Standing up to a dazed, furious Niss was not as easy as Barry had assumed, especially when the look on her face could have easily paralyzed a Scyther. Still, he held on. Fingers strongly grasping a silver Pokeball, he puffed his chest and did not look away from his friend's eyes even as he felt them boring through him.
"What are you doing?"
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end at the sound of her voice. He had to stop himself from taking a step back.
"Already told you. I'm taking you back to the Pokemon Center. You gotta eat something and tell me what's going on."
Her reaction was barely noticeable. Draped in all her layers of clothing and with her scarf almost up to her nose, the only visible part of her face were her eyes and cheeks, both of which looked much, much paler than they should have, and that was saying something.
There was a ragged rhythm to her breathing too, though that was probably due to exhaustion. It had taken Barry a few minutes to finally convince her to stop walking and now, as they stood across each other in the middle of a large, empty park only a couple streets away from the sea, he saw only one way to convince her, and she seemed to have figured it out as well.
Niss opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself and sighed.
"I'm not in the mood for this. Move."
"Nope, not gonna," he spat back. "Come on, Niss. We just got here, you can't…"
He saw her nose crinkle up and knew he'd chosen his words poorly. "Don't… tell me what I can or can't do. Who the hell do you think you are to order me around?"
It was as if she wanted to imbue anger and heat into her voice, but couldn't. Everything, from her mannerisms to her voice to the way her face moved seemed subdued and faded, as though she couldn't muster the energy to get angry at him. As if only part of her was there.
"I'm your friend," he replied. "And I don't wanna see you like this. You're clearly not okay, Niss, so just let me help you."
"Just like always, right?" Her lips stretched into the hook of a sarcastic smile. "I break down like a useless piece of shit so you gotta help me back to my feet. Just like. Every. Fucking. Time." She practically spat those last words, cheeks turning a deep shade of red. "I'm done with that! You hear me!? I'm done!"
Barry reeled at the sudden venom in her voice. "Niss…"
"How am I supposed to become the Champion if I can't stand on my own two feet!?" she bellowed. "If I can't get through anything without your help, if I can't even beat one of my sister's Pokemon with my entire team… then what good am I!? What the fuck am I supposed to do, huh!? Tell me!"
Deranged was the only way he could've described Niss' expression at that moment, not that he would've had an opportunity to do so, considering he was focusing every ounce of his willpower not to shake under the weight of her voice.
He gulped and squeezed the Pokeball tighter before replying. "I'm not gonna let you train your Pokemon when you're like this."
"Yeah? And how are you gonna stop me?" she asked, hands curling into fists. "You're gonna use Mesprit to get me to calm down? You think just because I can't hear Uxie anymore that I'll let myself be manipulated by you!?"
"You know I'd never do that!" He yelled, tone offended. "I'm gonna convince you all by myself, even if I have to beat it into you."
As he said that he punched the air with his Pokeball still in hand, shooting her a look which only a trainer could discern. Niss' eyes went wide, and her lips parted slightly.
"A… Pokemon battle?" She blinked a couple times, then frowned. "You want to force me to come back with you?"
"If I have no choice, then yeah."
She let out a weak and incredulous laugh. "Is that what you think a friend would do?"
"Yes," he replied instantly, no hesitation in his voice. "You stopped me a million times in the past when I was about to do something stupid. Now I'm returning the favor."
Niss didn't reply right away. Her gaze went from the ball in his hand to his eyes and then down to the floor as her eyes disappeared under the shadow of her hair. She stood still for a few seconds, until Barry spoke again.
"Besides…" He did his best to form a playful smile, the same he'd shown her a million times before. "We're due for a rematch, right?"
Despite his outward demeanor, Barry was struggling immensely to ignore the waves of emotion pouring from his friend like endless, crushing waves. Even without turning his eyes gold, he could feel it. Twisting and dark and cold, much unlike the burning hot fury he was so accustomed to coming from Niss. Whatever this storm was inside her, it wasn't normal. It was wild and dangerous, and he had to take care of it.
He had to save Niss from it, no matter what.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she took a sudden step forward and lifted her chin, all the while producing a silver Pokeball on her right hand. The expression on her face was indescribable and, when she spoke, Barry felt as if the temperature around him dropped significantly.
"Is this how you wanna do this? Fine." She snarled as she raised her hand forward, both Pokeballs now facing each other. "But don't blame me for what'll happen next."
----------------------------------------
Professor Rowan's day had been quite exhausting so far, so the last thing he expected was to run into a battlefield the moment he headed for the nearest park to have his usual afternoon snack.
He was running late already, which was unusual for him. Then again, the usual rarely applied when next to Byron, Canalave's Gym Leader. The man walked alongside him while talking his ear off about a myriad of different topics, none of which were even remotely relevant to the conversation he had started only minutes before. The large shovel he carried spun and swiveled from hand to hand as he absentmindedly played with, like it didn't weigh at least a dozen pounds.
