get closer to Quilava."

I know that a closer distance will make dodging projectiles harder but we just can't afford to stay too far away.

Too many projectiles are hitting Buneary, despite her best efforts and she stumbles a little.

I need to think of something quickly or she will take the punishment for my incompetence!

...

"Buneary." I change to a whisper. 

Everything to increase our chances. "Feint an attack. Rush in and dodge. Then Pound and Double Hit."

Then with a shout, "Quick Attack! Don't give any ground!"

"Counter with Flame Charge."

Yes! She took the bait! 

Unless she baits me into believing she took the bait?

Anyway, Buneary is charging Pound and running towards Quilava. It looks indistinguishable to a Quick Attack.

Especially to an outside observer who doesn't know exactly how fast she usually is.

And especially when any slowing down could be excused by exhaustion.

Only I know exactly how fast she should be right now.

Right before the two pokemon clash together, Buneary suddenly banks to the right. Kicking a bit of mud up into Quilava's face in the process and causing Flame Charge to miss my nimble bunny.

Buneary instantly turns back around and strikes out at Quilava.

An overhead Pound. A punch with her left paw and another punch with her right paw. 

"Jump Kick! Charge it good!" We can't rush the move again or else Quilava can just break through and overpower us.

Buneary and Quilava are breathing heavily a couple of meters apart from each other. Buneary is standing still, trying to collect the energy needed for the move.

"Use Leer!"

"Attack now! Then follow up with Double Kick!"

My eyes flick over to Akari. 

How? How can she capitalize on every single move I make? She even looks calm and collected while doing it!

My eyes dart back. 

Once again Buneary is forced to use a half-assed Jump Kick. She jumps the small distance to her target and Quilava tanks it.

Quilava remains steadfast. She just barely slides back by the move. 

Her evolution made her too strong!

During her slide, her glare intensifies. Her sharp eyes tighten up until only her bright red orbs remain in my view.

Some white glow seeps into Buneary.

Then Buneary catches up with the knock-back and kicks Quilava twice again. Pushing her a little further back in the process.

"Ember!"

"Dodge!"

Quilava breathes in deeply. 

A tight stream of Ember shoots out. 

But a lot less projectiles than with Piplup's Bubble Beam.

Buneary tries to step between the projectiles, like she did in her sparring against Piplup. 

But she loses her footing in the mud and slips.

Shit! "Use the mud!"

The stream of fire focuses on her prone body and pummels into her.

One blast after another hits her for little effect as she keeps rolling herself in mud.

"Change into Flame Wheel and jump up!" - "Dodge with Splash!"

Wait what?

Quilava manages to perfectly flow the Ember attack into her Flame Wheel and rushes towards Buneary who jumped out of the way with a short burst of normal type.

But Quilava follows her into the air with her own jump.

Fuck!

How!?

Bam!

"Retaliate with Flail!" I shout a little louder. 

Buneary was picked up in Quilava's rush and they are both tumbling over the field... Quilava is doing it on purpose. 

Buneary had no choice.

"Retreat from Buneary!"

Akari orders her pokemon away from the power-move but it's already too late!

Bam! Pow!

While still tumbling around, Buneary's bright shining leg and ear hit Quilava in the back, and even manage to break through the remainder of her Flame Wheel.

A smile forms on my face.

Pow!

Then another punch hits the mark! Quilava tries to run away but Buneary is relentless. 

One strike, punch, stomp and hit after another turn the tides back in our favor.

And the hits go on and on with no end in sight... Except... when Buneary eventually runs out of steam.

Her last punch ends with her having to brace her weight instead. 

Quilava doesn't look so good anymore.

One of her eyes is swollen shut. She's down on all fours and I doubt she can still get up into her usual upright position again.

Her flames are sputtering but she looks determined to continue the fight.

But Buneary doesn't look much better.

Her breaths are heavy. 

Her body is battered and bloody. 

She's close to passing out.

Buneary... I hate seeing her like this.

We're out of juice and running on fumes at best.

Should--... Should I surrender? For her sake?

