Yuji's jaw went slack as he heard my plan. "Five days?" He half-yelled.

We'd gathered Hana and headed back to the Pokemon Center from the Gym. She left Paige with Nurse Joy, and we gathered in one of the comfy lounges on the first floor of the Center. We were seated in plush couches, all relatively relaxing, other than Hana, who was furiously typing away at a laptop.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I think I can whip something together in five days."

Amy leaned forward, the pom-pom on their beanie flopping in front of their face. They looked like they were breaking bad news to a kid. "Derek, I don't think you can win after only five days of prep. We've been training for weeks and weeks and weeks! But Hana lost and she's the strongest one!"

"Nah." I shook my head.

"Nah?" Amy's head tilted in confusion, letting the pom-pom on their beanie wiggle to the side.

I sat down my water bottle and used my hands to talk. "Hana didn't lose. She walked in there with the odds against her, and she did something that I'm pretty sure doesn't happen very often." I pointed at my mouth.

Hana looked up from her laptop at the sound of her name, brow furrowed. It took her a moment, but realization passed across her expression.

"I made him give an order to his Pokemon." She said, leaning back into the coach.

I snapped my fingers and gave her a grin. "From what I saw, this dude does not like having to step in against low-level trainers. So, even though Paige didn't land a hit, you didn't actually lose. And you weren't even fighting using your whole plan. That was all improv, right?"

"Yeah..." Hana pulled her legs up into her chair, drifting into thought. The edges of her mouth curved up in a smile, and she went back to typing.

Yuji spoke up, "but that doesn't change anything? Like we said, Hana was training for weeks. How are you going to match that in just five days?"

"Well first off, my goal isn't so lofty as your guys'." I said, "I'm not gonna win, I'm just gonna make him bleed."

Yuji sighed, very much exasperated. "Dramatic much?"

Amy chuckled, "Spooky!"

"Yeah, we're gonna get spooky!" I leaned forward and fist-bumped Amy. "The way I figure it, if I can get one good shot in him, I'll be satisfied."

"So, who's gonna battle me?" I looked at each of my new friends.

"I will." Hana declared without looking up from her notes.

Yuji frowned. "Isn't Paige still out of commission though?"

"She should be ready to go in about an hour," Hana spoke, closing her laptop and looking Yuji in the eye, "and I need to see exactly what we're working with before we can plan a training regimen. Plus, Yuji, you're our best eyes on the battle. I want you impartial so you can give the best feedback."

He blushed and rubbed the back of his head, murmuring something under his breath in agreement.

"But why don't I get battle Derek?" Amy moped, "Pennywise has been wanting to battle more anyway..."

Hana smiled and reached over, taking Amy's hand. "I know, but can you do me this favor? I need to work off some frustrations from this morning." She still smiled, but the crease in her eyebrows made it clear that her loss was eating at her.

Amy melted. "Aw, shucks, you know I can say no when you ask me for a favor!"

Hana fully had both of her teammates' weak spots pinned. Yuji couldn't resist a compliment about his skills, and Amy would do anything when asked nicely.

Amy was wrong, I'm not the spooky one here. I shuddered thinking about how quickly I'd cave once Hana figured out whatever my weak spot was.

----------------------------------------

After about an hour of resting in the lounge, we collected Paige from the front desk and headed out to the private training grounds behind the Pokemon Center. A high stone wall separated us from the rest of the city and neither of the two training fields were in use. Relegated to the corner of the lot were several outdoor workout machines, like a squat machine and a weight rack powered by the weight of the person sitting on it.

I walked to the end of the nearest field and released Artis. He materialized on the ground and immediately rolled onto his back, showing his round white tummy to the sky in a blatant attempt for tummy rubs.

Amy and Yuji cooed at how adorable he was, and I leaned down to give him scratches on his ears. Even on a warm day like today, his fur was still a comfortable temperature.

"Hey buddy," I said, "these are our new friends. That's Amy and Yuji, and over there that's Hana." They each waved when I introduced them. "They're gonna help us train and get stronger so that we can battle a bunch of really strong trainers. Does that sound good to you?"

Artis rolled back onto his feet and barked in excitement.

"Yeah, I love you too. We're gonna battle Hana and her Pokemon, Paige, okay?"