"You'll take someone's eye out if you continue doing that," Rowan warned him. "Why do you even carry it around in the first place? Do you expect to run into a situation where you will need a shovel?"
Byron spat out air in a way which might have sounded like a chuckle.
"You're always so uncharitable, old man." His voice was deep and raspy, with a slight hint of a southern Unovan accent. "D'you really think I'd be that careless?"
His mustache twitched. "Old man?" For a moment he considered being offended by the comment, but after a second's consideration decided to let it slide. "In any case, you haven't answered my question."
Byron, who was currently busy waving at an old couple passing by, placed the weight of the shovel on his left shoulder, which didn't flinch at all at the weight.
"A man's always gotta carry some iron with him," he said. "Keeps the body strong, keeps the bad things away. The only lesson pops left me before passing through the iron gates himself, and I guess I took it to heart a little bit."
That's putting it lightly, Rowan couldn't help but think. A steel-type Gym leader, in charge of every mining operation within the Iron Islands, whom always carried iron with him and even used euphemisms so old just because they mention the iron gates…
Well, if one's good at something I suppose there's no shame in embracing it.
"You could always carry a ring or a necklace, though."
Byron scoffed. "Those aren't good for anything, unlike Evan over here."
"Ev…?" Rowan's eyebrow perched up, and a second after realization dawned on him. "You… named your shovel."
"You can't judge a miner, Rowan. It gets awfully boring down in those caves; you gotta find some way to pass the time."
"…So you named your shovel," he repeated. "You know, when you called me here to discuss town matters, this is the last information I expected to learn."
"Shit, that's right!" Byron let both arms fall, eyes widening. "Agh, I always ramble away from what I'm trying to say. I must be getting old." He laughed at himself, shaking his head. "Yeah, I was gonna say…"
He didn't get to finish his sentence, as a blurry of movement flashed between them. A young man and his Luxio pushed through them as they ran north with clear excitement. Byron was thrown to the side and only managed to avoid falling by planting his shovel against the ground and pushing himself up.
"Hey!" Byron bellowed once he hoisted himself, brow furrowed in frustration. "Watch where you're going you little shits!"
Rowan couldn't help but frown as he saw the young man disappear in the distance. Part of him wondered why he was in such a hurry, though he didn't have much time to ponder that.
Rowan shook his head as he scoffed. "Fucking brats. If I weren't the Gym Leader I'd…"
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Act like an adult and keep your composure, I hope." Rowan interrupted him. "Scoffing at teenagers for being brazen and rude is as pointless as scoffing at the sea for sinking one's ship."
At that Byron simply let out a low grumble and hoisted the shovel over his shoulder once more.
"S'pose you're right," he whispered. "Anyway… about that topic we were discussing earlier…"
"I think you'll find that my stance on the subject hasn't changed at all."
"Come on, I'm only asking for five people. It'll be a whole day at most."
Rowan shot him a firm look. "Why don't you ask the Association to lend you some personnel?"
"You really think they have anyone to spare?" Byron retorted. "Besides, the last thing I want is to owe Lucian another favor. That papery scrib's a nightmare to deal with."
"What about your workers?"
Byron dismissed that with a wave of the hand. "Love my workers, but they ain't exactly the brightest Carbink in the pile. I need someone with brains."
Rowan sighed, feeling the limits of his patience approaching. Unfortunately, his old students such as Byron rarely found him as intimidating as his younger ones tended to do. Feeling his coat and briefcase heavier than usual, he glanced to the side and caught a glimpse of the man's expression, so jovial despite his rough and hardened face. For a moment, he found himself wanting to concede.
Dear Mew, I really am getting old.
"I… might be able to lend you one of my students for the job," he said after a few seconds of consideration. "He's been residing in Canalave lately and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help."
"Just one?" Byron made a face, his shoulders dropping. "I don't think…"
"Lucas is my brightest pupil," Rowan assured him, no hints of doubt in his voice. "He will be more than enough to solve your little mystery in the Iron Islands."
Byron moved the shovel from one shoulder to the other, his weathered face crinkling up slightly.
"Mhm. S'not like I can deny the offer." He shrugged. "Guess one's better than nothi–"
"Over there in the park, come on!"
A young girl's scream startled them. A moment after they saw her and three other people running in the same direction as the young man had less than a minute before. Rowan and Byron stood still for a moment, and then looked around in unison.
Another group of trainers ran past to the north, a street away from them. Two others followed, one through the port and the other next to them. Every few seconds they would see more and more youngsters heading in the same direction, all of them with expressions full of awe and excitement.
"What in the…?" Byron whispered. "Are they all heading to the park?"