"Bu-- nie..." All of a sudden, Buneary clutches her chest and falls over. 

Some fire type energy is dissipating from a burn mark that I hadn't noticed until now.

"Buneary is KO!" Shit... 

Camera flashes and applause fill my senses but I can only see Buneary and hear my own heartbeat.

"Akari Platinum and Quilava are the winners! Now get your pokemon healed."

---

"Buneary!" I rush over to my pokemon as soon as the referee ends the battle.

She's in bad shape. 

Again.

And it's my fault. 

I don't even know how I could have won that.

I'm a failure.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I know that she will be fine after a bit of rest and some food. 

But right now, I can only see the dirty, bloodstained, matted fur and her limp body.

I pick her up in my arms and bring her over to Chansey who is waiting on standby. 

She gets to work immediately, casting a Heal Pulse and getting some bandages and band aids ready.

"Chan! Chansey, chan!" She... reprimands me?

"I know... I suck."

Buneary seems to be far worse for wear than the other pokemon after their losses.

She always pushes herself to the very end.

At least I didn't surrender... I doubt that I would ever hear the end of it if I had surrendered.

Buneary is a fighter. 

I know, the loss is going to be painful to her but losing without giving it her all would be even worse.

My hand stretches out to pet Buneary's head, but it gets slapped away! Buneary!?-- 

No... By Chansey... She is still busy putting bandages on her left ear.

The damage she took was immense.

The sudden sound of thunder interrupts my fussing.

I turn around and notice that the next battle has already started and it looks like Ash's Pikachu is fighting against Asshole's Elekid.

Pikachu is in a much better shape than Elekid. It looks like this is Pikachu's first battle today.

They are far less evenly matched than me and Akari.

Elekid looks like he is just barely keeping up.

I look back to Buneary.

She would have won against Pikachu.

I might not be allowed to interfere with Chansey's work, but I can at least hold Buneary's paw and keep my focus on her.

Her breathing actually calms down a little bit as I hold her paw.

Her chest rises and falls steadily now. 

Her bloody fur doesn't convey the image of an almost dead pokemon, but of a resting warrior instead.

My resting warrior. Always giving it a 100 percent.

I just wish we had won the battle. 

But Quilava just became so much stronger in the middle of the battle. 

What could anyone have done against that sort of thing?

"Good grief. You did really well, Buneary. You almost won, you know?"

"Hello." Wah! "I-- Are you alright?" Akari asks and she looks at me weirdly as I scramble to un-startle myself.

Akari sneaked up on me out of nowhere!

Well... I think she was standing and waiting for Chansey the whole time. 

And at some point Chansey had even switched from caring for Buneary to Quilava.

"Yea. I'm alright. What's up?"

She looks up in thought. "Uhm... the clouds are up? Are you certain you are alright? The sensei has given us a short break after Ash and... A-Hole finished their fight. You looked like you did not notice."

"Oh. I'm sure I'm alright. 'What's up' just means 'how are you'. But thanks for telling me about the break. Who won? Ash, right?"

"Indeed. Ash has managed to secure the victory. As for A-Hole, what will you be doing for your battle for place 3? Will you finally show us your second pokemon?"

Huh? "My second pokemon? What do you mean?"

She points at my crotch. "Is there no second pokemon in there?"

'My second pokemon is Mudicc.' I stop myself from saying that.

Instead, I look down and indeed, there is a second pokeball on my belt. "Oh! That one is empty. I keep it ready in case I want to capture something... Shi-- Did you say battle for place 3? I forgot about that!"

"Ah, that explains it. And I am convinced that you will be able to figure something out. Good luck, Swole."

With that she turns away from me and fusses over Quilava.

I, on the other hand, pick up my healed Buneary and head back to our other friends.

They are still at our spot and they haven't left for the break. 

Dawn looks a little worried about Buneary when she spots my approach.

Barry seems more worried about my next battle. 

We talked a little bit and I pet Buneary absentmindedly.

Eventually the topic of my battle against Asshole is brought up and I am reminded of a rumor that went through the students since the start of the week.

