“Sorry, Araquanid,” Cashe muttered under his breath, “You’re going down here.” He looked up at the enormous, ugly bat with a tinge of regret. He couldn’t risk a switch to save Araquanid. As a flying type, Golbat was the most dangerous pokemon to his team. He was lucky to have baited it out so early in the match when his pokemon were fresh, but he wouldn’t be able to stop it from taking Araquanid down.
“Acrobatics!” Zil shouted.
“Bubble Beam, wide and high!” Cashe ordered in response.
Golbat darted into the air at Zil’s command, moving with incredible grace and dexterity given his massive body. He flitted through the air, angling towards Araquanid with precision. Araquanid responded with an overwhelming torrent of bubbles flying through the air, but the attack was slow and Araquanid released it slower, thanks to the ongoing effects of paralysis. Golbat cut through the air, twisting and turning like a stunt pilot, dodging the bubbles of Araquanid’s attack. Golbat glowed with a pale gray light as flying type energy rose up around him, coalescing and focusing around the tips of his teeth. With a powerful beat of his wings, Golbat closed the final few meters, darting in for the attack.
“Araquanid, Infestation!”
The hours of practice over the last five days paid off. As Golbat collided with Araquanid, Araquanid did not flinch away, and instead acted. Golbat’s fangs dug deep into Araquanid’s carapace, tearing deep holes into him that spouted a sickly green ichor, but Araquanid responded with an attack of his own. A vile, green mist rose from Araquanid’s body, just as Golbat tore into it, the greedy pokemon acting in its nature and attempting to inflict as much damage as possible before darting back into the air. The extra second Golbat took on Araquanid’s back was all Cashe needed. The vile mist swarmed around the bat pokemon, moving as if it had a life of its own, and sank deep into Golbat’s flesh. Cashe shivered as he saw something squirm and writhe underneath Golbat’s skin, small lumps and tracks appearing in Golbat’s hide where there were none previously, moving up and down the length of his body, standing stark against the membrane of his wings. Golbat shivered in discomfort, taking off from Araquanid’s back and flapping through the air. He showed no other signs of injury or haggard movement, but Cashe knew it was only a matter of time. Infestation’s duration wasn’t indefinite, but it would last long enough to do real damage.
Cashe turned his attention back to Araquanid. The enormous bug pokemon was staggering in place from the attack. The Aqua Ring that was formed around him was dripping onto his body for all its worth, but the amount it healed was pathetic next to the damage Golbat caused. Araquanid was likely losing more health from the bleeding of his wounds than he was gaining from Aqua Ring. Slick, green pools of ichor were forming under Araquanid from where the fluid dripped off his back, coating the side of his abdomen and dying the normally black carapace green. Small bits of gaseous miasma rose from the pool of ichor giving off a horrible stink.
Cashe wrinkled his face and turned away from the awful smell as Zil waved at the official to intervene. Cashe nodded to her in appreciation, not expecting the gesture. She clearly did not want to injure Araquanid any more than what was necessary and was trying to get the official to declare Araquanid unable to battle. The official gazed at Araquanid, unsure if the pokemon would recover or not.
Araquanid struggled to raise himself to his feet, slipping in his own ichor. This was enough for the official to make a decision and he raised his hand into the air pausing the match.
“Araquanid is no longer fit to battle. Trainer Cashe, choose your next pokemon!”
Cashe returned Araquanid to his ball quickly, throwing out Hattrem’s pokeball just as fast. He was on a clock now. He needed Hattrem to take care of Golbat before Infestation wore off, allowing Zil to switch Golbat out. He did not want to deal with Gobat when his pokemon were tired or fainted and he was nearing the end of the battle. While both Hattrem and Sneasel would fare well against it, there was no guarantee they would be around for that fight.
Hattrem bounced out of her ball with an enthusiastic, “Hat!” She turned to greet Cashe, but he pointed her to the center of the battlefield. Sensing his urgency, Hattrem only let out a ‘Hat’ of complaint that she didn’t get a proper greeting before using her long and powerful braids to walk into the center of the stage.
The official watched Hattrem with an amused expression, apparently unused to seeing a pokemon bounce joyfully into battle. He exchanged a quick glance with both Cashe and Zil, making sure they were ready to fight, and brought his hand back down in a swipe, resuming the battle.