Rowan frowned. He could feel slight, erratic vibrations in the floor under him. They were unmistakable.
"It's a Pokemon battle," he declared with confidence. "Come on."
The man didn't hesitate to follow, knowing too well the dangers of clandestine battles and the effects they could have on a city at large. Rowan couldn't help but sigh as they hurried over to the nearby park. What pair of idiotic children would make their Pokemon fight in the middle of a populated city, in broad daylight no less? Surely they had to be rookies, no one besides an amateur would-
His train of thought was interrupted as they walked past the corner of the next street and the park came into view. Despite it being at least two blocks in size, the inside was almost empty, all the people who had come to spectate instead choosing to form a ring around the battle unfolding in the middle.
As he and Byron made their way through the crowd, they saw them. Two young trainers stood on each side of the park, shouting orders while their Kadabra and Roserade sent wave after wave of attacks at each other.
This gave Rowan pause. Those were rather advanced Pokemon for new trainers to have, so then who-
Realization dawned on him, and for the first time in god knows how long he felt his mouth drop slightly. Next to him, Byron whispered.
"Are those…?"
Rowan nodded. He would have recognized those two anywhere.
"Barry… and Inyssa?"
----------------------------------------
Inyssa wasn't feeling quite like herself, and that terrified her.
"Magical Leaf!" she hollered, her voice weaker than usual. "Widespread!"
Planting both feet firmly on the ground –literally, as two thick vines grew around his ankles, anchoring him down– Bret raised his hands and shot a wide cone of rainbow-colored leaves which flew forward with enough speed to reach his opponent in a second, despite being almost fifty yards away.
"Teleport, like we practiced!"
"Shoot up!" she immediately followed. "Don't let him escape!"
A sharp sound was heard as Kitsune vanished into nothing, just before the torrent of leaves fell upon him. A second later, a powerful light burst a few feet above and he re-appeared mid-air, but Bret was ready. He grit his teeth as he threw both hands up, the power of his own attack almost toppling him backwards. Another torrent of leaves flew at the Kadabra, faster and more powerful than before.
On the other side of the park, a confident smile spread across Barry's lips.
Inyssa's eyes went wide as she saw Bret's attack completely miss his opponent. Just as it looked like the leaves were upon the Kadabra, he moved the spoon on his hand with a flick of the wrist and a solid, translucent sheet of energy formed below his feet, allowing him to jump out of the way while mid-air, positioning himself at an angle just outside the range of Bret's attack.
"Finish it with Psybeam!"
Time felt like it slowed as a cone of light exploded from Kitsune's spoon, forming a beam of light which tore the air toward a defenseless Bret.
Come on! A part of Inyssa's mind screamed at her. Tell him to dodge! Do something!
But her body wouldn't obey. That dense, heavy fog which had filled her body since the moment she'd waken up seemed to freeze her muscles and obscure her thoughts. She couldn't think of a strategy or a way out. She couldn't turn her eyes golden or call upon Uxie's power no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't feel anger or disappointment or… anything. As the beam of light fell upon her Pokemon, all she felt was a cold, all-encompassing apathy.
Tears began to well up in her eyes. Still… as terrified as she felt, there was no reason not to...
She grit her teeth and screamed the first thing that came to mind:
"Use your vines!"
Despite having no idea what she herself had meant by that, Bret somehow managed to find a way to interpret her orders. In a second the vines holding his feet curled back into the ground and two more shot up at his side, enveloping his torso and pushing him out of the way with a speed that his spongy body could never hope to achieve on its own. Kitsune's attack barely missed him, hitting the vines instead which wilted and disintegrated as soon as contact was made.
Both trainers and their Pokemon stood still for a few seconds, not quite sure of what had happened. That silence was soon replaced by the loud booms of claps and cheers all around them, which Inyssa did her best to try and ignore. The last thing she wanted was an audience, so of course she ended up getting one.
"Nice thinking!" Barry's voice barely reached him from where he was. "I thought I had you there for a second."
Contempt was clear on her face as she answered. "Shut up, I didn't… that wasn't my…"
Her voice came out brittle, those few words enough to make her run out of breath. Numbness clung to her muscles, and her eyelids felt heavy. Despite having slept for more than fourteen hours, she felt more exhausted than she'd ever been.
Once more, she took a deep breath and forced herself to stand up straight. There was… no excuse…
"Like hell you're gonna beat me that easily," she snarled. "Bret, once more!"
Without hesitation both Pokemon threw themselves at each other once again. As she saw them barely miss each other with their attacks, Inyssa realized how stupid she'd been by thinking Kitsune would fight the same way as Ludwig just because they were part of the same species. Her sister's Alakazam…
A cold, sharp tinge of pain stabbed through her chest, and the image of that battle flashed through her eyes for a second. Lips quivering, she closed her eyes and took another deep breath. The sounds of battle and the audience's cheers boomed all around her, making her dizzy.