Supposedly, Asshole lost Chimchar and Starly in the wilderness and had gotten a Teddiursa instead. 

And since Elekid will be out of commission, that means Teddiursa will be my most likely opponent.

With Buneary's powerful repertoire of fighting type moves, this would be actually a good matchup for me.

As for how Buneary is going to be in a fighting condition... I pull out my magical solution.

The 1.500₽ revive.

I have a really good chance to win 20.000₽. A 1.500₽ investment, is definitely a good financial decision.

Buneary would also be incredibly pissed if she lost another fight without ever getting the opportunity to defend herself.

I hold out the revive crystal. 

A thumb-sized, sleek, yellow octahedron. A bit taller than wide.

It... does not come with any kind of screwed-on cap or spray lever. How am I supposed to use that?

I press it to Buneary's chest... for no effect. Does she need to eat it?

I try opening her mouth and pushing the crystal in. 

It fits and suddenly, it releases green particles that stream further into her mouth, and then out of her mouth as well to cover her from ear to toe, inside and out.

Instantly, she opens her eyes. They dart around before locking into mine. 

"Hey, you. You're finally awake?"

Tears well up in Buneary's eyes despite my best efforts to distract her with a shitty joke.

~"I'm sorry... I-- I'm a failure!" She apologizes through hiccups. She's trying not to cry as she blames herself for my loss.

"Heyyy... It wasn't your fault." I place my hand at the back of her head and pull her in closer. 

"That fight was super close. And if it was anyone's fault, then it was mine. I decided to help Dawn. I decided that you don't need higher intensity training. I, as the trainer, am at fault. Please don't blame yourself."

Maybe if we blasted through all our berries, then she could have trained enough to get the win...

But Buneary does not look convinced. 

I think she believes that Quilava was simply too strong for her. That she couldn't have done anything against her, no matter how much she trained in the short time we had.

But she suppresses her tears further.

I lean in further to hug Buneary and, surprisingly, she even hugs me back.

"You know... We're not out of the tournament just yet." This finally manages to stop her sniffling. "Do you remember the asshole who called us losers in the park?"

She nods immediately as she remembers the event. 

The moment that we made a sworn enemy.

"We get to beat him up in the next round. His Elekid lost to Pikachu and now we can battle him for place 3."

---

Narrator-POV:

And so, Buneary's mood was greatly improved.

With a devilish grin, she sat and watched as the finale played out. 

For the whole time, she was looking forward to her next fight. To finally put Paul in his place.

Except for when Swole fed her gross tasting berries to ensure she is back in top performance.

Ash and Akari fought out the finale in a less than epic battle for their student-championship.

Ash, to the surprise of many, has chosen to fight with Aipom against Akari's Quilava. 

Reasoning that all of his pokemon should get a turn in the tournament.

His earlier fights were done with his Starly and his newly caught Turtwig.

This time, Akari had used her personal berry stash, in order to get Quilava back into tip top shape. 

She has learned from her fight with Swole, not to trust Chansey's recovery performance. 

And Ash had taken a page out of Swole's book of strategies and attempted to win by giving Quilava no time to set up anything. 

But Quilava simply ended up overpowering Aipom's very first attack with Flame Charge, which gave her the necessary speed to steamroll the rest of the battle.

When Buneary was not busy shooting her arch-nemesis deadly looks, she was listening to Swole who discussed battle strategy with her.

With the finale of the tournament decided, usually the school's prize would be awarded now, and under-performing students would be told to remain for another week. 

But since there are prizes for the top 3 students, another match is scheduled into the plan.

Captain Braviary calls down the young hero and the young antagonist. 

A proponent of comradery and cooperation versus the guy who beats perfection into his pokemon, and steals children from their mothers.

In a last second decision, Swole decides to return Buneary to her pokeball in order to abuse the rumors of his second and to cause confusion and uncertainty in his opponent.

A strategy that Captain Braviary would call cowardly and an antithesis to professional pokemon battles.

He believes the goal of a battle should be to entertain. 

Winning is not the end-goal to sacrifice entertainment and safety for. 

