CHAPTER 30

“Deino, it’s time to behave,” Cecilia calmly said.

Not wanting to let her speak with her Pokemon, I immediately barked out a command.

“Bubblebeam it as long as you can!”

Frillish reared his head back and released a stream of bubbles that exploded on contact. Deino let out a booming roar, spitting out a huge Dragon Breath in retaliation that missed by a large margin. I swallowed nervously. That would have taken out Frillish in one hit.

“Calm down. Do it again, this time at fifty percent,” She ordered.

Deino stomped his foot and screamed, but listened, and a smaller, slower stream of draconic energy flowed toward Frillish, who dodged with Water Sport.

“Keep your distance, and keep attacking with Bubblebeam!” I yelled out.

Frillish flew even further up, and I had to cover my eyes to protect them from sunlight. The further Frillish was, the easier it’d be to avoid Deino’s attacks. He spat out another Bubblebeam toward the dragon.

“Again, longer, sixty percent,” Cecilia ordered.

Deino screamed out another Dragon Breath, exploding Frillish’s bubbles midair. He barely managed to dodge. I clenched my fists. This wasn’t working, and I don’t know for how much longer I could keep this up. Cecilia was being surgical with her strikes, and they were slowly growing more powerful. At one hundred percent, I didn’t think dodging would be possible. Frillish tried again, and this time the bubbles reached their target, but Deino seemed unscathed. Dragon pokemon were just too powerful. Too tough to faint to weak attacks like Bubblebeam.

“Get in close with Water Sport!” I yelled.

“Dragon Breath, seventy percent.”

Frillish coiled around the draconic attack, only getting grazed by its edge. I winced, but kept going.

“Water Pulse point blank!”

A ball of water appeared in front of Frillish, elongated, and then formed into a ring before ramming into Deino. The dragon grunted and was knocked back a little before biting at Frillish, who barely avoided being trapped in its maw. I knew that if Bite ever hit Frillish, he was never escaping, and the battle would most likely be over.

“Go around and keep hitting it with Water Pulse!

“Take Down, then Bite!” Cecilia said.

Two Water Pulses hit Deino before Frillish had to retreat out of fear of being bit.

“Dragon Breath, seventy percent.”

Frillish shook and squirmed as the Dragon Breath hit one of his tentacles. It was charred and had shrunk in size considerably. I cursed. The amount of damage here was considerable. What would happen to Frillish if his entire body was hit? My hand hovered over my Pokeball—

“Eighty percent.”

The attack grazed Frillish and continued into the sky, parting a large cloud. I gulped, and my shoulders slumped. The fact that Deino was barely slowed after all those hits probably meant that even Togetic wouldn’t have been able to take it down with Fairy Wind. Strategy hadn’t mattered. The coin flip probably hadn’t mattered. I would have lost no matter the circumstances.

And it stung.

“I forfeit,” I said as I recalled Frillish.

The battle had shown how big the rift between the top trainers and me was, and I was nowhere near bridging that gap. As claps rang through the audience, the announcer celebrated Cecilia’s victory, and I walked toward Nurse Joy, I couldn’t help but listen to intrusive thoughts finding their way to the forefront of my mind.

She only won because she was gifted a dragon.

If I had only fought her Slowpoke and Fletchling, I could have won.

Maybe that Chase Karlson guy had been right—

“Ms. Pastel, your Pokemon, please?” Nurse Joy asked.

“Oh— right, sorry,” I fumbled. “Here you go.”

I left my Pokemon and returned to the stands. I was angry I had lost, but these thoughts would do nothing to help me improve. It was important to focus on what I could do from now on, and not just think about the ‘what-ifs’. I walked back to the stands and opened my Poketch.

Denzel W.

Eevee is really hurt, they’re saying he has to stay in for three days. I can’t even see him, I feel like shit. I shouldn’t have made him fight that hard.

Me

You’re right in hindsight, but Eevee would have wanted to stay and fight.

Denzel W.

He would have, but it wasn’t worth it. I failed as his trainer.

