It was the largest arena Cashe had battled in so far in his pokemon career, but also the quietest. The stadium sat at least eighty thousands, if he had to guess, row and rows of seats stacked upon each other, towering so high that he had to crane his neck just to see them all. It would be the chance of a lifetime to battle on such a stage, were the arena filled with cheering fans, however, it was empty.

It was a great irony that the first battle they had put any effort into regarding their appearance and presentation to the public would be the least viewed of all of them so far. Cashe could only make out a smattering of people gathered around three different stages in the arena, perhaps fifty people in total. Opposite him, sitting in the stands behind Zil, were several people wearing loose-fitting black, and red clothing and waving enthusiastically at Zil. Several had the same dark coloring as she and her father did. Cashe Took them as Zil’s mother and her siblings.

The other two groups of spectators were much the same, with the exception being Herschel’s family, who were all much younger than him - his kids and grandkids instead of his siblings and parents.

The quietude of the huge gym was disarming, like the space was bereft of its very purpose, missing an essential piece of what it was supposed to be. He would have to return here, once he was a gym trainer, and challenge Kev to a battle, just so he could see that purpose realized.

Before moving onto the stage, Cashe took a moment to give Emilia and Lindon a wave of good luck as they made their own way to their battles. Lindon waved back at him with enthusiasm, but Emilia didn’t even notice the gesture. She was too focused on the battle.

Cashe made his way onto the stage, rising up the small stairs with a few steps. The league official approached him as he did, a quartet of Claydol hovering behind him in his wake. He was a tall man, with a thin face and thick, bushy eyebrows.

He nodded to Cashe by way of greeting, pulling a small notebook from the front pocket of his striped uniform, “Apollo Cashe?” He said, peering out from under his eyebrows to get a better look at him.

“You can just call me Cashe,” Cashe replied.

“Trainer Cashe,” the official nodded, “The format is single battles, six versus six. My word is final and you will follow my instructions to the letter. Each trainer is given three free substitutions. The fourth will count as a pokemon fainting. Any questions?”

“None that I can think of at the moment.”

“Good,” the official nodded, “Choose your starting pokemon and get ready. We will begin shortly.”

Cashe let the official leave without saying a word, running a hand over the pokeballs on his belt. His lead was a difficult decision.

Zil’s known pokemon were Exeggutor, Ceruledge, Golbat, Lombre, and Cinccino. It wasn’t the most balanced team, but Cashe could see the idea behind it well enough. With a sixth pokemon and a couple of tweaks, it would be an excellent sun team - the same archetype that he had originally planned for himself.

Zil would likely choose Golbat or Lombre for her lead, as an attempt to prevent him from setting up with Ivysaur from the start. Lombre was most likely, as far as knew, Cashe had no proper counter for it. So Araquanid would be his lead, then. He wanted to save him for Exeggutor, but Sneasel could always work there.

Cashe pulled the pokeball from his belt, readying it in his hand. The official spoke a few words to the Claydol and they spread out, moving to the corners of the stage. A thick, nearly transparent barrier snapped into place around them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Emilia and Lindon already summoning their pokemon.

“Ready?” The official shouted.

Cashe nodded. Across the stage, Zil did the same.

“Release your pokemon!”

Cashe did so, Araquanid appearing in a wash of red light. It stretched its legs out, towering over the battlefield, a small warbling cry rising up through the water bubble around his head.

There was no obvious look of surprise on Zil’s face at the reveal of his new pokemon, only a determined stare. Her own pokeball opened and a small figure came out, dwarfed in comparison to Araquanid. It was not Lombre, however.

Cinccino stood less than two feet tall, and a third of that came from the poof of her fur. She resembled an oversized chinchilla, with a pair of large ears and a cute, mouse-like body. Luxurious, flowing fur ran from her head and wrapped around her neck, forming a scarf. More flowed down her back like a cape, making it appear like she had an extra tail or two. Before Cashe had a chance to look surprised, the official spoke.

“Trainers, get ready!” He raised a hand into the air, watching as both Zil and Cashe hurried to get their pokemon into position. Araquanid lumbered into the stage, only needing two movements to get there. Despite this, Cinccino was ready first, darting into the arena at much greater speeds.