But he is the only person in the school's backyard-stadium who thinks like that.

Swole and Paul meet on the battlefield. 

Their balls are already in their hands. Ready to fight.

"Go." - "Don't kill them, Buneary!"

Each trainer flings their pokeballs. 

Paul throws a regular pokeball, as if tossing away some trash, while Swole passionately throws a premier ball high in the air.

However, despite the passion for the fight, Swole immediately regrets his choice of catchphrase. 

He now realizes that it was cringe.

Out of the premier ball, comes an energetic Buneary, who does a flip in the air before landing in a battle ready position, like a boxer.

Her ears are fully extended and her stance is wide.

On the other side of the arena, appears a small, light brown, teddy-bear like pokemon with a crescent moon shape in his fur. 

A Teddiursa.

His posture is submissive and frightened. 

His posture only got a lot worse, when he spotted Buneary, and he backed up.

Buneary was dirty, grinning evilly and covered in dried blood.

"Don't disappoint me." 

However, his fear of the known danger is greater than the fright of the unknown one; Causing him to retreat away from his trainer and back to the relative safety of the battlefield.

"Are you both ready?" The referee asks the participants one last time for the day and the participants both give their own response. 

"Yes." - "Yes."

"Begin!"

"Belly Drum."

Swole had expected an easy fight but Belly Drum, a move that deals a lot of damage to the user but maximizes their attacking power in the process, destroys his plan in the first turn.

Baby-Doll Eyes would be useless now, he thinks. "Switch to Quick Attack!"

Buneary dismisses the collected fairy type energy and begins her sprint across the battlefield while Teddiursa slaps his own stomach with normal type infused hits.

His tiny, stuffed animal-like body expands and bulges as his physical strength increases drastically.

It is noticeable that Teddiursa did not receive proper training yet, as the speed with which he completes his order is too slow. 

He also did not receive any prior strategic heads-up and had wasted even more precious time because of that.

Just as he finished Belly Drum, Buneary body-checks into him with Quick Attack. 

"Double Hit!" - "Slash!"

Buneary immediately switches into the weaker Double Hit and strikes Teddiursa with one punch for each arm. 

All that in the time it takes for Teddiursa to prepare his own move.

"Splash to dodge!"

The extremely powerful Slash comes from Teddiursa's clawed paw and tries to slice Buneary, but she simply hops straight into the air with the leftover normal type energy as fuel for the move.

"Now Jump Kick!" Swole shouts out his next order as Buneary is still ascending further into the air.

"Use Payback!" Paul intends to use Teddiursa's slower attack time in order to prepare Payback. 

A move that doubles in power when the user takes damage while preparing the move.

Buneary smoothly turns the descent of her Splash into a Jump Kick with both feet aimed at her opponent's head.

Teddiursa closes his eyes in preparation and tanks the super effective hit. 

He was ordered to take the hit and use Payback. So he will do it even if he does not want to.

Bam!

Her feet smash into Teddiursa's face. 

Critical hit.

"Double Kick! Knock him away."

Teddiursa tries to open his eyes but one is already swollen shut from the damage. 

His Payback move increases dramatically in power but all he can focus on are the kicks that smash into his young body and knock him out of the battlefield.

Then... nothing. Teddiursa passes out.

---

Swole-POV:

"Pathetic." Asshole immediately returns his pokemon, without waiting for the referee to end the fight.

Captain Braviary seems to enrage further because of that breach in procedure.

Asshole is such a fucking asshole. 

It's obviously not Teddiursa's fault that we wrecked them.

He was ordered to hurt himself and then couldn't manage to hit a single attack because he wasn't trained well enough.

"What a garbage trainer." I say loud enough for Asshole to hear and Buneary laughs at his expense.

The combat instructor either missed or ignores my unsportsmanlike behavior because he is still busy glaring at Asshole.

"Teddiursa is KO! Swole Solo and Buneary are the winners!" He finally announces. "You, stay behind. And you, Mr. Solo, you should go over to the other winners for your prizes and photos."

Sweeeeet! 20k here we come!