He yipped, and turned to face Hana, waving his little flipper. Hana, who up to this point had been giving him an analytic look, hesitantly smiled and waved back.

Yuji pulled a red Pokedex from his pocket and focused it on Artis. It chirped before announcing, "

Spheal, the Clap Pokemon. This ocean Pokemon is found natively in the Hoenn region. It cannot swim well and instead uses its form to roll around much faster than it could otherwise travel."

Yuji swiped through the rest of the entry. "Huh, no wonder I've never seen one of these before."

"And even if you do, Artis is gonna be the best one you ever meet," I hyped up my Pokemon, "cause he's gonna be a champion's partner."

"Spheal!" Artis barked in agreement. He rolled out in front of me, taking his place on the battlefield.

Hana reached into the pocket of her jean jacket and pulled out Paige's ball. She released her Pokeball and the Bellsprout popped into existence with a determined cry. "Sprout!"

Yuji stepped up to the sidelines, acting as our impromptu referee. "Alright, this is going to be a one-on-one challenge, with Standard League Challenge rules applying. Are both competitors ready?"

Hana nodded and I gave a thumbs up.

"Begin!" He shouted.

Hana yelled first, sending swift instructions to her Bellsprout. "Roots out!"

Paige made a leaping jump towards Artis, slamming her spindly legs into the ground. She grew in all directions, extending her arm tendrils and rooting her feet in place. That must've been a call to do both Ingrain and Wrap.

"Get out of there buddy!" I yelled, "Rollout!"

Artis hesitated just a second too long on my command, fear in his eyes at the outstretched plant growing towards him. By the time he tucked his head to roll, Paige had already extended her vines are him and locked him in place. Against everything I expected from the tiny grass type, she leaned backward and used the leverage from her rooted legs to lift Artis above her head.

"Break her grip!" I said.

Artis tried even harder to get his Rollout going, but he had zero leverage against both of Paige's arms.

"Powder Barrage!" Hana called for another combination move.

I had the presence of mind to yell a counter before it began. "Gimme a big Aqua Ring bud!"

Paige released a series of wet pop noises as she spat three different puffs of spores. Purple, then yellow, then white clouds sprayed out towards Artis.

The Aqua Ring that Artis summoned was much wider than normal, he'd understood what I was asking for. As the clouds of spores washed over Artis, they collided with the water of the ring, dying it into a grey-purple slush.

"Growth into Vine Whip!" Hana gave her next command.

My first instinct was to yell for a Defense Curl, but I paused and waited for the Bellsprout to raise her arm to strike Artis.

An arm that was no longer wrapped around my Pokemon.

"Roll out of there!" I yelled.

Artis began his Rollout, his fur skidding against Paige's vines like tires against the asphalt. He ripped his way out of the hold, only possible because Paige had released half her hold. Like blue lighting, he bounded his way across the field, screeching to a halt right before the edge of the battlefield.

Paige turned to follow, but her spindly legs were still implanted in the ground from her Ingrain. She looked up at Hana, waiting for a command.

Hana and I paused, both trying to decide how to continue. Artis had zero ranged moves, something that I need to remedy but couldn't do anything about right now. Going back into Paige's range was suicide.

On the other hand, Hana couldn't order Paige to leave her spot. Ingrain was a great move when you could hold your opponent captive and it let you tank damage for a long time, but it rooted your Pokemon to the spot.

Hesitantly, Hana called, "Paige, use Acid! Force him forward!"

Ugh, I knew she wasn't out of tricks.

Technically, I had known that Paige had access to Acid, but Hana had been hesitant to use it during the gym battle. It might've been too slow to use against Giovanni, but I wasn't a Gym Leader.

"Build up speed bud! Stay out of her range!"

The Bellsprout opened her bell-shaped mouth wide, peppering the opposite side of the field with a viscous acid that sizzled and popped as it hit the cement. Artis flinched as it popped near him, but dutifully restarted his Rollout.

It became a game of dodging puddles of acid and maneuvering to stay outside of the range of Paige's tendrils. Artis was fast, so fast, but he only had so much real estate to deal with. He was quickly running out of ground.

He was doing what I said though. He kept building speed, taking turns wide and doubling back on himself.