Me

You’ll see when he wakes up that he’ll tell you otherwise. Stay strong, I’ll be back later.

Denzel W.

Ty for cheering me up. Isn’t your match soon?

Me

I lost already. Cecilia was too strong, but I’m staying to watch.

Denzel W.

Bummer. Lots of catching up to do!

Me

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Yeah! Ttyl

I smiled as I closed my Poketch. If Denzel was keeping his chin up after his loss, I would too. The next few matches were impressive, but nobody even came close to how powerful Louis and Cecilia’s dragons were. Even their friends lost to them, and eventually, it was time for the finals. The battle I had been waiting for, dragon against dragon. I had a hunch Deino would win— it seemed to listen to its trainer more than Gible, and that Dragon Breath was more powerful than Dragon Rage, but I was still on the edge of my seat.

The commentator announced the contestants, and then the battle started. Cecilia had to send out her Pokemon first, and she sent out Deino while Louis sent out his Gible. The battle was going straight to the main event. Dragons were resistant against most types, but for some reason, they were the best at ripping each other apart. I leaned down and focused entirely on the battle, ignoring the annoying announcer.

“Let us have a fantastic battle, my love!” Louis said. “May the best dragon win!”

“Of course,” Cecilia replied with an overly exaggerated curtsy.

Ugh, what year is this? I thought to myself. Why would she demean herself like this for him?

“Dragon Rage, my dear!” The boy yelled.

“Intercept with Dragon Breath, fifty percent,” Cecilia said.

The two draconic attacks hit each other mid-air, but Dragon Rage overpowered the Deino’s attack and flew toward it. It attempted to dodge, but it was slow, and the attack hit. Deino roared in pain— the first sign that it actually felt pain in the entire tournament.

“Great job! Trap it with Sand Tomb and then Dragon Rage a second time!” Louis said.

The Gible forwent that order and screamed out another Dragon Rage right away.

“Intercept at six— fifty percent again,” Cecilia said.

I frowned as the same scenario played out again, with Gible’s attack burning Deino. Gible ran forward, releasing another Dragon Rage, and then another, and another. Each time, Deino used half of its power and let itself get hit. My eyes widened when I realized what was happening. Cecilia Obel was throwing the battle.

Eventually, Deino screamed out a roar of frustration and began charging a fully-powered Dragon Breath at the Gible, but Cecilia returned it.

“Good job, Gible! Again, you prove yourself to be the superior dragon!” Louis said smugly. “That was a great effort, Cece. Perhaps We should train more once this event is over, now release your Fletchling and let’s get this over with.”

For a split second, I managed to catch Cecilia’s expression changing from frustration into a beaming smile.

“Of course, Louis. Your training always does wonders for me and the others,” She said. “But I don’t think there is a need to continue this battle, you have clearly proved yourself to be the superior trainer. I hereby forfeit.”

“Arceus, what’s with the forfeits today? Well, with that somewhat underwhelming ending, Floaroma’s monthly tournament has now ended. In first place, we have Louis Bianchi, who wins 10,000 Pokedollars and the secret TM… for Return! Second place and third place will of course also get their prize money…” The announcer started.

I couldn’t help but feel bitter at the fact that the three people who would receive the money all traveling in the same group.

Whatever. Chin up, Grace, the world isn’t fair, I thought.

Anyway, Cecilia had intentionally lost, and everybody seemingly knew, from the people in the audience to the announcer to the organizers. Only Louis and his clique seemed to be in their own little world. Cecilia was making her way to Nurse Joy, and I decided to take the initiative. I would ask her why she had lost on purpose. I exited the stands and made my way to her. I tapped her shoulder.

She turned toward me. “Oh, it’s you again. What do you want?”

I was taken aback by those words. “What do you mean me again? You’re the one who dragged me into the bathroom before… but anyway, I had a question for you. Is that ok?”

“Fine.”

“Why did you throw the game?” I asked, tilting my head.