“Golbat, Bite!” Zil shouted, gesturing violently towards Hattrem.
“Charm, Hattrem!” Cashe responded.
“Hat!”
Golbat shot through the air with Zil’s words, beating his wings to close the distance as quickly as possible. Despite his outstanding speed, he was not fast enough to cross the distance in time. Hattrem didn’t bother even trying to dodge the attack aimed at her. Instead, she clasped her hands together under her chin and fixed Golbat with a soulful gaze. Her eyes widened and sparkled, becoming twin orbs of glassy awe, peering at Golbat with all the aggression and ferocity of a kitty discovering a ball of yarn for the first time. It was adorable and heartwarming. Cashe felt relaxed just by looking at her, a foreign warmth rising up in his chest. He found himself smiling.
The effect of the move on Golbat was much more pronounced. Golbat swerved, slowing his approach to the point where he almost fell out of the air. Hattrem continued to stare at him with her wide eyes, her expression almost pleading. Cashe swore he saw hesitancy rise on Golbat’s face before the pokemon closed the distance completely and attacked. Dark energy gathered in his mouth, around the points of his large fangs and he snapped down at Hattrem, but without the violent vigor with which he attacked Araquanid. Instead the attack was almost cautious, like Golbat was deliberately trying to do as little damage as possible to Hattrem.
“Snap out of it!” Zil shouted.
“Hattrem, Psybeam!”
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Golbat did not snap out of it. HIs attack landed, but a fraction of a second later, so did Hattrem’s. She must have anticipated Cashe’s order, because the attack was fully charged and flying through the air almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
A wave of multicolored energy rose from Hattrem, slamming into Golbat. There was no room to dodge, Golbat was still in the process of attacking Hattrem; he was almost pressing against her. The beam caught him full in the face. Cashe heard a sizzling, like a steak dropped onto a hot pan as the psychic energy connected with Golbat. It tore at him with physical force, throwing him from Hattrem and across the stage. He bounced off the barrier on the far side of the stage and caught himself mid air before he could fall into the tangled webs that covered Zil’s side of the stage.
Cashe grimaced as Golbat struggled to maintain altitude. His gaping mouth was now closed, revealing the damage caused by Hattrem’s attack. The skin of his long body was torn and burnt, the psychic typing of the attack reacting horribly with Golbat’s poison type. His skin, normally dark blue, was red and pale where it wasn’t simply burned away. In the burned areas, Cashe could see the tail ends of pale green worms wriggling to get away from the exposure, digging into Golbat’s body.
“Golbat, you need to hang in there. Leech Life!” Zil ordered.
“Hattrem, keep him at bay with Psybeam!” Cashe responded.
Golbat darted forward again, but was moving much more slowly than he was before, the toll of the battle weighing on him heavily. Hattrem, again, responded almost instantly, firing off another attack as the words left Cashe’s mouth. Psybeam cut through the air, spreading out as the attack moved towards Golbat, cutting off his avenues of escape. Golbat was forced to dive in order to avoid the attack, coming perilously close to the blanket of webs on the stage below. His only route to attack was now straight on, easy to dodge.
“Hattrem-”
Hattrem was already moving, using her hair to waddle to the side exactly where Cashe wanted her. She stopped and brought her hands together. A deep energy rose around her as Golbat pulled up, unable to bank to attack Hattrem at his low altitude without risking getting caught in the webbing or crashing into the ground. The energy around Hattrem coalesced as she used Calm Mind. It was exactly what he wanted her to do, but she did it without his order.
Was she reading his mind?
“Hat!”
Cashe blinked. It could be a coincidence. Hattrem fired off another Psybeam as Golbat curved through the air, banking hard to continue his attack. The beam caught him across the back, tossing him through the air and sending him into a tumble. Before he could get caught in the webs, Zil tossed out his pokeball, returning him to it. The official ran into the field, carefully avoiding the webs, his hand in the air. He was staring at Cashe and Hattrem from under his bushy eyebrows, an inscrutable look on his face.