Hana was in full analytical mode across the battlefield. Her eyes flicked back and forth across the ground, and I could see the gears turning in her head to calculate how long it would be until Artis had nowhere to go.

Her planning gave me an opening.

In the moments before Artis had to enter Paige's space, moving at a less-than-optimal time, I threw a curveball.

"Full-speed hit! Give it all you got!" I yelled.

Hana's eyes widened as I interrupted her planning, causing her to hesitate.

Artis turned on a dime, narrowly dodging a roiling purple puddle as he bounded back across the battlefield. With Hana's hesitation, he collided fully with Paige, ripping her out of the ground and sending both of them flying.

"Get up Paige!" Hana called, "then Vine Whip!"

"Get your speed back up bud!" I called, but I felt a small pang of disappointment. The hit had been really great, but it hadn't been enough. Paige was recovering much faster than Artis was, and she was way less exhausted.

Paige turned, still bulky with extra vines from her Growth, and cracked her Vine Whip through the air. Artis went down without another cry.

Yuji called out from the sidelines, "Derek's Pokemon can't fight, so Hana is the winner!"

I sighed and returned Artis before letting a grin ghost onto my face.

This is our second battle. Hana's been training for weeks, and we still did some real damage.

Looking at Paige, she had some nasty bruising across the left side of her vines, and her yellow head was discolored in patches across the side. She couldn't have another hit if she wanted to.

"Good match!" I said to Hana as I strode across the battlefield, offering a handshake.

She took my hand before giving me a questioning side-eye. "Why did you have Artis attack early? You had more time before you ran out of room, you could've used that to build more speed."

"Well," I started, scratching the back of my head, "I figured we didn't have a very good chance of making it out, regardless of when we decided to hit. You were actually the reason we moved when we did. You were so tied up in your plan that I figured we might get a better shot when you weren't ready."

Hana frowned, scrunching her eyebrows. "I guess that makes sense, though I think you might've won if you'd given it a few more seconds."

"Nah," I shook my head. "I saw the limits of what Artis can handle a few days ago, and I know his limitations. We weren't going to win. But we got a great hit in, and we earned it. I'd take that over scraping by for a victory any day."

Hana smiled. "And I suppose that is the whole purpose of this exercise."

"Yup!" I grinned, "we're gonna do that, but better, against Giovanni! That asshole isn't ready for us!"

----------------------------------------

After we dropped Artis and Paige off with Nurse Joy, we reconvened at the lounge.

"-and that's why you have to figure out a long-range move." Yuji finished up, "Artis is too young to compete on a physical level with most of Giovanni's Pokemon, even with the type advantage, but they defend really poorly from energy-based attacks."

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The other two were working on small projects of their own while Yuji was giving me the breakdown of what he'd seen during our battle. Amy was doodling with some colored pencils, gripped in her sweater-covered hands, and Hana was once again typing away on her laptop.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I figured Water Gun was the get, 'cause a lot of ground types are also rock types, so it'll deal a ton of damage."

"No," Hana said, "challengers throw out their Pokemon first, and there's no way Giovanni will give you that inch. He'll do what he did with me and throw out a full ground type."

Yuji nodded. "Ice-type moves are going to be more surprising and going to give you an edge. Plus, they often have a way wider coverage."

Amy slid her drawing forward, and I was surprised as I glanced at it. Given her eccentric nature, I had thought she was making some sort of art, but there was instead a diagram of a battlefield with several arcs and lines overlaid onto it.

"These are the normal attack strategies for his ground types," she said, "and they're all really different. His Sandshrew likes to move in a bunch of curves, because its got Rollout, but the Diglet can show up almost anywhere. It likes to pop up right in front of people though, like a jack in the box." Amy grinned spookily.

Hana turned her laptop towards me, showing a breakdown of the known moves, types, and abilities of Giovanni's zero-badge Pokemon.

I took a deep breath, feeling deeply out of my league. "Wow..." I said, "...you guys really don't mess around."

Yuji nodded. "We take this really seriously. If you want to train with us, this is what we do."

"Tight, tight, tight..." I glanced at the three of them, and a wave of gratitude washed over me. "I really appreciate this guys. Like, I would have no idea where to start on my own."

