Chapter 36: Passion Prodigies

It was an early morning at the Pokémon center. The sun’s rays highlighted all the color around with sparse clouds.

Inside the Pokémon center, a man walked in. His hair shot straight up and was littered with colorful climbing wall rocks. His black skin-tight shirt and gray cargo pants made him look like he had just returned from scaling a mountain. Though his figure may be slim, he walked with confidence to the Pokémon center table.

Nurse Joy noticed him, “Oh, what an honor to see you all the way out here. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Please, nothing honorable about it. I just happen to be passing by.”

“Oh okay. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?”

“If you would please.” Nurse Joy bowed and the man handed over his pokéballs. That was when he heard a commotion outside. He saw Ceailean, Marie, and Crisis out on the battlefield.

“Whoa, who might they be?” said the man as he pointed with his powdered stained hand.

“Who, them? They came in a couple days ago. That girl there got into a pretty intense Pokémon battle with a regular trainer around here called Aeise. Due to an injury, they have to stay for a couple more days, but I don’t think that stopped them from training.”

“You’d call that training?”

“Well… I haven’t been paying too much attention.” The man eyed the group with interest.

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() “Do I really have to do this again?” said Ceailean dishearteningly.

“You said you would help me train and this is the most effective way for you to help me train!” said Marie.

Ceailean, Marie, and Crisis stood outside on the Pokémon center's battlefield. Ceailean carried Marie on his back while she did her best to peer over his shoulders. Scorbunny, Noibat, Fennekin, Snom, and a dramatically sad Solosis stood in a line in front of them.

“We are going to remain here for a while until Marie’s injury recovers.” said Crisis. “I hope you know what you signed up for.”

“Um, anything for a friend I guess?” said Ceailean.

“I acknowledge you for your contribution.”

“Just what are we gonna do anyway, Marie?” asked Ceailean. “I thought we were gonna battle each other.”

“No.” said Marie, slumping slightly. “Aeise was a genius and he was able to see and take advantage of weaknesses I never thought was going to be a problem. I need to see those weaknesses more clearly. So I’ve devised a training plan for the whole day. Take a look at this.” Marie put her pokedex in front of Ceailean’s face and scrolled down on a wall of text. It seemed to be never ending.

“It’s 9:30 am Marie,” said Ceailean, “Where did you find the time to write this?”

“I’m a fast typer, unlike you. And also maybe probably got up at 6 to write all this.”

“Are you even sure we can even fit this into one day, like-”

“Of course not! Because of me, we’re probably gonna be holed up here for another couple of days. So we’ll do as much as we can in a day and do the rest on other days.”

Ceailean sighed, “You’re crazy, you know that?”

Marie pumps her fist hard, almost making Ceailean lose his balance. “I have to be, in order to better myself as a pokemon trainer.”

Noibat slumped its wings slightly watching the trainers bicker amongst themselves. It looked to the other pokemon in the line, all attentive awaiting direction. Except for Solosis, who was sniffling while trying to hold back tears. Noibat tilted its head confused and whispered to Scorbunny about it.

Scorbunny looked and was confused as well. It asked Noibat what it should do, only to get a shrug in response. Scorbunny looked back to Solosis and took a deep breath before tapping it on the side asking what was wrong. Solosis jumped up unexpectedly, startled at Scorbunny’s touch. Scorbunny jumped back and quickly apologized. Solosis quickly realized who it was and apologized as well. Scorbunny scratched the back of its head and said it was okay. It asked again what was wrong.

Solosis swiftly denied everything was wrong. Scorbunny looked at it skeptically. Solosis stared at Scorbunny and couldn’t hold together. Tears streamed down its face as it nuzzled against Scorbunny’s body as affectionately as it could. Scorbunny was even more confused now. It asked why Solosis was doing this.

Solosis spilled everything. It quickly bawled about the previous night, saying that it heard all of Scorbunny’s story. It was so sad and Solosis wished it could’ve been there to help. It would do anything to help from now on. Scorbunny was taken aback and couldn’t particularly find anything to say.

Solosis then noticed Noibat looking at it displeased. Solosis stifled a sob and started nuzzling Scorbunny from the other side, then sobbed even harder.

This got Ceailean and Marie’s attention. “Noibat?! Are you fighting with Solosis again?!” asked Ceailean. Noibat put its wing on its chest, astounded.