“Golbat is unable to battle!” The official looked to Zil for confirmation, making sure he was not mistaking a faint for a substitution. She nodded, but Cashe thought it was unnecessary. Golbat wouldn’t be able to return to his pokeball with the infestation still in him, unless he had fainted.
“Hat!” Hattrem hopped into the air, using her hair to get extra height as she celebrated her victory. She bounced over to Cashe holding her arms out so she could get a proper greeting, now that the battle was temporarily paused.
“Hey, good job,” Cashe said, catching his small pokemon in his arms, “Are you rooting around my head?”
“Hat!” Hattrem hugged him as tightly as she could with her little arms, nuzzling his chest. Cashe felt another foreign warmth, this time in the back of his head, like someone was giving his mind a comforting pat.
Cashe froze, fighting to keep a wave of apprehension from his mind. Hattrem picked up on it anyway, pulling her head back and looking at him, eyes filled with confusion.
“Hat?”
“Don’t worry. We can talk later.” Cashe said, “We have a battle to win right now.”
Hattrem frowned but nodded, waving her hands to the side like a little kid asking to be let down from her parent’s grasp. Cashe did so, dropping her to the ground. She caught herself on her hair and waddled back into the center of the stage, looking back at Cashe once she was in place. Cashe gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile as Zil chose her next pokemon.
Cashe knew what he wanted to see, but was left disappointed. He was hoping Zil would send out Exeggutor for the guaranteed resistance against Hattrem’s attacks. With the Calm Mind boost, Hattrem should be able to manage against the bulky pokemon. Unfortunately, Zil had other plans.
The pokemon that took the stage was humanoid, lithe and lethal. It stood just over five feet tall, feet apart, exuding confidence. On its head was a strange mask-like helmet. It covered the pokemon’s forehead and the top of its skull. The pokemon’s body was a deep blue - cerulean, and provided the pokemon with its name. On its arms, legs, and chest, armor-like plating covered its body. The plating was purple and almost ethereal in the light of the gym. Instead of hands, two ghostly blades extended from the pokemon’s wrists, forming a pair of swords. Pale blue flames lapped at the base of swords, another blasting from the back of the pokemon’s head, like a warrior's top knot.
Ceruledge.
The matchup was horrible for Hattrem. Ceruledge was tougher, faster, and hit with super effective attacks, while she had nothing super effective to hit him back with at all. Cashe was supposed to have a near perfect-condition Araquanid to use against this pokemon, but Zil had derailed those plans at the very first step, setting up a situation where he had limited options to deal with her fire type pokemon. She was her father’s daughter, putting the plan in motion on the fly, just as the gym leader had engineered a situation to his benefit within an hour of receiving the phone call from Elise. She was too smart to be outmaneuvered and too prepared to be caught off guard. If he wanted Hattrem to do anything at all against Ceruledge, he would need to attempt to take advantage of Hattrem's budding ability to read his mind.
“Hat!”
Hattrem’s voice was focused and determined. Had she heard the entire thought process?
“Hat!”
Great. Cashe frowned, focusing on what she would need to do, running situations through his head as fast as he could in order to prepare her for all the eventualities he could come up with. She needed to be able to react to Ceruledge and Zil before they made any moves if she were to stand any sort of chance against him. Cashe had no idea what a pokemon’s brain was capable of, besides a few stories about certain pokemon like Alakazam or Metagross. He only hoped that Hattrem was keeping up. He got no response from his pokemon this time, she was staring at Ceruledge, her eyes narrowing as Zil went over similar plans with it.
After the brief word with her pokemon, Zil directed Ceruledge into the center of the battlefield, facing off against Hattrem. The ghostly warrior stepped forward on pointed legs, his feet leaving small motes of ash where he stepped. Even as Ceruledge walked across the stage, however, Araquanid’s Sticky Web clung to him, gathering around his legs and slowing him down. Ceruledge broke the web simply by walking through them, but strands still hung from his body and between his legs, tying him up even tighter. The webs, still wet from passing through Araquanid’s bubble or due to some intrinsic property of them, Cashe did not know, but they refused to burn, even as Ceruledge’s blades ran over them and he attempted to cut them away. He only succeeded in temporarily getting his arms stuck.
The official checked again to make sure both trainers were ready to fight, and dropped his hand, starting the battle.
*****