Chapter 18: Marie the Motivator
“On our top news story today, new information was discovered about the Tuviere incident. The three prime suspects involved have been now identified and have been linked to similar incidents around the world. Could they have been involved in a much bigger operation? Are there more heists planned? These answers and more at eleven.”
It has now been a full week since the Battle of Tuviere. In the familiar hotel room, Scorbunny, Fennekin, and Snom completely uninterested in the news as it had interrupted the nature program they had been watching. Their expressions were filled with complete boredom. The same sun coming through the same window while they sat there on the same bed was starting to become a toll. Fennekin began to yawn, but a click at the door got everyone’s attention. Before they could even react, the door busted open, and an elated Marie ran through the room.
“Ah! It feels so good to be able to stand on my own again!” said Marie gleefully. She spun circles in the room, the pokemon all seemingly startled at the sudden change in atmosphere. They didn’t have much time to ponder though. They moved out of the way as Marie did one last twirl and flopped upon the bed they resided on. She sighed as she began to make snow angels on the sheets.
“You sure are enthusiastic.” said Ceailean, walking in.
“When you haven’t stood for this long, you’d be excited even for something like walking.”
“Sorry, can’t relate.”
“Shut up C, lemme have this.”
“Alrighty.” sighed Ceailean. He sat down on the adjacent bed and looked up to the TV. “Man, they’re still talking about this. That’s boring.” He picked the remote and turned it off. Fennekin jumped back up on the bed and expressed its concern to Marie after almost having been crushed.
“Ohh, I’m sorry Fennekin. Come here.” Marie reached out arms and before Fennekin could get away, it was pulled into a tight hug. While rocking back and forth, she saw Snom crawling up the wall. “You come here too, Snom.” Snom tried to move faster, but Marie grabbed on and no matter how hard it tried to hold on, it was still taken along in Marie’s embrace. “I missed you two so much.”
“We were only gone for an hour and a half.” remarked Ceailean.
“Still though.” said Marie in a hushed tone.
Scorbunny jumped up next to Ceailean and sat down. Ceailean looked at it and asked, “Do you want one too?” Scorbunny gave him an awkward look and politely declined.
“Okay then.” He laid back on the bed and sneakily rested his hand on Scorbunny’s head. “Imma still head pat you though.”
This caught it off guard and it blushed slightly. Still, this didn’t sit well with it. It shook off Ceailean’s hand and decided to sit by Marie instead.
“Marie, you’re stealing all the pokemon.” complained Ceailean.
“I’m just a more likable person C.” At this statement, Fennekin broke free from her hug and jumped over to Ceailean’s side. Marie reached out her hand gasped. “Betrayal.” she uttered dramatically.
Ceailean laughed, “I guess we both have our pros and cons huh?” Marie smiled and let Snom free. Moments later, the phone rang.
“Are you expecting a call from anybody?” asked Marie.
“Not really. But I think this phone only rings if someone is looking for us from the lobby.”
For a strange reason, this seemed to make Marie concerned. “Um, maybe I should answer it.”
Before she could even reach for it, Ceailean sprang up from the bed and said, “Nope, me first.” He picked up the phone. Marie quickly turned away and held her chest. She felt as though she were sinking into the bed. “Hello?” Snom picked up on what Marie was worried about and watched Ceailean with anticipation. “Him, why is he here?” Fennekin noticed the tension in the air and wondered what had Marie and Snom all worked up. “Um, sure, I’ll uh… be right there.”
Ceailean set the phone down and looked to Marie, “Marie?”
Marie felt like something was coming. “Y-Yes?”
“Crisis is here to see us.” he stated in a confused manner.
Marie was confused as well, but also relieved. “Why would he want to see us?”
“Dunno. He just said it was an ‘important matter’ to him. I’m gonna go down and see what he wants, you wanna come with?”
“Oh, no thanks, I just got comfortable.”
“Alrighty then, I’ll see you in a few.” Ceailean then headed out of the room towards the lobby.