"Nah, it's not a problem Derek!" Amy smiled and patted me on the back. "Yuji and me saw how you looked after Hana got beat! Anybody who gets that mad for a friend of ours has to be good people!"

Yuji grunted and nodded in agreement.

"And I can't challenge him again for two weeks, which is past when we wanted to leave," Hana added. "So I'm gonna live this one through you. All of you." She said, turning to the whole group.

Wow, I thought, I'm really glad I met these guys. Nurse Joy was right, they're good people.

----------------------------------------

I sighed as I turned off my alarm. On the third day of waking up before dawn, I still really hadn't adjusted. Since our battle on Monday, Hana had laid out an intensive training schedule for me and Artis to catch up with the others.

This sucks… I groaned as I slid on some workout clothes. She'd put Yuji in charge of Artis' endurance training, and he really believed that trainers should all be working out with their Pokemon. My legs and back were stiff, and my shoulders strained as I stretched them above my head.

I swang by the cafeteria to pick up some cereal and OJ before heading out back to the training yard.

Yuji was already running laps around the yard, his tiny purple Rattata, Despereaux, trailing behind him.

He'd taken his track top off to exercise, and he was fit underneath. While he lacked bulk, his muscles were lean and sinewy, clearly defined from hours and hours of training. Sweat ran down the dips of his collarbones, past his pecks and the two small scars on the underside of each one, and trailed across his abs and he slowly brought himself to a stop.

Damn, that's hot. The dude was attractive. I had nothing else to add to that thought.

He saw me approaching and grabbed his jacket off an empty chair. He tossed it over his shoulders, bashful. I blushed a little, realizing I'd been openly ogling the guy.

I went to apologize, but he held up a hand. "It's fine," he chuckled, "you ready to get started?"

"Yeah," I huffed, remembering why I was out here. "I get that we're supposed to train with our Pokemon, but isn't every day a bit much?"

"Depends on who you ask," said Yuji. "Bruno trains more than his Pokemon, and he's in the Elite Four. Though we're mostly training you this hard to get you jump-started, the same as we're doing for Artis. We all already put in the work in the pre-season, so we're just trying to catch you up."

Despereaux stood up on his two hind legs, nodding thoughtfully and agreeing with his trainer.

"I mean, I ran," I emphasized, pouting just a bit.

I sighed.

I guess it's fair though. I did a lot of endurance training, like hiking and swimming, but what Yuji has me doing puts all that to shame!

I definitely felt the last few days of strength training all over my body, though I wouldn't be feeling the positive effects without consistent work. I released Artis and we did our warm-up laps before we joined Yuji on the communal machines.

We did a bunch of different exercises, most of them with unreasonable names like the "Kalosian Split Squat" or the "Unovan Bell Lift". It left me exhausted, and this was before even we started working on our actual battle training.

At least Artis was having a good time. The little Spheal was an endless well of energy in the exercises. Yuji had him carrying a large tire, affixed by a chain to his waist, in laps around the field. He was specifically working on building his leg strength so that we wouldn't have to rely on Rollout to get from point to point.

After about two hours, Amy and Hana appeared with water to fetch Yuji. Today was the day of his challenge, and he needed to get cleaned up before the fight.

I waved as they headed back inside, and looked back down at Artis who was panting heavily.

"Let's get back to work, bud."

He barked in agreement.

----------------------------------------

By mid-afternoon, we finally made some progress.

"Powder Snow!" I called.

Artis exhaled with purpose, using his whole diaphragm. Small wisps of whitened cold air spread outward in a cone from his mouth, crawling across the pavement and leaving thin lines of frost in their wake.

"Yes!" I shouted, throwing my hands into the air. I rushed across the battlefield and wrapped him up in my arms, straining as I lifted his blubbery body. "You're such a good boy!"

It wasn't near good enough to be considered a proper use of the move but it was definitely progressing.

I scratched him behind the ears and let him down. "Alright, one more time and we'll go inside for lunch!"

Artis mumbled a complaint but gave a slow exhale outward. The temperature of the air around him lowers, and finally, flakey powdered snow erupted from his mouth in a soft stream. It was gentle, and it wasn't going to cause any harm.

Yet.

In the distance, I heard Yuji call out, "Derek! I did it!"