“I assure you, it was not,” said Crisis. “I just so happened to be watching the whole thing.” Crisis walked over to Solosis and crouched down. “Stop trying to stir up conflict, Solosis, if you would please. Doing so does no good for anybody.” Solosis nodded while sniffling again.

Ceailean scrolled back up to the first thing on the agenda. “Okay, the first thing you wrote is that you want to identify all of our Pokémon's weaknesses and find ways to remedy them?”

“Yes!” said Marie, “Every Pokémon has a weakness! Whether it be their battling style, their type, or their trainer… um, anyway! We’ve had all our Pokémon form in a line so we can go down them one at a time.” Marie hopped off Ceailean’s back and walked over to the Pokémon.

Ceailean exhaled sharply. “Why am I always carrying everybody?”

Marie pointed her finger. “We’ll start with you Noibat! I might sound like such a mom but I think television rotted your mind!” Noibat was shocked. “Your constant showboating with dragon rush often slows you down immensely in battle. And it's an offensive move, stop using it defensively! And all that anime you watch affects the way you fight because you try to imitate them to the best of your ability even though you're not the right body type. It’s time to change that!” Noibat scoffed and vehemently refused, crossing its wings and turning away.

Solosis snickered at Noibat getting lectured. “Solosis!” shouted Marie. Solosis immediately stood to attention. “I haven’t seen you battle much so I can’t fault you too much.” Solosis gave a slight sigh of relief, only to stiffen again when Marie talked again. “However, from the little scuffles I’ve seen you get into, I imagine an entitled princess hitting others with their expensive handbag. You’re gonna be a part of real battles, so now is the time to bring the heat!” Solosis stood confused and hesitant. It looked to Scorbunny for reassurance.

Scorbunny gave a soft awkward laugh. “Scorbunny!” It looked at Marie, curiously. “You’re the sweetest Pokémon I know, always so friendly to everyone. You’re my favorite of all of Ceailean’s Pokémon because of that.” Scorbunny blushed and scratched the back of its head. “But, you're kinda one note!” Scorbunny shrank a bit. “Every attack of yours involves you kicking! We’ve gotta broaden your angles! …And maybe your niceness hinders your combat potential! Considering how much you like race, I think maybe you focus too much on speed! And then-!” Marie stopped when she realized Scorbunny had crouched in a corner of the battlefield and started poking a rock with a stick completely demoralized.

“Getting a bit nitpicky, aren't we?” asked Ceailean.

Marie quickly moved on. “A-And Snom!” Snom looked at her groggily, as if it had just woken up. “Aeise was right! You only having two moves makes you super predictable! We gotta fit you out with more moves!” Snom nodded to this point. “And the grogginess I see from you everyday really makes me question if you give it all when you battle.” Snom was unamused. It shot a quick puff of icy wind at Marie's face, covering it in ice. Marie coughed, shooting ice crystals from her mouth, and fell over.

Ceailean snickered at this, only for Crisis to elbow him in the gut. “Ow, why?” he said in a hushed tone.

“You may not see what I see, but this right here is quite tragic.” explained Crisis.

“Huh?” Ceailean tried to observe Marie closer.

Marie sat straight up, “What was that for Snom?!” Snom only responded by turning its head away. Noibat’s anger was visibly bubbling up inside it. Fennekin ran to Marie’s side to see if she was alright. “I’m okay Fennekin.” Fennekin then turned to Snom, asking why it did that. Snom asked if Fennekin didn’t get it. Fennekin said it knows why, but violence isn’t the way to solve conflicts like this.

“Oh! And Fennekin!” Marie picked it up and held it over her head. Fennekin curiously awaited her criticism. “You… uh…” Marie struggled to think of any particularly bad thing. “You’re… headstrong? You just like to charge ahead whenever you want, and it's when you act like that you are most likely to get yourself hurt. And I-“

Noibat exploded into dragon rush, startling Marie and Fennekin. Noibat pointed its wing at Marie and started to lecture her, only to find that she started to charge at it. Noibat was so taken aback by her audacity that it barely had any time to get away before she tackled it. Noibat's dragon rush dissipated as it tried to break free Marie’s grasp.

“See! See! Your dragon rush couldn’t even protect you from me, a weak lowly human! What makes you think that it would protect you from any other Pokémon attack?! Huh?!” Noibat had enough and clamped its jaws on Marie’s arm. She immediately yelped and threw Noibat back. Noibat landed on its feet, ready to continue its hostility, only to see what it's done.