Cashe frowned. That was going to be a problem.

The official didn’t give Cashe the chance to think the issue through, however. He brought his hand down through the air, “Fight!”

“Araquanid, Aqua Ring!”

“Rock Blast, Cincinno!”

Cashe swore aloud. This was already a problem.

Araquanid concentrated for a moment and released a bubble of water that rose up around him. It shrunk down, forming a ring around his body, where it hovered. At the same time, Araquanid lumbered to the side, attempting to dodge Cinccino’s incoming attack.

Cinccino didn’t let him get away that easily, however. Rocks formed in front of her face, once after another, each flying off at speed. Cashe counted four. That answered at least one question. Cinccino did not have Skill Link as her ability.

The rocks shot across the battlefield catching Araquanid mid dodge. His lumbering body was not quick enough to avoid the attacks, and each hit with devastating effect. Araquanid cried out in pain, two of its legs buckling from the impact of Cinccino’s Rock Blast. Luckily, Araquanid managed to get Aqua Ring up in time, and the ring of water around his body began dripping water onto him, soothing his wounds and healing him a small amount. Given enough time, it would heal him fully, but he would not be given that time.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Cinccino, again!” Zill shouted.

“Bubble Beam, spread it wide!” Cashe shouted.

Cinccino focused again, forming another stone in front of her face, firing it off against Araquanid. At the same time, Araquanid released a stream of water from the bubble on his head, which formed into bubbles as it flew through the air.

It clashed with the first rock, kicking up a storm if mist and dust, as Cinccino formed a second, firing it off as well, the stream of bubbles pushed through the air, closing the distance to Cinccino, only to be pushed back as Cincinno formed two more rocks as she used Rock Blast. Each rock moved through several bubbles before exploding, the structure breaking down as the energy of the attacks clashed. A mist of dust and water covered the battlefield, leaving Cinccino only visible as a small shadow.

“Araquanid, close the distance! Bug Bite!” Cashe shouted.

“Dodge as best you can, Cinccino!’ Zil cried out.

Araquanid charged the small dot in the mist, his lumbering body building momentum quickly. He burst through the cloud of dust like a monster from a movie, bearing down on Cinccino with ferocious speed.

Cinccino dodged to the side at the last moment, moving out of the way as Araquanid bent his enormous legs to get to the ground and attack her.

Cinccino zipped between his legs, darting across the battlefield and stopping in front of Cashe.

“Araquanid, to my voice, prepare to be attacked!” Cashe called out.

“Slow him down further! Use Thunder Wave!”

Araquanid, only a shadow to Cashe through the dust of the battle, turned around slowly. He trundled out of the dusty cloud, just as Cinccino finished charging a wave of electricity around her body. Araquanid was caught directly in it, the electricity running over his body and causing him to seize up in place on Zil’s side of the battlefield. .

“Now, Rock Blast!” Zil shouted.

Cinccino wasted not time, forming another series of stones to fire off at Araquanid. Cashe growled in frustration. Cinccino was only a few feet from him and he was unable to do anything to stop what would be a devastating attack. Araquanid was still locked in place, shivering as he tried to move under the effects of paralysis.

Four rocks shot off from Cinccino, all flying at Araquanid. Four again. Was she just lucky? No. Cashe spotted a tiny green die dangling from a collar around Cinccino’s neck. It was the Loaded Dice item. That meant that Cinccino likely had Technician as her ability - a deadly combination given how many multi-hit moves Cinccino could learn. Luckily, Cashe had a solution.

The first rock from Rock Blast hit Araquanid directly in the head, knocking him to the side and causing the second rock to miss. Araquanid stumbled, the paralysis finally letting up enough to allow him to move, albeit slowly.

“Entrainment!” Cashe shouted.

Araquanid glanced up just as the Third Rock whizzed past his face, cracking against his exposed body. He fixed Cinccino with a frightening gaze and a strange energy welled up from within Araquanid. It fired from him just as Cinccino released her fourth rock, slamming into her. She shuddered, but there were no other visible signs of distress from her as the fourth stone flew directly into Araquanid’s face. It hit hard, but he did not stumble. The attack worked, Rock Blast had lost the extra power it gained from Technician.