Ludwig… had been a thoughtful fighter, rarely moving a muscle since he counted with such incredible psychic power. Kitsune however, had to qualms about using his considerable speed to jump all over the place, creating a bunch of psychic barriers under his feet to push himself through the air without ever needing to touch the ground.
She frowned. Luckily, there were plenty of ways to deal with someone who focused entirely on speed.
"Use Sludge Bomb!" she yelled out. "Cover as much ground as you can!"
Still flying through the air, Bret caught himself with one of his vines as another Psybeam flew past him, and staring down at his opponent he aimed with both hands and frowned in concentration. The red and blue of his bouquets turned entirely purple as two thick balls of sludge were shot down. Kitsune avoided them easily by jumping up, but the attack wasn't aimed at him.
Both the Kadabra and his trainer squinted in disgust as the balls of sludge exploded in a circle, leaving half the field flooded with the foul, poisonous liquid. Even while several feet high, Kitsune had to cover his nose with one hand in order to ignore the horrible stench.
"Agh! Niss, why'd you do that!?" She heard Barry complain at the other side of the field. "What, you wanted to gross us out of the fight?"
"Not quite," she replied. "Bret, now!"
One of the vines cut through the air like a whip, throwing Bret up with enough force to make him hover several feet above his opponent. Kadabra tried to react; his spoon shone with a purple glow and a small barrier momentarily hid him from view, but Inyssa knew it wouldn't work.
"Petal Dance!"
Bret let out a powerful cry, and pointed both bouquets down at Kitsune. All throughout the park, hundreds upon hundreds of scattered petals rose from the ground as if pulled by invisible strings, swirling all around the Kadabra before flying toward him like bullets, half of them covered in the poisonous sludge still covering the ground.
Inyssa forced herself to smile. All throughout the fight she had Bret scatter his petals around the field without Kitsune or Barry being the wiser. And now, there was no escape.
The storm of petals closed around their target. For a single moment, Inyssa let herself breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, so suddenly that no one had time to react, Kitsune disappeared. He didn't teleport like he had done so many times before; his body simply evaporated into smoke as soon as the petals touched it. Inyssa blinked, feeling her heart in her throat, and when she parted her eyelids she saw him up above, mere inches from an unsuspecting Bret.
D-double Team!? But how did he…? When he made that barrier…?
"Use Psycho Cut!" she heard Barry cry out.
Kitsune's fingers closed tightly around his silver spoon, the psychic energy covering it growing in size and power until it looked like he was holding a dazzling, purple energy sword. A cry was heard as he brought it down on Bret. The Roserade's cry echoed through the air as the force of the slash sent him crashing down with the speed of a cannonball, raising a cloud of dust and dispersing most of the poisonous sludge as he met the ground.
Kitsune landed before his defeated foe, the look of pride on his face perfectly echoed on his trainer's.
Inyssa's arm felt made of lead as she raised Bret's Pokeball and returned him to it. She stared first at Kitsune and then at an expectant Barry, trying to force herself to send out her next Pokemon. There was no shame or disappointment in her. She couldn't even will herself to be angry at her pathetic showing.
"Niss, did you see that!?" Barry screamed. "I didn't even know you could use Psycho Cut like that! It's kinda like an energy sword, isn't it cool?"
She shook her head weakly. "Shut up. Stop… doing this. Whatever it is." She swallowed hard and took another Pokeball from her belt. "If you're gonna fight me then take it seriously!"
"Huh? I am being serious! I'm just having fun too," he shrugged. "You should do the same! You're a much better trainer when it's clear that you're enjoying the battle…"
"I don't need advice from you! I know what I have to do to win!"
"Really? That's weird, 'cause from here it kinda looks like you're losing," he said. "Old Niss would've seen through my dumb strategy right away, so maybe you're the one that's not taking this serious–"
"I told you to shut up!" She stomped her foot on the ground, her voice loud but strangely lacking in anger. "I'm… I'm gonna win, just watch me!"
"You really wanna win that badly?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "Then show me."
A shiver ran through her body as she heard those words, her grip on the Pokeball loosening slightly. Something about the way he'd said them…
I… I do want to win, she told herself, biting her lower lip. I really, really want to…
However, as much as she repeated those words to herself, none of that familiar ambition and desire started burning inside her chest. In truth, she didn't care in the slightest if she won or lost. And that terrified her to her core.
As she wound back her arm to throw the Pokeball, something became clear to Inyssa: there was something seriously wrong with her.
The ball flew through the air, exploding into a blinding light which failed to reflect on the empty green of her eyes.
And… whatever it was, she was determined to fix it during this battle. No matter what.