While Asshole receives his tongue lashing, I make my way over to Ash and Akari. 

They are both currently engaging with reporters and the woman with red hair. 

Ms Mars, I think?

Akari, as the winner and as one of the tuition-students, is receiving a lot of attention from the Jubilife TV reporters.

Ash, as a representative of professor Oak's field researchers, is collecting a few questions as well.

Once I join their group, a few reporters usher us into a group pose for some pictures and resume questioning places 1 and 2.

It's a little demeaning to be pushed into an obvious 3rd place in the pictures and then be ignored by the reporters.

Especially because Buneary would have wiped the floor with Aipom.

With luck on their side, Pikachu could be a tossup. He is clearly well trained but we have an advantage against electric types with Limber.

But no matter how good I actually am, no reporter cares about me because I'm not the winner, I'm not the underdog and I'm not selected by professor Oak.

...

Standing around while the other two are being questioned feels really cucked.

...

Finally, after Captain Braviary was done with Asshole, he approached us, talked with Ms Mars and she left and got the prizes.

An incubator with silvery egg inside and two booklets stacked on top.

She hands Akari the incubator and they talk for a moment. But Akari seems a little distracted. I would be too with a mystery egg. 

Damn.

Then she gives Ash and me one booklet each and calls us 'strapping, young winners'.

I like her. She seems nice.

And the money should already be transferred to our accounts by Team Galactic. 

She made doubly sure that we know it comes directly from 'Team Galactic', not GAG, further supporting my conspiracy theory of a recruitment scheme.

The booklet, or rather magazine, is a price index for the items currently traded at the GTS. 

It has 'GTS' printed in big, bold, red letters on the cover page with 'Global Trade Station' in a smaller, yellow font underneath.

The cover image is a couple of rare trainer items and collectors items displayed on podiums with short descriptions and page numbers underneath.

One such item is a literal gold-crown designed to be worn only by pokemon of the Eevee and Pikachu evolution line. 

For a ridiculous price of 999.999₽!

On another podium are a Beedrillite and a Mawilite, each going for 30.000₽. 

They are listed on the same page, so I'm guessing all available mega stones will be there.

I quickly leaf through the pages to the mega stones and the prices are looking bleak. 

They are all priced at 30k₽. And not all discovered mega stones are available for purchase right now.

Most importantly, there is no Lopunnite. 

Fuck.

"Mr. Solo?" Huh?

I close my shopping magazine and look around. 

Oh. My. Arceus. 

A reporter is interested in me!

"Yes?"

She is wearing a long skirt and a sleeveless, brown blouse. Her hair and eyes are a dark shade of blue and she has a cameraman following her around.

I immediately change my posture and employ all the little things mom taught me to be proper and sophisticated.

Buneary follows suit, using as much as she can from the limited education in etiquette that I managed to teach her.

"I am working for Jubilife TV. Are you willing to answer a few questions for us?"

"Of course. I am happy to answer any questions you have." 

Fuck yea! No more reporter-cuckery!

"First off, you are a field researcher, sponsored by professor Rowan. Is that correct?"

"Yes. I started working with him this year."

"What is your opinion on Sinnoh trainers traditionally starting their journey at the age of 14? The contestants, who were ranked higher than you are both trainers who had their pokemon for a longer time already. Wouldn't you agree that Sinnoh trainers are losing a competitive advantage through our traditions?"

"I strongly believe that sending out children at the age of 10 is highly irresponsible. My father made me capture Buneary here, on my own earlier this year." 

I pet Buneary on my shoulder for emphasis. "I almost died in the process and I was definitely not ready for the possible brutality of pokemon."

I shudder a little at some of the resurfacing memories. 

"Pokemon can be seriously dangerous if you meet the wrong ones. Akari-- I mean, Miss Platinum, is an exceptional trainer who I believe has received serious survival training in the past and was ready for the wilderness. That is definitely not the case for Ash Ketchum."

I had to save his ass and he got 2nd place...

"Mr. Ketchum is entirely unaware of the possible danger that pokemon possess and his behavior is rather childlike. A traveling companion from the Kanto region of his is even older and also seems to act childish. This makes me fear that sending trainers out as children causes them to stop their social development and they mentally remain children for who-knows how long."

