Ethan stood against Cynthia on the training field once again, but this time it was his idea to start a battle. It probably wasn’t a good idea to have the first two battles you’ve ever taken part in be against the champion of the region, but if word somehow gets out, he can at least brag about it.

Not many people could claim to have battled the champion, and even less could claim they did so twice.

With a final deep breath, Ethan looked down at his partner for this battle. Unlike last time, Chatot and Pachirisu each had a trainer. While Cynthia gets to order about Chatot, Ethan gets to test his bond with his very first friend. As he knelt down to talk, Pachirisu looked up at him with a smile that was rare to see.

Oh, Pachirisu smiled. Ethan has seen him laugh, smile, over-exaggerate, and play little tricks, but this smile was different. His little electric squirrel was so excited. Pachirisu’s fluffy tail swung back and forth with a mix of excitement and impatience, obviously ready to battle.

“Okay, Pachirisu. Before we start, let's make a plan.” Ethan said with a hint of seriousness. “This battle is for your spot. Chatot has been eyeing it since her loss, and she won’t go down easily.”

That got Pachirisu’s attention. Pachi’s tail stopped swinging and his brows furrowed as he realized the stakes at hand.

“Good. You understand what’s at stake.” Ethan gave a rub to Pachi’s head, much to his embarrassment. “Now, in this battle, anything goes. This means you can use Super Fang…” The glint in Pachi’s narrowed eyes and his suddenly smug face was quickly wiped away as Ethan continued. “... and Chatot can use Boomburst.”

Pachirisu’s face morphed into sheer disgust at the mention of the move.

Ethan shrugged and tried his best to hide his conflicted emotions. “She wants to give it a try, and she knows it may hurt her. I can’t stop her from training it forever. We also have a healing machine now. You both can rest up after the battle, so this one’s a little more serious.”

Pachirisu nodded and mumbled his name, speaking to himself while deep in thought. “Cynthia, the Champion, is also going to be her trainer for this battle. As much as I would like to give reassurances about that, I think we both know I’d just be lying to you.” Pachi easily nodded in agreement, which might have hurt Ethan’s barely existent ego. “But, you have the type advantage. Your Electric moves will hit hard. If you manage to ground her, your odds of winning soar.”

“Listen to my commands when you hear them, just like when we danced. If I don’t say anything, do what you think is best. Trust goes both ways.” Ethan looked his eager, but confident friend in the eyes, and they nodded to one another at the same time. “Go, show’em why you have the right shoulder.”

“Pachi!!!” With the prep talk and strategy out of the way, Pachirisu scampered off into the field and waited for Chatot and Cynthia to finish their own strategy meeting.

Deciding who got which of his pokemon as partners was a slightly difficult conversation. Chatot wanted to win with him, and as much as he agreed with that sentiment, she had a higher chance of winning with Cynthia—That was just a fact. As she was the loser of the last match, it was only fair that she got the stronger of the two trainers as a handicap. Type advantage also played a part in that decision. Cynthia would know how to play at a disadvantage.

After a solid fifteen seconds of watching Pachirisu aggressively shadowbox the air in front of him, the fluttering of wings and a cry of melodious courage dragged his eyes to their opponents.

“♫ Chaa-tooot!!! ♫”

Both pokemon stared at one another from opposite sides of the field. Rarely, ever did Ethan feel any sort of tension, mostly just the general stress of living, but even he could feel the competitive atmosphere growing to a climax. Throwing a quick glance toward Cynthia, he saw the moment her confident smile widened into a grin.

“This will be a one on one battle! The battle will end when a pokemon is unable to continue! Trainers, pokemon, are you ready?” Professor Elm’s voice cut through the building tension like a knife. He was standing in the midfield, playing referee for today's bout.

Everyone nodded, Chatot and Pachirisu settled into their stances, and without further ado, Elm called out. “Begin!”

“Pachirisu! Dig!”

“Fly.”

Ethan and Cynthia both immediately sent out their commands, causing Pachirisu to quickly burrow into the ground, sending chunks of earth and dirt flying into the air, and Chatot to let loose a large gust of air as she lifted off into the sky for aerial superiority.

Chatot’s keen eyes scanned the field below her as she circled like a vulture, waiting for the moment Pachirisu came to the surface.

“Ethan, I know you’re a beginner, but ground type moves versus a flying type? I thought you’d know better.” Cynthia taunted with an overly casual voice. “It’s been a long time since I’ve battled with a pokemon that isn’t my own.”

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Ethan kept his eyes locked onto Chatot as he responded. “Well, this just proves that I know my pokemon better than you do.” A second later, he called out. “Pachirisu! Super Fang!”

A large plume of dirt erupted from the center of the field, right below the circling Chatot. The dust from Dig occluded the sky for a split second, but that was enough time for Pachirisu. With his signature launch and the element of surprise, the battle was truly underway. As his form broke past the wall of dust, his mouth was open and his two buck-teeth were shining in a brilliant white light as he zoomed upwards in a devastating attack.

Super Fang was a powerful move, which cut the opponents HP in half. Although Ethan wasn’t sure if it was as dangerous as it sounded in real life, it worked wonders in the game.