The girl’s eyes bulged, and she looked at Nurse Joy, who was applying a potion to her barely conscious Deino. She then spun around and looked behind me before putting a finger over her mouth.

“Shhhh! Never say that again! I didn’t throw the match, I lost. Deino was just too tired to use his Dragon Breath at full power.”

I raised an eyebrow. “There you go, lying again. You could have won that battle! Your Deino is obviously better trained than that Gible. Are you losing because you’re in love with him, and you don’t want to hurt his feelings?” I asked bitterly.

Cecilia scowled. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Stop it. Don’t get involved with me, you’ll only come to regret it.”

I contemplated leaving it there and just making my way back to the Pokemon Center, but I just couldn’t. This girl had utterly dominated me during our battle, and now she does this? It felt insulting, to see someone who crushed you so utterly not even try to win it all. Like what she had done to me was just a way to pass the time. She clearly hadn’t taken her battle seriously at all.

“I won’t leave until you tell me,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Or what? Going to blackmail me?” Cecilia said.

“No. I’ll just follow you around and keep asking.”

“What if I go back to my group? Then what?”

“Then they’ll know you throw games because your boyfriend’s ego is too big to take a loss,” I said with a smile.

Deep in thought, Cecilia tapped her foot against the ground. After a few seconds, she clicked her tongue, groaned, and dragged me back to the toilets. I hadn’t had years of arguments against my dad for nothing. She pushed me into one of the stalls, came in a locked the door.

“Why are you doing this to me? Do you want money?” She asked.

“No, I just want to know,” I stared into her eyes. “Genuinely. It pisses me off that you fight normally against my Pokemon but just let Bianchi win.”

Cecilia sighed. “I don’t know why I’m going to tell you this, but you win. I can’t ever win against him, you understand? I can’t humiliate him, or… uh… how do I explain… I’ll get in trouble with my family, there you go! Happy now?!” She said, throwing her hands up.

“Fine. Thank you for answering,” I said. “I really thought it was about love,” I said, feeling relief.

“I don’t even— ugh, whatever. Is that it?”

“No, hold on! What’s with the percentages? You always go up throughout the course of a battle. What does that even do?”

“Arceus, this girl,” Cecilia sighed. “It’s to train Deino’s discipline. Dragons are very aggressive, and they hate being told what to do, so by restraining what he can do, I’m reminding him of who’s in charge.”

“Won’t that make you lose battles?” I asked, before realizing that no, it would not. Deino was so strong she could afford to do this. “Nevermind, don’t answer. Anyway, thank you for your time. I’ll be going back now.”

“Wait! I realized I never apologized for what I did to you yesterday. I shouldn’t have threatened you, I’m sorry,” Cecilia apologized.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Thank you. I mean, it’s fine, you were clearly worried about your dad, so I forgive you,” I said.

Cecilia nodded. “Oh! And our battle… it was fun.”

I smiled. “It really was… and also an eye-opening experience,” I said.

When I opened the stall, a man and a woman in plain clothes were standing at the door with a Hypno. I flinched and stumbled back.

“Who the hell are you?!” Cecilia yelled out. “Were you listening in?!”

“Is that the Obel girl?” The woman asked, ignoring her.

“Yeah, there’s no mistaking it.”

“Who’s the other one?”

“I don’t know. One of her friends in high places? Let’s take her too. Hypno.”

I felt my heart beat against my ribcage as I glanced toward Cecilia. Her Pokemon were getting healed, but she still had Slowpoke, and I had Elekid with me. The Hypno approached us and climbed into the stall as its pendulum began to swing erratically.

I grabbed Elekid’s ball. “Cecilia, release your—”

I was no longer in the bathroom. The floor was entirely white, and huge, humming machines hugged the walls of the room. Dozens of people in coats and normal clothes were sitting on the floor, trembling, crying, or begging. There was even a child hugging her dad in the corner of the room. Cecilia stood next to me, just as bewildered as I was.

And all around me, the same people that had threatened me so long ago stood in their uniforms, with their Pokemon out. They had taken us, and everyone in this room hostage.