CHAPTER 64

Denzel relaxed with a breath, and Gardenia released her first Pokemon. Cherrim let out a strange rustling sound, and its petals flapped around, revealing its small, dark eyes.

Don’t get lost in the details, Denzel thought. Big strokes.

Luckily, Gardenia had begun the battle with one of her most iconic Pokemon. From what he knew, Cherrim was one of Gardenia’s Pokemon that used Sunny Day, since the sunlight would make it change forms and boost its attacking and defensive powers. Then, it would use Grassy Terrain to boost Energy Ball’s power to devastating effect.

Alright, he knew the big picture. Now he had to counter it.

“Begin!” The referee said.

“Eevee, Quick Attack!” Denzel ordered with newfound confidence. He needed to stick to the basics and find something that worked.

Eevee barked as white light enveloped his body, and then blurred forward. The normal type wasn’t as fast compared to what other trainers had now, but his advantage was that he could keep it going for a long time.

“Sunny Day, then Grassy Terrain!” Gardenia said.

The young trainer had heard that the move worked even when the sun was down or setting, but to actually see it in action? The strange light bearing down from the roof was as bright as the sun, and it suddenly looked like it was noon. Then, the grass started to grow taller than Eevee was, but that could work to their advantage.

Eevee rammed into Cherrim right as the grass type started to change. Its petals changed colors as they bloomed, and its skin turned to a pale yellow. Cherrim quickly got back up on its feet, but Eevee was still going.

“Trip it up with Grass Knot!” Gardenia yelled.

Shit, Denzel thought. “Eevee, jump—”

Too late. The attack had come too fast, and Eevee fell to the ground and slid across the grass.

“Cherrim, Energy Ball!” She hurriedly said.

Grass died around the two Pokemon as a green ball of pure energy formed in front of the grass type’s mouth, with the extra power from the Grassy Terrain amplifying the attack even more.

“Get up and ram him!” He quickly ordered. He was maybe too close to dodge the attack, and he didn’t want to waste his Detects so soon, so his best hope was to interrupt the move.

Detect almost always guaranteed that Eevee would dodge an attack, but the move was so intensive that even Eevee had to think twice before using one. Eevee scrambled to his feet and circled around the grass type with Quick Attack still active.

“Split it,” Gardenia grinned.

Denzel’s eyes widened as the Energy Ball split into multiple attacks, and were sent flying all around Cherrim. One of them hit Eevee, but they were weakened enough to not bother him too much. The normal type didn’t waste any time and rammed into Cherrim again, and the grass type slid across the grass. The battle was flowing in Denzel’s direction. He could feel it, now he only had to keep it up.

“Don’t rush in,” Denzel warned. He could tell Eevee was feeling bullish, but that would just make Gardenia use Grass Knot again.

“Grassy Terrain again,” Gardenia said. “Then Leech Seed.”

Denzel winced. Leech Seed was one of the moves he couldn’t afford to get hit with. Eevee was his most reliable fighter, and having him weaken that fast in the fight would almost guarantee a loss. Cherrim opened its mouth, throwing out Leech Seed as fast as Budew’s Bullet Seed.

“Detect,” He said, clenching a fist.

Infinitely faster than Quick Attack, Eevee disappeared and reappeared to the side, almost instantaneously. The trainer grinned. That was the difference between a non-perfected Detect and the actual move, it looked like your Pokemon was actually teleporting.

But unlike Detect, Gardenia could use Leech Seed as many times as she wanted, so Denzel needed to hurry.

“Get close and Bite! Don’t let it go!”

“Grass Knot!”

“Jump!” He said.

With a push of his hind legs, Eevee jumped in the air— not high enough to be stuck there too long and be a prime target, but not low enough to get caught by the vines coming out of the ground. Perfect.

The idea was forming in his head now— his winning condition. Eevee had to stay close no matter what and harass Cherrim so that it wouldn’t have time to use its long-ranged moves and struggle to use Leech Seed.

Broad strokes, Denzel reminded himself. Don’t get lost in the details. Feel the flow of the battle.

Eevee latched his teeth onto Cherrim’s face and one of its leaves, shaking his head around and tearing it up in the process. Cherrim struggled, but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t get out of the Bite. With a flash of red, Gardenia returned Cherrim and immediately released a Hoppip. The pink Pokemon spun the two leaves on its head, floating in the wind as if it was lighter than a feather.

Denzel winced. All they had to fight this was Swift, and it was one of Eevee’s weaker moves given how little they worked on it. Still, he wasn’t going to switch. Not yet, at least.

“Swift,” He immediately ordered. Stars spun around Eevee as they formed before flying toward the grass type.

“Start up your Fairy Wind,” Gardenia said.

Denzel grimaced, expecting the worst because of what he had seen Grace’s Togetic do, but Hoppip’s Fairy Wind was incredibly weak by comparison, and it took him a few seconds to understand why.