Marie took a big sigh of relief. She looked at Snom and said, “Guess we got worried over nothing, huh?” Snom nodded in agreement. Fennekin barked at the two of them. They turned to see it looking concerned and wanting answers. “Oh yeah Fennekin. Sorry to get you so worked up.” Marie sat up and brought it close to comfort it. “It isn’t a problem you should concern yourself. We’re just uh… expecting an important call for the both of us.” A lingering doubt stayed with Fennekin, but nonetheless decided to let the matter rest.
That is, until the group heard humming coming from Ceailean’s bag. They stared at it until it stopped. “I think C’s getting a call, it would have been rude of us if we had ans-” said Marie before being interrupted as the humming resumed. She looked at her two pokemon back and forth and said, “Well maybe, he won’t mind if we just see take a quick peek.” She walked over, picked up the bag, placed it on Ceailean’s bed, unzipped it, and took out his pokedex.
On it said “Mom”. She watched for a moment before answering the call, much to the surprise of her two pokemon.
“Hello?”
“Who’s this?”
“It’s Marie. You know, Ceailean’s friend.”
“Marie? So you’re out and about with him huh? They’ve been calling me about you.”
Marie started to speculate, “Who’s they? And why’re they talking about me?”
“Marie, it’s your father. He seems to be worried sick about you. He wants you to come home.”
“D-Dad?” she stuttered in disbelief, “T-That can’t be right. I don’t believe you!”
“What? He’s your father, isn’t he? Why wouldn’t he be worried for your safety?”
Marie was starting to get agitated. “He doesn’t care, I would know.”
“How can you say such a thing? I mean, he even left me his contact info in case I get any news.”
“Really, tell it to me. I’ll confirm for myself.” Marie waited as Ceailean’s mom gave the info. Before she finished however, disappointment filled Marie’s heart. When she did finish, Marie said, “It’s just as I thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“That isn’t my fathers number, that’s our housekeepers. His name is Christianson.”
“Well, I’m sure he’s worried all the same.”
“No, he only does it because he’s told to. He wouldn’t have cared if I disappeared forever.”
“Why’re you being so pessimistic Marie? Perhaps they’re just-”
“I’m sorry Miss Crimis, but I would know more about my own life than you could. So would you please stop trying to defend them.”
A moment of silence came. “I’m sorry to have pushed my ideas onto you Marie. I hope you can forgive me.”
Marie calmed down. “No, I should apologize. I shouldn’t have said that to you.”
“In any case, could you let me talk to Ceailean?” Marie froze up at this question. A large amount of silence followed. “Marie?” She only stared at the screen. “Are you there?”
“I… I,” she tried to say.
“Yes, what is it?”
“I… can’t let you!”
“Huh?! What do you mean you can’t let me?!”
“I’m sorry Miss Crimis but please try not to tell anyone I’m here especially Ceailean okay bye!”
“Hold on a sec-,” Marie ended the call. A large wave of guilt and paranoia rushed through her body. This did little to stop her from going straight to the contacts and deleting the call history however. Where she did stop was in Ceailean’s Mom’s contact. In the heat of things, an idea had come to mind. No, more like something that needed to happen to ensure that she wouldn’t be caught. But to make a loving mother unable to contact the one she loved seemed incredibly damning. She didn’t have long to think however as Ceailean’s Mom called back, sending another scare so strong that Marie almost fell to her knees. Without a second thought, she quickly declined the call and blocked the number.
The guilt was overwhelming now. She exhaled. Then, after she was done, a throat cleared as if to get her attention. It was Scorbunny, sitting with legs and arms crossed, looking at her very suspiciously.
Marie gave a tiny wave, “Oh hey, Scorbunny. H-How much of that did you hear?” Scorbunny only tilted its head. “That much huh? Um, y-you know it’s not that big a deal, right?” Scorbunny closed its eyes and sighed. It got up, walked over to the end of the bed, put its hands together, breathed deeply, and jumped over to the other bed, swiping the pokedex from Marie's hands in the process. As soon as it landed, it began fiddling with it.