He sprinted up to the low wall around the yard from the street, hopping it with little effort it. Hana and Amy were both sporting large grins as they came through the gate like normal people.

I turned and gave Yuji and him an epic high five. "Hell yeah!" I paused and considered for a moment. "What'd you do?"

His face, so excited moments before, fell in disbelief. Yuji looked to his hand, then to me, and back to his hand.

Amy held up their phone, "He made Giovanni call out specific moves to avoid Despereaux's attacks, cause his rat was just too fast!"

Hana had a satisfied smirk on her face. "Unlike in my battle, he wasn't able to completely shut down our strategizing."

On the phone, a blur of purple fur kited a Geodude across the battlefield, staying out of its reach other than to dash by and strike it at with dark-energy-infused Bite attacks. Amy zoomed the camera in on Giovanni's annoyed face as he leaned forward in his chair and took an active role in the battle. With his trainer's orders, Geodue was able to avoid the attack and get a solid hit in on the Rattata.

I smiled.

We were getting closer.

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Day four was Amy's fight. While the group was at the Gym, I was able to get Artis up to two good blasts of Powder Snow before he was fully exhausted. They were at the point where they could do some damage, but I was still worried that they weren't going to hit as hard as we wanted them to.

Amy's fight went even better than Yuji's. They appeared that afternoon carrying an entire pie that Yuji and Hana had bought for them as a prize.

Hana had spent the most time crafting the strategy for Amy's tiny clown Pokemon, a Mime Jr. called Pennywise. The reference was not lost on me, but both trainer and Pokemon enjoyed cackling in malicious ways, so it fits.

Pennywise had the move Barrier, which allowed it to erect small barriers of psychic force to help defend against attacks. Hana's plan had prepared for several different Pokemon, but especially Giovanni's Diglett. It had Pennywise create the small barriers on a horizontal plane above the ground, which the tiny clown climbed on and hopped between to avoid the ground entirely.

Between that and its Mimic move, which it used to copy Diglett's Sand Attack, Pennywise was near untouchable.

Unfortunately, he lacked the stopping power to actually defeat the Diglett and had taken a direct shot from a Sucker Punch. While it hurt to see the tiny guy take a super-effective move, it was so satisfying to see Giovanni angrily stand from his chair. Amy shouted something across the battlefield, sticking out her tongue as she returned Pennywise. A vein on the Gym Leader's forehead pulsed angrily.

When I asked them later, Amy said that they had called Giovanni a "geriatric entitled crybaby."

They deserved their pie.

And we were chipping away at him.

----------------------------------------

My phone buzzed before my alarm went off.

I blearily cracked open my eyes to see that I had a text from Daisy.

[[06:29, Daisy]] Good luck today, Derek. I'm sure you guys are going to do great!

I smiled. I'd mentioned to Daisy at the beginning of the week that I'd be challenging Giovanni today, but I hadn't been able to keep up our texts as much as I'd wanted with all the training.

She'd remembered.

I texted back a gif of a pirate in handcuffs that said "Off to the gallows we go" and curled back into my pillow.

My alarm went off.

"Ugh…" I groaned.

Artis and I rolled out of bed, literally in his case, and got dressed for the day. Today was the day that hadn't come quickly enough.

I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. It had only been a week since I had landed in Kanto, but I was already changing. Yuji's training meant I stood straighter, I kept better posture. And I let my dark hair take on more of its natural floof, instead of compressing it down with gels like I'd used to.

I'd abandoned my athletic wear today, instead wearing an outfit that Yuji and Amy had picked out. The outfit was a pair of beige pants and a white crew top, covered by a bright blue blazer with three-quarter sleeves. It was obvious that they wanted me and Artis to match, and this was just casual enough that I wasn't overdressing for a first badge challenge.

I looked stronger, older, and more competent.

I hesitated as I went to leave my room. I unclasped my PokeNav+ from my waist and hit the record button.

"Hey dad," I said into the microphone, "I know I haven't sent you guys any messages yet, but I wanted you to know I've been training really hard for my first Gym battle. Artis, that's what I named my Spheal, has been my best friend and I love him to the moon and back. Thanks for him, dad. I love you both, and I miss you guys. Tell Mom I said hi."