Gardenia was using the move to make Hoppip move incredibly fast, and it was permanent. The flying type zoomed around the arena faster than Swift could ever hope to be, and occasionally, the wind would hurt Eevee. Even though the damage was minimal, it would stack up.

“Seed Bombardment,” Gardenia said with a grin.

“Quick Attack to dodge,” Denzel quickly said. Whatever the hell that was, it couldn’t be good.

Hoppip let out a cry as seeds started dropping from its body. Some of them exploded upon contact with the ground, and some just grew vines. Gardenia had combined Seed Bomb and Leech seed together in a terrifying fashion, and there was no way to counter it when the enemy was so high up in the sky.

Denzel grabbed Eevee’s Pokeball and recalled him before too much damage could be dealt. His hand settled on Budew’s Pokeball, and he took a deep breath. She wouldn’t do much damage, but at least she would have a chance to hit the damn thing with Bullet Seed. He wished he had taught her more new moves, but the grass type was still difficult to work with, even if she at least listened to him now.

Budew announced herself with a screech, overshadowed by all the explosions going on around her. Even Gardenia seemed to be surprised by her size. She was twice as large as a normal Budew, after all.

“Budew, Growth!” Denzel said.

Budew screeched again, glowing white and growing slightly in size.

“Acrobatics! Boost yourself with the wind!”

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Fuck, it knew flying type moves too! Shit, shit—

Denzel clenched and unclenched his fists. Now wasn’t the time to panic.

“Bullet Seed, then Mega Drain when it’s in range!” The teen said.

Budew spat out Bullet Seed after Bullet Seed, carefully aiming at Hoppip. A few of the Seeds hit the grass type since it was flying only forward now, but the damage was negligible. Just as Hoppip started to nimbly move around, Budew yelled, and the Grassy Terrain died around her. Hoppip winced, feeling Mega Drain’s boosted effect, but he kept going and rammed into Budew and sent her flying.

“Don’t let it rest, Acrobatics again!”

“Mega Drain again!” Denzel mirrored.

With a look of pure rage, Budew once again drained the energy around her, slightly recovering the damage that had been dealt, and Hoppip flew into her at high speeds. This song and dance repeated itself another two times before Budew finally went down. She had done well, especially against something with a flying type move, and now it was time to pass on the torch.

“Budew is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your second Pokemon,” The referee said.

“Buneary, you’re up,” Denzel said, releasing the normal type. She looked back at him with a scared look on her face, but he nodded at her, and she did the same to him.

Buneary was skittish, but he had done a lot to prepare her for a battle in such a large setting. It had taken a lot of trips to public arenas to get her used to other people watching her, and she was ready.

“Blow yourself up high and start bombarding again,” Gardenia ordered.

Buneary didn’t have that many moves, but the ones it had? They were enough. A good base to work from.

“Defense Curl!” Denzel quickly said.

The rabbit curled up into a ball and her skin shone slightly, raising her defense. She would probably get hit by a Leech Seed, but at this point, he had one way to win this. One idea his instincts were screaming at him to implement.

Denzel winced as multiple explosions hit Buneary, and one of the Leech Seeds wrapped its thorny vines around her, but the moment still wasn’t right. He still needed to wait.

Wait until Hoppip was right above her.

“Jump with Quick Attack!” Denzel screamed.

Buneary slammed her feet against the ground, creating a small crater, and jumped up at Hoppip. This trick would only work once. They only had one chance to do this, one opportunity.

“Knock her away with Fairy Wind and fly up!” Gardenia said. The wind that carried Hoppip slammed downward, and its leaves started rotating twice as fast, but Buneary’s jump was too powerful. She was on a one-way trajectory to the flying type.

“Fire Punch!” Denzel exclaimed.

Still midair, Buneary rubbed her ears together until one of them ignited, powered up by Sunny Day, and sprung it at Hoppip. Already having been damaged by Budew, the grass type went down, crashing into the ground, and so did Buneary.

The normal type got up, and Hoppip did not.

“Hoppip is unable to battle! Leader Gardenia, send out your second Pokemon,” The referee said.

With raised eyebrows, Gardenia recalled her Hoppip and released Cherrim again, still in its sun form.

“Grassy Terrain,” Gardenia simply said.

“Alright, Buneary, Quick Attack and get close,” Denzel said.

The same principle still applied, even if Buneary was on a timer due to Leech Seed. Overwhelm Cherrim enough so that it wouldn’t have enough time to use its powerful long-ranged attacks. Buneary’s Quick Attack was different than Eevee’s. The normal type didn’t run, she jumped.

Buneary jumped terrifyingly fast across the field while Grass grew around Cherrim.

“Energy Ball, quick!” Gardenia ordered with a sweeping motion, but it was too late.

Buneary landed right in front of the grass type as it began forming the Energy Ball, and then hit it with Fire Punch without Denzel even having to give the order.

“Again,” He said. Finally, after being rattled by Hoppip, he was starting to settle into a groove again. With a small noise, Buneary continued battering Cherrim with all she had until the grass type fainted.