Marie tried chasing it down around the room. “Hey wait! What’re you doing?! You don’t know how to use that! What if you break it?!” Scorbunny stayed just out of arm's reach. Fennekin and Snom tried to stay as far as possible from the chaos. Despite all the commotion, a click from the door had everyone freeze in place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ceailean made his way out of the elevator towards the lobby. Once there, he looked around to see where Crisis was. He found him sitting in the center lane lined with benches and decorative foliage leading to the entrance.
“So what do I owe this special occasion?” he asked, taking a seat.
Crisis seemed to be shaken out of a daze. “Huh? What’re you sitting over there for?”
Ceailean noticed that he had sat on the bench behind Crisis and was facing away from him. “Oh uh… sorry about that. Force of habit.”
Crisis yawned as Ceailean switched seats. “Quite an unusual habit of yours.”
“Yeah well, I used to be just some loner who never left his house until about a week ago.”
“Whatever the case, I have come to discuss an important matter with you. You see, I have been placed on temporary leave from my post at Team Harmonious HQ.”
“Why might that be?”
“Let’s just say my performance at Tuviere wasn’t… unique. I’ve been having some difficulties for quite some time now. As an admin, I must be able to prove myself capable of protecting Team Harmonious should the time ever come. But as it stands now, it would seem that I am not able to take care of some common thugs on my own.”
“I wouldn’t say they were commoners. Those guys were dangerous. It’s still impressive that you managed to stand up against them by yourself.”
“Still nothing compared to the one who took out three goons on his own.”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that. Either way, we would’ve lost anyway if Sycamore and Blaziken Mask didn’t show up.”
“I suppose. But I am not here to discuss my shortcomings. I would like to share with you the way I would like to do while I am away from my duties.”
“Okay then, what did you have in mind?”
“I… was… thinking....” Crisis’s words began to slur. Ceailean noticed that he looked physically drained. Bags under the eyes along with pale skin, it seemed that he had been quite busy.
Ceailean snapped his fingers. “Hey! You okay?”
Crisis gave no immediate reaction but he was still able to open his eyes. “Oh, sorry. I’ve been preoccupied lately. Team Harmonious has received a lot of attention after Tuviere and it has been up to the admins to deal with it all.”
“I thought you were suspended?”
“It’s complicated. I was only suspended recently. But it is here that I wish to speak to you about my plan, if you’ll allow me.”
“Well why would you want to tell me of all people and why would you ask for my permission?”
“I wish to come along with the two of you on your journey.”
Ceailean took a minute to process what had just been told to him. The question seemed to come out of nowhere. “Huh!? Are you really sure about that!?”
“I am positive.”
“But we only met, when was it? Oh yeah, on that train. Even then, I still haven’t seen you since Tuviere.”
“I understand your hesitance. You do not have to answer right away. It’s just that, seeing you two still standing after trying my hardest, unable to contribute any significant amount to the effort at hand. It makes me want to learn what I’m missing compared to a couple of freshling trainers.”
“That’s a little mean but, as you can probably guess, I can’t make that decision myself.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Ah yes, you must consult the other half of your caravan.”
“Yeah, sorry I can’t give you an answer right now.”
“It is quite alright. I shall only await an answer for two days more. If you do not respond by then, I’ll understand.” Crisis made an effort to pick himself, only to plop right back down on the bench.
Ceailean stood up and offered his hand, “You need help?”
“Please.” Crisis took his arm and stood up. “I thank you for taking the time to speak to me today. I’ll be going now.”
“Get yourself some rest man. ‘Cause to me, you look like hammered shit.”
Crisis seemed to be confused with what Ceailean had just said. “My, quite bold words for someone so young.”
Ceailean slumped his shoulders and inserted his hands into his pockets. “What can I say? I grew up around bold people.”
Crisis gave a slight chuckle. “Hmph, you and I are more alike than we think. I’ll see you around, maybe.” He waved goodbye as he left through the lobby doors.