"So, you believe that the cons outweigh the pros and Sinnoh should continue with their tradition?"

"Correct. Furthermore, I believe the competitive edge only exists in trainers that are in the same age-bracket. If you compare the champions of each region, then Cynthia is widely considered the strongest, followed by Steven Stone from Hoenn and Leon from Galar. Hoenn, I believe, starts their journeys with 13 and Galar with 16."

"You might have a point there. Next question, what do you plan to make of your career?"

"I want to train to surpass Cynthia, and become the Sinnoh champion."

"Hoho? A lofty goal." She has a pleasant sounding laugh.

"If you don't aim high, you won't reach high."

"That is certainly a good philosophy to live by. Last question, which gym leader will have to look out for the new rising star to challenge them?"

"All of them! Haha, but Byron, the steel type trainer will need to look out first. From what I have seen on the internet, Buneary's style of battle will be best suited against his defensive style. And since Canalave City has access to the ocean, I can also capture a good water type pokemon there. So," 

I turn directly to the camera man. "You hear that Byron? I'm coming for you!"

I give the camera the flashiest smile I can give and the reporter signals the end of the interview.

"Thank you for the interview. That was a good performance, Mr. Solo. I will try my best to get this into tomorrow's article. But don't expect the front page." She winks. "That will be reserved for the Platinum League results, for at least a week. Goodbye Mr. Solo. And I hope to interview you at some point again."

"Thank you, for the interview. And goodbye Ms..."

"Karla Kolumna. But you can call me Karla. Ms Kolumna makes me sound old."

"You certainly don't look old, haha. Goodbye Karla." I wave her off.

And with that, the last reporter who had remained, left the premise leaving only some of the students, Ash, Brock and Captain Braviary behind.

I let out a deep breath and relax a little again as I look around the remaining people.

Barry has apparently hit it off with Ash and Brock and they are talking animatedly.

I notice that Chansey looks extremely exhausted and has collapsed to a seated position. 

The poor pokemon has been on overdrive healing-duty for the whole day.

I also notice Captain Braviary talking with Akari and I'm close enough to eavesdrop a little. I doubt they are talking about anything private, otherwise I would leave them alone.

"Do I understand correctly, that I get to choose any? Can I not choose the most expensive one and sell it?"

"Sadly, no." Answers Captain Braviary. "It has to do with the economy behind it. Stronger trainers finance themselves by selling their moves through major companies like Silph Corp, Devon Corp or our Galactic Acquisition Group. The Leagues supports that practice because it means they don't have to pay their top trainers as much money. But it also means that TMs cannot be legally resold."

They can't? Damn.

He continues. "Making a TM is also an extremely energy intensive process and this drives up the prices of them even more."

There was also a thing in the news a few months ago. The League deliberated over making TMs single use. 

For more profit. But it was rejected because making them costs too much electricity. The cities need electricity too, after all.

If TMs were made single use, then cities would experience blackouts because trainers use up all of the power.

"Understood. I have but one last question now." Akari says. "What are Tea Ems?"

I audibly face-palm and they both look at me for a moment and Akari blushes a little bit.

"TMs or technical machines, are reusable devices that slot into your pokeball like a DVD. You can imagine them as guides for your pokemon. If your pokemon can learn a TM move, then they receive a great, instinctual boost to their proficiency. A lot of beginner trainers use TMs in order to teach their pokemon a type that they haven't been able to use before."

Oh? It goes in like a DVD? I thought you put the button of the pokeball into the hole of the TM disc.

"Oh?" Akari seems surprised at their usefulness. "In that case, I will take Protect. It is a move that I wanted to teach every pokemon I get."

"Alright. I will make sure a copy will be delivered to your room by Sunday. Goodbye." Captain Braviary turns away, returns his Chansey and leaves.

"Farewell." Akari returns the goodbye and turns to me.

"Hello there, Swole. Will you explain how a DeeVeeDee slots into a pokeball?"