It was a shame that he wouldn’t find out, as Chatot’s aerial superiority let her swifty dive to the side out of harm's way. She easily dodged as her tail swished back and forth, locking into the gentle ticks and tocks of a metronome. A gentle wave of white pulsed outward, but the mystery move didn’t seem to do anything else.

“Eerie Impulse on your way down!” Ethan shouted, and Pachirisu followed. With a deft twist in the air, using his tail as a lever, Pachi scrunched up his body and let loose a static ray of electricity which blasted right through Chatot, lowering her special attack.

As Pachirisu landed in a rough thump onto the ground, taking some damage from the fall, Ethan’s throat constricted in worry.

“Hyper Voice.” Cynthia commanded, voice calm, cool, and collected.

Chatot stabilized in the air, then sucked in a deep breath.

“CHA!!!”

Ethan had to cover his ears as the visible ripple of rainbowish energy blasted outwards in all directions, slamming into both himself and Pachirisu. Pachirisu was visibly knocked back, skidding across the dirt and rolling from the hit.

“You can’t dodge her moves without Dig! Even then, you might still take some damage! Use Swift!” Ethan shouted, hoping that his furry pal could at least still hear.

“Pachi!” Pachirisu shouted a cry, then did a backflip, flicking his fluffy tail outwards and releasing a stream of speckled stars. Chatot zoomed across the sky, doing her best to dodge the attack, but those she dodged quickly changed trajectory and trailed over her, eventually all landing in a peppering of blows.

“Keep at it!” Ethan called out as he tried to think of a way for Pachirisu to get in close.

Air superiority was just as effective in battles as it was in war. Pachirisu didn’t have many ranged attacks; Swift and Seed Bomb, and Seed Bomb wasn’t very effective versus a flying type.

“♫ Chaa-tooot!!! Toot-toot-tooooooot! Tot-Chatot! ♫” Chatot chattered to herself in the air, sending forward another ring of rainbow notes down toward Pachirisu. Ethan couldn’t even get a word out before they collided with Swift, causing a small explosion midair. Sadly, one of the musical notes got past the barrage of stars, slamming into Pachirisu and causing him to teeter on his feet.

Chatter is such a broken move. Ethan complained in his mind, as he watched Pachirisu’s eyes blink blearily in confusion. “Dig! Dig Pachi!”

Hearing his command, Pachirisu spared him a glance, blinked, then looked to the ground. Thankfully, his pal began digging as fast as he could, but not before a large green-coated brown seed slammed into the hole, causing another small explosion.

Looking up, he caught the tail end of Chatot ruffling her feathers after using the move… Seed Bomb?

It took Ethan a single second to realize what had happened. Oh, my smart little bird…

Mimic was a move Chatot knew, and it seems like the mystery move from earlier was just that. She’d stolen Pachirisu’s Seed Bomb, a physical ranged move which would ignore the special attack drop from Eerie Impulse—One that was neutral damage.

Ethan waited with bated breath as the dirt settled, hoping that his friend didn’t lose so swiftly. The Seed Bomb left a large divot into the ground, but Pachirisu was nowhere to be seen.

“Pachirisu! If you can hear me, wait out the confusion!”

“Like, I’d let that happen.” Cynthia challenged. “Chatot, land and Boomburst into the hole. Don’t let him recover.”

Chatot fluttered down, landed into the divot the Seed Bomb caused, then began taking rapid deep breaths. She bopped from foot to foot, hyping herself up, before sending a glare into the hole Pachirisu dug to escape. With an enormous final breath, one that expanded her small feathered chest, Chatot let loose a thunderous vocal boom.

“CHATOT!!!!!”

Ethan, from a solid thirty feet away, felt the ripple of air from the move. His bones rumbled and shook from the blast of bass-boosted soundwaves, even when they were directed straight into the ground.

As soon as he felt the blast of sound, another explosion of dirt sprang up from directly behind Chatot on the side of the small divot. A flash of white, blue, and yellow blurred outwards from the newly created hole, slamming into the now grounded Chatot.

The two pokemon clambered and wrestled with one another. Chatot began to Peck, her beak shining with a coat of sky blue, and Pachirisu rubbed his face and chubby cheeks across any part of her that he could. Then, the original blast of Boomburst boomed out of the newly created exit hole, blasting through both pokemon with visible waves of pressured air.

Both rolled, tumbled, and flopped across the field from the force of the attack, eventually coming to a stop right next to one another. Pachirisu was still, only the gentle rising of his chest letting Ethan know that he hadn’t just accidentally killed his own pokemon in a battle for a stupid shoulder position. Chatot twitched and spasmed, arcs of paralyzing electricity coursing through her body as she lay there on the ground.

Everyone waited to see if either of them would stand. Cynthia looked on with an imperious expression, Ethan held a clenched fist to his heart with a face full of worry, and Elm watched on with a squinted eye focus.

Slowly, one of the pokemon began to stir. It looked like it took tremendous effort, but the hardened gaze in their eye showed that they wanted this win. That they deserved it. One foot, then the next…

With a feeble flap of her wings, Chatot cried out in a weak, nearly silent. “Cha… tooo—” before falling back down, unconscious.

Elm raised a hand. “Chatot wins!”

Without waiting, Ethan instantly recalled both of his pokemon into their pokeballs and ran back to his home as fast as his feet could take him.