Ceailean pondered the question on the back to the room. It felt so long just waiting for the elevator to make its trip to their hall. He remained entranced until coming across the door, hearing what seemed like to be a large commotion going on inside. Quickly, he inserted the key-card and opened it. Inside was Marie on one foot reaching for Scorbunny on the bed frame while Fennekin and Snom crouched in the corner clearly wanting to avoid the two.
“You all seem to have been getting along since I was gone.”
“Erm, well…” said Marie, squeamishly. Scorbunny took this opportunity to plop down and mess with the pokedex even further.
Marie gasped, “No stop!”
Ceailean walked in, “What’s going on here?”
“Scorbunny is, um-”
The pieces were quickly put together. It seemed obvious what was happening due to the open duffle and Scorbunnys sudden interest in the pokedex.
“It’s messing with my stuff.” finished Ceailean.
“Y-Yeah, that’s what's happening!” Scorbunny gave her a confused look.
Ceailean reached his hand out, “Come on Scorbunny. I know you’re bored but you might break it if you mess with it too much. So please give it back.” Scorbunny only held it farther from his grasp. “What’s gotten into you?”
Scorbunny answered by pointing at Marie accusingly and spoke angrily. It waved around the pokedex to point out that she did something involving it.
Ceailean scratched his head. “Sorry Scorbunny. It’s just hard to know what you’re saying.” He looked to Marie, “Did you two get into a debate of some kind?”
“I guess you can say that.”
“Whatever the case. Scorbunny I need the pokédex so maybe I can find out what’s going on.”
Scorbunny still hesitated. It opted to press a few more buttons, which prompted a robotic voice to say, “Emergence call active. 5,4…”
Ceailean started to clamor over the bed. “Oh Arceus! Gimme the pokedex Scorbunny!” he demanded. Scorbunny got quite the scare from Ceailean’s reaction. It handed it over while tilting its head away with its eyes closed. He would then disable the emergency call with a quick tap of the cancel button
“Phew, that was close.” sighed Ceailean. He then turned his attention to Scorbunny, “What you did could’ve gotten us into some trouble Scorbunny, please try not to mess the pokedex, okay?” It looked away sheepishly, tapping it’s fingers together with its ears drooped.
Marie stood close. “I think you scared it, C.”
Ceailean turned around looking concerned. “Did I?”
“Yeah. Look at it. Looking away all guiltily.”
“Oh. I-I’m sorry if I startled your Scorbunny. It’s just that I had to act fast. You can understand that right?” Scorbunny looked at Ceailean but remained in the same posture.
Marie looked around. She noticed Fennekin and Snom beside her. “Hey, I know! Since my leg is all fixed, why don’t us two have a battle?” Marie’s statement seemed to rouse the interest of all the pokemon.
“A battle? Where?” asked Ceailean.
“Oh! I know just the spot! I saw it on one of those tourist slideshow things on the T.V. after we accidentally left it on when we went to sleep. It’ll be the perfect place.”
Ceailean gave Scorbunny a glance. “Alright, I suppose we can do that. Where is it?” Scorbunny’s ears perked up with excitement.
“It’s kinda far. Maybe two hours if we walk.”
Ceailean sulked. “Two hours? That’s heckin far! Plus, the doc may have said that your leg is healed but you can’t strain it too much.”
“Please C! The battlefield there is somewhere special I want to visit. The docs words were probably just a suggestion anyway.”
“They probably weren’t-”
“SHH! Let’s just go, please?”
Ceailean inhaled through his teeth. “Fine, but only because I know you’ll bother me about it if I don’t.”
Marie jumped in a cheer. “Alright! You two hear that, we’re finally gonna have a battle! And it’s gonna be me a C’s first time!”
“Pfft, phrasing much?”
“Shut it C, I’m having a moment!”
“I kid I kid. But just what’s so special about this battlefield? There seem to be quite a bit of them around the city, couldn’t we go to one that was closer?”