Marie breathed through her teeth. “Ssss, ow…” There was a deep bite mark that was perfectly shaped to Noibat's mouth. It dared not look at the other Pokémon, fearing what they thought of it.

“Marie!” said Ceailean rushing over. “W-Why would you do that?!”

Marie didn’t face him. “I-”

“And you Noibat, why do you have to be so aggressive?!” Noibat only sulked. “I think it's best if you return for now.” Noibat showed no resistance when Ceailean got out his pokeball and took aim.

“Actually, I don’t think that will be necessary.” Everyone turned to see the man from inside the Pokémon center had come out to greet them.

“And, who are you?” asked Ceailean.

Marie gasped. “Oh my gosh, That's the Cyllage City gym leader, Grant!” She swiftly got up and offered her hand for a handshake. “I-I’m Marie! I’ve looked up to you all so much! What brings you around here?” Grant looked at Marie’s arm and gave her a look. Marie noticed that her arm had started to drip with blood. She nervously laughed and switched hands, hiding her hurt one behind her back.

“Nuh-uh, lemme see.” said Grant, gesturing for her arm. Marie’s smile faded as she hesitantly held out her arm. Grant pulled out a roll of bandages and began to wrap her arm. She winced when he went directly over the marks.

“Rock climbing’s a risky hobby. You’ve always gotta be prepared, no matter how good you are.” he said.

“I guess so.” said Marie, somewhat deflated. The two remained silent until Grant finished wrapping Marie’s arm.

“There, how’s that?” he asked.

Marie moved her arm around, wincing once she made a certain angle. She looked at Grant. “Better.”

“So what were you all up to before I came along?”

“We were uh… training, I guess.”

“And it would seem things got pretty heated.” Grant looked over to Noibat. Noibat tried its best to avoid eye contact. Grant walked over to it and crouched down. “Now why would you do what you did?” Noibat didn’t answer. “Were you frustrated with yourself? Perhaps it was something Marie said?” Still nothing. “Hmm, how about this? Why don’t you show me your dragon rush?”

Noibat’s ears perked up and it finally faced Grant. “Oh? Are you interested?” Noibat looked eager for a moment, but it gave a quick glance at Marie and focused on her bandaged arm. Its enthusiasm quickly deflated.

“Do it, Noibat.” said Ceailean, encouragingly, “Show him your awesome power.” Grant smiled at this. Noibat livened up and nodded. Grant took a few steps back.

Noibat concentrated and closed its eyes. Then in an instant, its eyes flew wide open and its entire body exploded with a dense purple energy. Noibat's yells could be heard echoing across the forest.

“Hmph.” said Grant, smiling. He walked over to Noibat and reached his hand out. Noibat instinctively backed away. “Don’t be afraid, I’m doing anything rash, I assure you.” Noibat hesitantly stood its ground. Grant reached his hand further and cautiously hovered it around Noibat’s dragon rush aura. “Whoa, I can barely feel it. This really is something else.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” asked Marie. Grant turned around and noticed the group had all come up behind him.

“I’ll tell you what it means. Look at the aura, notice how it's formed almost perfectly around Noibat’s body, yet still has that ferocious power behind it? A dragon rush like that shows true mastery and understanding of the move. Look,” Grant carefully put his finger in between Noibat's legs, “I can even do this and not get hurt.”

“I get it, but how does it help?” asked Marie. “I mean, Noibat thought for a while it made itself faster using the move, but the energy is too dense.”

“Think of it like this. A normal dragon rush user covers itself with energy and it takes the round shape of a pill or an olive. Which would massively increase the surface area. Noibat here is able to decrease that surface area significantly, while keeping the power.”

“And that would help the penetration power of the move!” said Marie. “Like using a rapier instead of a mace!”

“Sharp a stalagmite, this one” said Grant.

“I wouldn’t since I’ve never seen any other Pokémon use dragon rush before.” said Ceailean, “How do you manage to master your move like that, Noibat?” Noibat dissipated its dragon rush aura and chuckled a bit. It crouched down and began to shout as loud as it could. The ground hummed and tiny pebbles skipped along the ground.

“Whoa! What is this!” said Marie. Grant smiled, watching Noibat with great interest. Noibat yelled the loudest it ever has, making Ceailean, Marie, and Crisis cover their ears. Noibat exploded into dragon rush, the biggest and most ferocious ever. The area was drowned in a purple light and a rushing wind forced the group to cover their eyes. The dragon rush aura rose high above Noibat, emanating through the air light lightning.