I ended the recording and sent it along with the link to the Viridian City Gym streaming channel.

Yuji, Amy, and Hana were all waiting downstairs for me, and they had already grabbed Artis and I breakfast. Cereal and OJ for me, high protein chow for him.

"Aww, you guys," I said, touched. "You didn't have to do that."

Yuji shoulder clasped me ."You're one of us now, friend," he said. "You've been working very hard this week, and you deserve it."

Amy chuckled. "Also, we literally just grabbed everything from the cafeteria bar."

"It's the thought that counts!" I started shoveling my cereal as Artis shoved his entire head into his food dish.

Hana pulled out her laptop to go through our strategy, but I raised my hand between bites. "Guys, I got this!" I said

Hana raised an eyebrow. "So he's going to use-

"Cubone, probably."

She continued rapid firing throwing me prompts that we'd practiced.

"And if not, it'll be-"

"Sandshrew."

"And in the case of Cubone, he'll open with-"

"Belly Drum, followed by Rock Smash."

"And if you win-"

"I'll be the number one ranked trainer of the season, having beaten one of the strongest gym leaders a week into the season."

"But our chances of winning are-"

"Less than possible, and we should prepare for a loss..."

I slammed down my cereal bowl, having finished my breakfast. "...But no matter what, we're gonna make the asshole bleed!"

Yuji and Amy gave a cheer, and Hana gave a self-satisfied smirk.

We were out for blood.

----------------------------------------

When we marched into the Gym, it was dead empty other than the faculty. Everyone else who had come to try their hand at the Viridian City Gym had cleared out over the week, leaving just the four of us.

The others took their spots in the stands, whereas I was ushered to the Gym field.

I stopped before I passed through the gate.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

This was it. I thought. My first ever Gym challenge.

Even if I knew it was going to be a loss, this marked the first real step on my League journey. I was making my official debut into the world of professional Pokemon battling.

I stepped onto the astroturf, feeling the false grass crunch underneath my feet.

I opened my eyes and was overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of seats around me. I imagined the twenty-five thousand seats that rose up around me, all filled with cheering fans.

The air smelled like rich earth, and there was a slight echo to everything within the indoor arena.

I was alone on the pitch, other than the referee, who stood off to the side of the battlefield. He was looking down a hallway on the other side of the arena, a tunnel that lead towards the offices and locker rooms meant for real competitors.

Walking out of the darkness was Gym Leader Giovanni. His posture was perfect and intimidating, his black suit accentuating his cold and dangerous look.

He crossed the pitch to climb up the steps to his platform and sat into the black chair atop it.

Giovanni's eyes passed over me. His face made no changes, and showed no emotions. I was just another zero-badge trainer who wasn't worth the effort.

"You got this Derek!" Amy yelled from the stands. Yuji immediately shushed her, and even down here, I could see him flush with embarrassment.

Giovanni's eyes narrowed as he looked up into the stands. He definitely recognized my friends, and he turned his glare back on me.

Now I was grouped in with the others, now I meant something. I could see it in his eyes. Now I was an annoyance.

He turned towards the referee and nodded.

"Challenger Derek Tracy" the referee echoed exactly what he'd said at Hana's challenge, "this will be a one-on-one challenge against the Viridian City Gym Leader, Giovanni, for your first badge. Standard League challenge rules apply, and returning your Pokemon will stand as an admission of defeat. Are you ready?"

I looked Giovanni directly in the eye. "I'm ready."

I released Artis from his ball. We'd talked about the stakes of this fight beforehand, so when he popped out, he was ready for battle. Artic let out a bark, as deep and as strong as he could muster. Even at his age, he'd made it intimidating.

Giovanni held my gaze, grasping a Pokeball from his side table and releasing the Pokemon within.

I held back any trace of the excitement that filled my chest as a small, bipedal Pokemon equipped with a bone helmet and club.

Cubone. We'd called it.

Step one, check.

"Begin!" Shouted the referee.

Cubone let out a loud yelp and began to slam its bone club into its stomach to an aggressive rhythm. Belly Drum made a Pokemon more aggressive and raised its attacking power. Though, from the look of the red marks on its stomach, it hurt real bad.

Step two, check.