“I’ll tell you once we get there. Oh! I’m so excited, I can’t wait! We should go now!”
“Well I ain’t doing anything right now.”
“Hmph, come on Fennekin, Snom. Let’s teach a thing or two to the noobs here about battling.”
“Wha-, hey! By which means are you using to underestimate me!?”
“Um, the fact that it’ll practically be the second time you’ve battled ever. You couldn’t even take those two crooks down on your own, Scorbunny had to do most of the work. Plus, ever since I’ve met Crisis, I can only imagine him when you talk with all those big words.”
“Them's fightin words missy! I have been telling this joke way longer than you’ve known Crisis. You would dare dissociate me!”
Marie was starting to get giddy. “Yeah, so what of it! What’chu gonna do huh?!”
“I will demonstrate my highest proficiency to knock you off your high horse, lil’ miss lady!”
“Do it then! You won’t!” giggled Marie. She opened the door and took a step into the hallway, swiveled around on her heel, outstretched her arms and said, “Wassup!”
“To think I would’ve gone easy on you.”
“Hmph! Come on you two, we got a noob to school.” signaled Marie to her pokemon. Fennekin had Snom ride on top of it’s head and followed as Marie walked down the hall, as with a step of confidence. Before leaving, it gave Ceailean a smug look akin to Marie’s own.
Ceailean crossed his arms. “We’ll show ‘em what for, right Scorbunny?” Scorbunny responded with a fist pump. “Yeah, now let’s go.” The two left the room, taking Marie’s lead.
A trip on the subway had brought the two to the other side of town. The hype the two built had died down significantly as they took the time to admire the city traveling from station to station. Fennekin, Snom, and Scorbunny walked ahead of them in the sunlit street as the two observed the shops.
“So many shops, C. So pretty.” said Marie.
“You usually like shopping, you sure you don’t wanna go in any of them?” asked Ceailean.
“No, we’re here for a battle in that special battlefield, nothing more.”
Ceailean seemed confused. He knew Marie couldn’t resist spending at least 10 minutes in a shop every time she walked home from school in Snowbelle. The thought was pushed to the back of his head. “Whatever you say Marie. How long til we get there anyway?”
“It’s not too far now.” After a bit more walking down the street, Marie could barely contain herself when the battlefield came into view. She ran on ahead of Ceailean, the Pokémon staying close.
“Hey wait up.” called Ceailean, following close behind. Marie only stopped once she was able to look down upon the whole battlefield.
“This is it, C! The buildings, the trees, they all look the same as I remember!”
“Remember? Isn’t it your first time in Lumiose?”
“It’s from a documentary I watched a couple months back. It talked about the history of gym leaders in Kalos.” Marie began walking down the steps with Ceailean following in tow, “But something that interested me was how all the gym leaders of today, even the Champion, mentioned this one trainer they all saw as a prodigy.”
“Who might that be?”
“Someone named Ash Ketchum. They all seemed to speak so highly of him, especially Clemont.”
“He did?”
“He never really went into specifics, but the one thing he did say was that this battlefield was the first time he ever battled him. A very important day that was. That Ash ended up being a finalist in the Kalos league right before… you know… the incident.”
“Like I said Marie, you don’t have to worry about me.”
“I know, but still.” The group reached the bottom of the stairs. The pokemon ran around checking out the space.
“Why idolize this finalist over any other one?”
“Well first off like I said, he had the respect of every gym leader in Kalos. Something like that doesn’t just happen. And second, is because of this.” Marie pulled out her pokedex and showed Ceailean an image.
“What’s that? It’s not a Pokémon I’ve ever seen before.”
“That is a Greninja.”
“What? I’ve never seen a Greninja like that. Is it a shiny like Fennekin?”
“No, nothing of the sort. This is something unique to that ash guy and that ash guy alone. This is what Clemont and the Professor dubbed, Ash Greninja.”
“Ash Greninja?”