Cashe grinned. Now he had a chance.

“Araquanid, use- what the hell?”

Cashe cut himself off mid order as he noticed what was happening to Cinccino. Mist was gathering in the air around her head, forming a pool of water at the base of her neck, soaking her luxurious fur coat. The pool grew as the water in the air continued to gather around Cinccino’s head. It rose, and Cinccino squeaked in fright as the water covered her mouth and nose, cutting off her breath.

Cinccino started to panic, throwing herself against the ground and pawing at her next. Her paws only caused small splashes of water, however, and the small amount leaving the bubble was nothing compared to the amount forming from the mists in the air.

“Cinccino, don’t panic!” Zil yelled, “Use Rock Blast or Bullet Seed! It will displace the water!”

Cinccino did not listen however. Cashe wasn’t sure she could. Either due to the panic that was setting in or the water that was covering her ears, Zil’s words passed as though they meant nothing. Zil swore and tossed out a pokeball, returning Cinccino to sub her out.

Cashe let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t expect that to happen, nor did he know whether or not Cinccino’s ability would be reset upon her return, like it would in the games. He just needed to get the Cinccino off the battlefield.

Araquanid staged over to Cashe as Zil chose her next pokemon. She tossed out her pokeball as Araquanid’s back was turned, trying to catch Cashe off guard so she could get a free switch in with her pokemon. Cashe was paying attention, however.

“Araquanid, Sticky Web!” Cashe shouted, pointing to the opposite side of the battlefield.

Sticky Web was the primary reason he led with Araquanid, even more so than his incorrect guess that Zil would lead with her Lombre. As he had witnessed first hand, the move was incredibly powerful and would give his pokemon the speed advantage through the rest of the match.

But Cinccino posed a major problem to that plan. She was one of the very few pokemon that could learn Tidy Up, a move that removed hazards from the battlefield and boosted the user's attack in the process. Getting her off the battlefield was one of the only ways Cashe saw to get the move set up without it getting removed immediately. The other was using it while Araquanid was fainting, and he didn’t want to exercise that option if he could help it.

Araquanid jerked his head to the side at Cashe’s order, barely able to face the correct direction to fire Sticky Web. It wouldn’t matter. Cashe had seen how much area the attack covered when Araquanid used it against Primeape during their initial battle, and he had gotten familiar with its range as they trained over the last few days. The attack could cover an enormous area.

And it did. Araquanid fired from his mouth a huge ball of wet, sticky web. It splattered at his feet, rolling away from him like a wave rolling over the beach, spreading a thick layer of web over almost two thirds of the battlefield.

Zil’s pokeball paused in mid air, cracking open to release her pokemon in a flash of light.

“Holy shit,” Cashe swore.

Golbat was enormous. He was at least five feet tall, and most of that height was mouth, Golbat’s jaw hanging open, revealing a dark void in place of a throat. Twin fangs protruded from the upper and lower halves of his jaw, with a pair of awkward feet dangling from his enormous, round head. Sticking out from that same head were a pair of giant wings, each easily five feet in length, a purple membrane stretching from them as Golbat flapped to keep himself in the air.

Cashe grimaced at the disturbing creature in front of him. It was not surprising that the Teams from the games always used Zubat and Golbat, now that he could see the creature. It was terrifying to look at, its mouth easily large enough to swallow a child whole. Or an adult for that matter. The disturbing image was made worse by the knowledge that Golbat wouldn’t do that. Just suck your blood until you had none left, if the pokedex entries from the game were to be believed.

The worst of it, however, was that Zil had clearly anticipated his move. Golbat was in the air and unaffected by Araquanid’s Sticky Web. Even with the element of surprise, and even with a pokemon that could not always learn Sticky Web, Zil had taken it into account and acted accordingly. Cashe focused as the battle resumed. Zil was not going to be caught off guard. She was the daughter of a gym leader, just like Emilia, and she was showing it.

*****