“Now isn’t this a surprise,” said Grant. “I’ve never seen such a strong dragon rush on such a small Pokémon.”

“Are you insisting that it gets even more powerful than this when it evolves?” asked Marie, barely able to look at Noibat directly.

“You wouldn’t even know.”

Ceailean was mesmerized by Noibat's power. He started to get hyped. “Noibat! You look amazing! I never knew you had this power!” He started to walk closer.

“C! It’s dangerous!” said Marie.

“Keep watching, you’ll notice a flaw,” said Grant.

“Huh?”

Ceailean stood right in front of Noibat. “I want to see more Noibat! Fly up and show me your power!” he said, thrusting his finger to the sky. But nothing happened. The wind continued to rush through Ceailean’s jacket, but Noibat didn’t fly up. “Noibat?” Ceailean looked down to see Noibat looking away slightly embarrassed. “Noibat? What’s going on?”

“Do you remember that certain property of dragon rush you told Noibat about, Marie?” asked Grant.

Marie thought for a moment and gasped. “C! Noibat can’t move!” Noibat’s wings slumped when Marie said this.

“What?!” asked Ceailean, “Why not?”

“Remember why I said dragon rush’s accuracy is rated so low in the pokédex? It’s because it’s a super dense energy!”

“Dense…” Ceailean said to himself, “It’s… It’s too heavy, Noibat?” Noibat’s energy immediately dissipated, making Ceailean almost fall forward due to his front heavy stance.

“Unfortunately yes,” said Grant. “Though dragon rush may increase in power, if the user's body doesn’t keep up with that power, then it's practically useless for anything other than showing off.”

“It must be because of the anime it watches,” said Marie, “Only showing off the power instead of actually fighting.”

“Quite pessimistic, don’t you think?” asked Grant. Marie looked at him solemnly, realizing how she’s been acting. “Noibat, just what kind of anime do you watch?” Noibat’s ears perked up and it walked over excitedly to Grant's feet. It began babbling about several things and accentuated each of them with an epic pose.

“What’s it saying?” asked Ceailean.

“From what I can gather, it was mainly inspired by LifeOrb Z & Krystal Krash. I suppose I really can see that in you, Noibat, considering how similar the huge dragon rush looked to that show.” Noibat pointed its wing at Grant and nodded, affirming Grant’s speculation.

“How do you know that?” asked Marie.

“I have a lot of trainers come through my gym, but it was only until about a couple of years ago that I realized that there was a trend when it came to what was inspiring these trainers. No matter who they were, big or small, skilled or less skilled, one thing that motivated them was this little thing I didn’t know about called anime. Every once in a while I would get a trainer that would ask me if I watched it or if I was inspired by it as they were. And unfortunately, I’ve had to say no to all of them. But then it got me thinking, just what was in this ‘anime’ stuff that was inspiring these trainers so. I asked the first trainer I knew that liked anime for some recommendations.”

“And you got swamped?” asked Marie.

“Yes, actually. How did you know?”

Marie lowered her head. “Let’s just say we have some similar friends.”

Ceailean began counting on his fingers. “Devin, Mallen, June…”

“June isn’t a friend.”

“But he still counts for swamping us with anime recommendations right?” Marie only sighed to this.

“Anyway,” said Grant, scratching the back of his head. “I managed to start a few of what they called beginners anime. I still haven’t finished them, but I can definitely see the appeal,” He then looked to Noibat, “and the potential they can bring out of others.”

“Really?” asked Marie.

“Yes indeed. Which is why I found it strange you pointed it out as a negative. May I ask why?”

Marie stepped back and put her hands behind her back. “I just thought maybe… but… Nh… I don’t actually know.” she said in a deflated tone.

“Interesting.” Grant rubbed his chin for a moment. “Nurse Joy had told me that you battled a trainer named Aeise the other day, is that correct?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Why don’t we start there first? How did that battle turn out exactly?”

“Uh yeah, sure, I’ll tell you.” Marie agreed, “C, could you help me?”

“I’ll try my best.” said Ceailean, walking up to her side. The two then told Grant everything that happened with the battle with Aeise.

“He really did that?” asked Grant.

“Did what?” asked Marie. Noibat grew frustrated again, being reminded of what happened.

“Rewind back to when the ground tore apart. You’re saying Aeise did that to stop Fennekin and nothing else?”