“An ancient phenomenon only described in old text. To keep it simple, they called it the bond phenomenon. It is what happens when a trainer and their pokemon have complete trust in each other to truly fight as one in battles. What Greninja sees, Ash sees. What Greninja feels, Ash feels. It is for that reason why I have come here.”
“You’re gonna try and accomplish this with either Fennekin or Snom? Seems a bit unrealistic to me.”
“Don’t be such a downer, C. Yes, all bond phenomenon pokemon that have been recorded in history were only Greninjas, but that doesn't mean there aren’t other pokemon that can’t do it either. So we have to at least try, let’s be the first to discover it.”
Ceailean smiled, “Well it doesn’t look like we have anything else to do here. Sure, why not.”
Marie gave a courageous smirk. “Hope you’re ready. I ain’t gonna go easy.”
Ceailean bowed with one hand on his chest, the other outstretched to his side. “I wouldn't expect it any other way. Come on Scorbunny, let’s show ‘em what we’re made of.” The two went to opposite sides of the battlefield. Ceailean set his hands at his hips and asked, “So, who will you be choosing for our battle?”
Marie looked down to Fennekin and Snom. “Fennekin, do you mind taking this one?” It nodded enthusiastically. “Great! Thanks! Sorry Snom, it’s just that you’re four times weak to C’s only pokemon. Surely you understand.” Snom sighed. It shot itself off of Fennekins head, landing right next to its side. “‘Kay, ready?”
Scorbunny looked back to Ceailean, both nodded in agreement. “Hmph, Go!”
“Fennekin, Howl!” A loud howl blew dust away from Fennekin. Scorbunny held its ground.
“Okay then, let’s test the waters. Scorbunny, Quick attack!” It flew straight towards Fennekin in a blur.
“Don’t let it get close! Ember!” Fennekin shot forward a cloud of embers.
“Do as I say, we’ll get out of this! Sidestep right!” Scorbunny shifted right, dodging the attack.
“Rapid Fire!” Fennekin shot continuously.
“Left, left, right, left, right,” Scorbunny dodged each ember swiftly, soon finding itself in front of Fennekin. “Send it!” A swift kick to Fennekin's face sent it sliding back.
“Time to retaliate. Use scratch!” Fennekin charged forward with sharp claws.
“Counter- ah no! Block it!” Scorbunny blocked its body with its arms, but it did little to lessen the impact of a powered up scratch. The attack sent the pokemon flying back. “Scorbunny sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight.” It gave him a gesture of understanding. “I need to stop thinking this as a fight between humans, these are pokemon I’m dealing with.” Ceailean thought to himself.
“Come on now, don’t tell me you lost your train of thought already.” mocked Marie.
“I only did because you're boring me, hurry and make this interesting.” Ceailean said with a smirk.
“Oh I’ll show you interesting! Fennekin Howl!” Another howl blew more dust away, a pulse of red light flashed off of Fennekin.
“Now let's try this. Jump up over Fennekin!” Scorbunny jumped high. “Now blaze kick on the way down!” Flames erupted from Scorbunny's feet as it plummeted towards Fennekin.
“Oh no! Dodge it!” Fennekin jumped to the side just in time as Scorbunny skidded past leaving a scorch trail.
“Turn right back around and use quick attack, don’t give an inch!” Scorbunny put its hands to the ground and ran forward.
“Jump back, keep your distance!”
“Persist!”
Fennekin jumped back from Scorbunny's kicks again and again. However, it soon found itself backed up against a wall.
“Now's your chance!” Scorbunny rushed in and kicked Fennekin straight into the wall, jumping away as it did so.
“Fennekin! You okay?” Fennekin called out that it was fine. “Okay, time to switch it up. Howl once more!”
“You’re intimidation tactics won’t work on us Marie.” said Ceailean.
“Hmph, you really don’t know anything about Pokémon battles do you? We’ll show you what we’ve been building up to.”
“Really? Enlighten me!”