As Cubone completed its drumming, it thrust its bone club high into the air and rushed towards the pot that Artis hadn't yet moved from yet.

The reason for this was that the Spheal was using a move we'd been training in the breaks between Powder Snow all week.

Artis' baby blue fur had taken on a silvery sheen as he had been tensing his muscles and activating his Defense Curl.

The tightening of muscles from the Defense Curl made Artis a coiled spring, waiting to be released. The moment Cubone made its move, Artis released all that energy.

Defence Curl had a neat interaction with Rollout, causing the offensive move to gain in power and speed when used together.

Like a rocket, Artis crossed the field faster than Giovanni's Sandshrew had ever been.

Cubone's Rock Smash shattered the ground where Artis had been, leaving a three-foot fissure in the earth as he missed.

My heart skipped a beat as Cubone quickly turned to make a second strike, and brought down another Rock Smash behind Artis.

It missed by millimeters, exploding a shower of dirt forward.

Artis, propelled by both Rollout and the explosion of dirt behind him, headed for Giovanni's side of the field.

Turning on a dime once he'd hit the halfway point, Artis used his doubly powerful Rollout slam into the ground, sending up a huge wave of dirt and debris behind him. In his wake he left a gouge in the earth, creating a channel down the center of the field.

Step three, donezo.

The Cubone turned to follow Artis, but stopped at the channel, hesitating at its depth.

Yes! I silently cheered.

We'd created a dividing line to stop Cubone from being able to close the distance with Artis again. The powered-up Rock Smash was a one-hit K.O. if it hit Artis, so it was so very important to keep it away.

"Artis! Powder Snow!"

Giovanni's eyes widened, and he sat forward on his chair.

A wave of white burst from Artis' mouth, showering the field in white. It covered everything, obscuring the field in a thick white haze. The powdered ice hung in the air for full seconds.

The battlefield was still for a moment as no one could see what was happening, and I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold running up my spine.

Pokemon battling was like nothing else.

The snow settled and my heart plummeted.

Cubone was nowhere to be seen.

Fuck… He must have moved before being hit.

Giovanni stood from his chair and commanded, "Cubone, Bonemerang!" his voice was deep and charismatic, something akin to a Bond villain.

Fuck! Cubone hadn't had any ranged moves in our studies. I almost looked up at Hana, but I couldn't afford to waste a moment.

"Artis, Powder Snow into the ditch!"

Artis rolled forward, his movement still boosted by his Defense Curl-Rollout combination.

We had one shot left.

A yellowed bone club appeared from inside the ditch that Cubone had jumped into for cover.

Artis' tail pushed off the ground, clearing him several feet into the air.

The bone flew higher.

White snow exploded in a cone from Artis' mouth as he flew in an arc, straight down into the ditch.

The same moment that I hear the crack of impact on flesh was the moment that both Pokemon were obscured from view by the expansion of ice and snow once again.

The arena was silent.

I stared into the cold fog, willing it to clear.

Artis was visible first. Fainted and splayed out across the dirt, knocked unconscious by the Bonemerang.

Though it hurt to see the little guy in that condition, I held my breath.

The fog dissipated fully.

"Cu- Cubone..." the Cubone pathetically warbled as it pulled itself out of the ditch, frost burns covering its body from the ice of Artis' move.

Damn it…

My friends burst into cheers in the stands, startling Giovanni and the referee who had both been standing in silence.

Giovanni's scowl returned as he looked up at the audience. He glanced back at me, though, and gave a slight nod.

"Challenger Tracy's Pokemon is unable to battle!" The referee announced. "The winner is Gym Leader Giovanni!"

My friends continued to cheer, but I felt an emptiness in my stomach.

I'd done what I wanted to do. I hit Giovanni's Pokemon hard. As he returned it, I could see that Cubone was barely standing.

Giovanni walked off the platform and left without another word.

If I'd hit with one more move, maybe I could have...? My thoughts drifted. I shook my head. No. It took everything to get that far. We did it. We made him bleed.

I returned Artis and walked back to the stands.

My friends ran down to meet me, all our hard work for the week pouring out as Amy jumped me into a hug while Yuji patted my shoulder. Hana was more than self-satisfied, she was grinning. But I still had the nagging thought in my head.

I could have done more.