“Cherrim is unable to battle! Leader Gardenia, send out your last Pokemon,” The referee said.

One more, Denzel thought. But he couldn’t get complacent. He needed to keep the gears turning. Gardenia grabbed her last Pokeball and released her Grotle, who let out a short roar before snapping its jaw.

“Think you got a little more in you?” He asked Buneary. The rabbit turned his way and gave him a fierce nod, eliciting a smile. If there was one thing Denzel’s team had, it was being able to take hits and keep going. “Thank you.”

Buneary and Grotle were already relatively close, so there was no need to waste her limited energy with Quick Attack.

“Fire Punch,” Denzel ordered.

“Strength,” Gardenia said.

Grotle’s entire body stiffened as it slowly ran toward Buneary. The normal type landed her Fire Punch, but Grotle just ignored it and rammed into her with its entire body, sending her flying. The sheer power behind the move made Denzel freeze up for a split second.

Buneary struggled to her feet and took a few steps forward, but she fell to the ground quickly after.

“Buneary is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your last Pokemon,” The referee said.

Denzel recalled Buneary with a slight smile. She had done everything required of her and more. Now it was Eevee’s turn.

The trainer released his starter. “It’s you and me, Eevee,” He said. Eevee answered with an excited cry.

Denzel had never even looked at battles where Gardenia had used Grotle because he never thought she would use the Pokemon against him. What had he broadly learned about the grass type in that short interaction? It was a bruiser type— like Eevee was, more powerful by an order of magnitude. He was also slow, taking seconds to reach Buneary who had been relatively close.

The gears turned, and a strategy clicked into place.

“Swift. Stack them up,” Denzel said.

Eevee barked and stars materialized around him before flying toward Grotle. The attack was nothing to the grass type, but it wasn’t like he could respond.

“Leech Seed!” Gardenia yelled, and Grotle opened his mouth. Eevee effortlessly dodged the seeds with Quick Attack and kept harassing his opponent with Swift. “Get close!”

“Run away to the opposite side of the field,” Denzel continued. “Then Swift again.”

“Don’t let him, cut him off!” The gym leader yelled. “Bulldoze!”

Grotle roared and stood on its hind legs before slamming its front legs at the ground. The floor shook around it, slowing Eevee down and making him fall.

“Strength!” Gardenia said, grinning.

Denzel inhaled sharply. “Detect!”

Eevee disappeared and reappeared further down the battlefield, having narrowly avoided Grotle’s charge. He quickly started up another Swift and sent it toward Grotle. And another. And another. Slowly chipping away at the grass type, who could only slowly run up to him and try to cut him off with Bulldoze, after which Denzel would dodge with Detect.

On Eevee’s third Detect, Denzel started to worry. On Eevee’s fifth Detect, it was taking everything for the boy not to panic. He watched as another set of stars hit Grotle’s side, and the grass type slowly but surely ran up to his exhausted Eevee.

Fuck it, Denzel thought. All or nothing.

His brain screamed at him. Every ounce of his being except his gut was telling him this was a bad idea, but he had no choice. Another Detect and Eevee wouldn’t be able to move. Eevee wouldn’t be able to jump over Bulldoze like Buneary could either, the range around Grotle was too large.

“Quick Attack to get close…” Denzel started. Eevee nodded, panting a few times before blurring forward.

“Strength!” Gardenia yelled.

Grotle and Eevee were going to hit each other, or at least that’s what Denzel wanted it to look like.

“Slide under his legs!” Denzel yelled. Eevee ducked and skidded across the grass.

“Body Slam!”

“Double Kick!” Denzel screamed so loudly his throat ached. Unlike Grotle’s protected shell, the grass type’s underbelly was its weakest point, or at least that’s what visually made sense.

Eevee nimbly turned around on his back as Grotle stood on his hind legs. He dropped onto Eevee, creating a plume of dust, smoke, and dirt.

The was no more sound.

Denzel stood on his tiptoes, eagerly waiting for the dust to settle.

Eevee crawled out of the smoke with a limp, barely able to walk and leaving a knocked-out Grotle behind him. He collapsed a few seconds later.

The trainer let out a long sigh of relief and looked at the sky as deafening cheers erupted around him. It was a draw, but a draw still counted as a win for the challenger. A draw was somewhat disappointing, he hadn’t completely figured out how he wanted to battle as Grace had, and there were still things to iron out, but holy shit, was this a huge step in the right direction.

Denzel’s body felt so light. He looked at Gardenia in a daze as she handed him his badge, money, and the Leech Seed TM. His battle was the last one of the day, so the lobby was a sea of trainers, making it hard to find his friends.

Using his height, they found him first, all congratulating him for his victory. He blinked a few times and looked at Grace. His best friend smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Denzel was happy she managed to catch at least some of the battle.

“I knew you would fucking kick ass,” She said, still smiling.

Denzel Williams was so incredibly glad Grace had come to him back in Twinleaf town.

It just wouldn’t be the same without her.