“Fennekin, go in and use scratch!” Fennekin ran forward, brandishing even larger claws.
“Intercept it with blaze kick!” Scorbunny's legs ignited and it charged ahead. It swung for a kick, but it was swatted away with a scratch and another one sent Scorbunny into a tailspin. “It exceeds us physically now?”
“Impressed? Those three howls have basically multiplied our strength by 2.5 times!”
“What! How is that possible!”
“This is a Pokémon battle C, it’s time I school you in the basics! Charge in and use scratch again!”
“Use quick attack to out maneuver it!” Scorbunny then ran circles around Fennekin, almost seemingly like it was starting to cast projections.
“Trust me on this Fennekin! Tough this one out!” Fennekin planted its feet trying to keep an eye on where Scorbunny was. Then the attack came, a swift kick to Fennekins side, but it stood its ground. “Now Fennekin, scratch!” Claws swiped upward across Scorbunny’s face, sending it airborne.
“Scorbunny!” shouted Ceailean. It hit the ground on its back. “Show me that fiery spirit you did once before, you’re not going to be beat!” Scorbunny stood up, a new feeling of determination washed over its body. A blazing hot aura exploded from where it stood. “Now, blaze kick!” Scorbunny raced forward before either Fennekin or Marie could react.
“Oh no! Fennekin, dodge it!” It was too late. A fiery double spiral kick slammed directly into Fennekin’s face. A shock-wave echoed off the walls of the nearby buildings as Fennekin slid across the dirt.
“Okay, let’s try this again. Scorbunny jump up!” It jumped right over Fennekin’s head. “Blaze kick on the way down!” Scorbunny’s legs ignited.
“Shoot it down with ember!” When Fennekin looked up to try and aim at Scorbunny, it was still heavily dazed so everything was a blur. Still, it took a chance and shot an ember.
“Slip past!” Scorbunny twirled around and dodged the ember. “Now land short!” It hit the ground, causing a cloud of dust to obscure the both of them. Fennekin coughed, eventually realizing it could see Scorbunny in the dust, crouched right in front of it. “We’re ending this! Hi jump kick!” Scorbunny spun around. It’s knee flashed an aggressive orange as it went for the head.
“Hi jump-? Oh! Fennekin! Lean back!” It did as it was told, narrowly avoiding the attack with just barely a rub of the nose. Scorbunny came flying out of the cloud of dust straight into the air, disoriented. “Now! Ember while it’s vulnerable!” Fennekin swiveled around and shot a curve-ball ember, directly hitting Scorbunny.
Ceailean slumped his shoulder and watched as Scorbunny hit the ground. “Damn.” he said quietly. Marie eagerly watched as the dust settled, eventually seeing the swirled eyes, indicating that the Pokémon had fainted.
“Wooooooooo! Yeah!” cheered Marie, jumping up and down in celebration. “Oh ow!” A sharp pain shot through her leg, making her fall down.
“Marie? Scorbunny, return.” Ceailean returned Scorbunny back to his pokéball. “You did what you could, don’t let it get to you.” he said to the pokéball. He then walked over to Marie, who lay flat on the floor breathing heavily.
“I did it. I- *cough* *cough* -beat you.” she stated out of breath.
“Not much of an achievement to bully a beginner.”
“Shut it C. How could a beginner use some of those strategies if they don’t know anything about battling?”
“I know about fighting, not battling. So I just figured they were interchangeable.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Eh, don’t worry ‘bout it. Can you stand?” He asked, offering his hand.
“Maybe.” She took his hand and stood up with wobbly feet. “Maybe not. You don’t mind do you?”
“Nah. I gotcha.” Ceailean supported Marie on his arm.
“We just gotta find somewhere I can rest. Fennekin, please pick up Snom for me.” Fennekin barked in acknowledgment and did so.
“It’s getting dark out, should we head to the Pokémon center?”
Marie looked up to the sky, the orange light slowly being pushed by the black of night. “No, a bench will be fine. It will be cool to see what the city looks like at night.”