“Well…”

“I hope you realize that Aeise did what he did to stop you personally. Quite the dirty move if you ask me.”

“You’re gonna tell her that?” asked Ceailean.

“You knew, C?” asked Marie.

“Of course I did, Crisis too. We just didn’t want to tell you because… because maybe it would’ve made you more frustrated. And I didn’t-”

“It’s okay, C. I knew that too.”

“You did?” said both Ceailean and Crisis.

“That wasn’t entirely honest, more like speculation. But if a Gym Leader says that’s what he did, then maybe that’s what he did. I don’t like to toss around speculations when I’m not sure about them.” Marie chuckled slightly.

Grant then frowned. “You lie.”

Marie turned around swiftly. “Huh?”

Ceailean put his hand on his face and walked away. “Oh boy, here we go again.”

“H-How Grant?” asked Marie. He stayed silent for a moment. That was when the Pokémon center alarm rang out.

“Gym Leader Grant, your Pokémon are all healed up. Please come collect them at your earliest convenience.” said Nurse Joy over the intercom. Grant smiled at this.

“I have an idea, why don’t I tell you through a Pokémon battle.”

Marie was shocked. “Huh?! Right here, right now?”

“Yep, and if you beat me, I’ll give you an official Cliff badge. Proof that you won against the Cyllage City Gym Leader. What do you say?”

“O-Of course! Always!” said Marie.

“Excellent, I can’t wait to see what you and Noibat are able to show me.”

Marie froze in place. “Uh, Noibat isn’t my Pokémon.”

“It… It isn’t? Then who’s-”

Ceailean raised his hand to his chest. “Yo.” Noibat, Scorbunny, and Solosis joined Ceailean at his side.

“Oh,” said Grant as he scratched the back of his head, “I’m so sorry, I just assumed, didn't I?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Yeah uh, Snom and Fennekin are my Pokémon.” said Marie. Snom flew over on top of Marie's head with icy wind and Fennekin stood by her side.

“Whoa, and your Fennekin is a shiny, very cool.” Grant squatted down to pet Fennekin. Fennekin however felt demeaned when Grant said this about it, but begrudgingly allowed Grant to come closer to avoid being rude. But that was when Grant stopped.

“That look, you don’t like that do you?” said Grant. Fennekin was surprised, it was so sure that it hid its feelings well enough. “I get it, I’ll leave you be. You and I aren’t so different.”

“What did you mean by that?” asked Marie.

“I can’t tell you. That’s all for Fennekin to decide when it's ready.”

“O-Okay.”

“Now let me get my Pokémon, I’m sure you’re eager.” Grant walked through the sliding doors.

While they were waiting, Marie looked down at Fennekin. “Hey Fennekin, that thing that Grant was telling you about, is there any chance you wanna talk to me about it?” Fennekin’s ears drooped and it gave a sad expression. It paced around trying to decide. “It’s okay Fennekin.” Marie said with a warm smile, “Tell me when you’re absolutely ready.” Fennekin looked down at the ground sadly and nodded.

Grant walked past the sliding doors. “Okay, you ready?”

Marie nodded. “Yeah, let’s do it! I’d never pass up an opportunity like this!”

Grant and Marie headed over to their side of the battlefield. Ceailean and Crisis stood between them on the side. “You two, I don’t believe we’ve ever properly introduced ourselves,” said Grant. “Mind if I catch your names?

“Yes of course.” said Crisis. “I am Crisis, third admin to Team Harmonious.”

“And I’m Ceailean, Marie’s friend.” said Ceailean.

“That’s all?” said Grant a little too loudly.

Ceailean leaned towards Grant. “Huh?”

“Ah! It was nothing, C! Ignore him!” shouted Marie.

Grant smiled at her reaction. “Yes, ignore me. It was my fault for getting off track. Could one of you referee for us?”

“Certainly,” said Crisis. He stepped forward and raised his hand. “This battle is between Grant, the current Cyllage City Gym Leader against the challenger Marie from Snowbelle city.”

“Snowbelle?” asked Grant. “You really came quite a ways.” Marie was too focused to react.

“This battle will be a 1 on 1-”

“A 1 on 2 actually. In Marie’s favor of course.” said Grant, confidently crossing his arms.

“Really?” asked Ceailean, surprised. Grant nodded.

Crisis cleared his throat. “This battle will be a 1 on 2. The first to knockout all of the opposing trainers' Pokémon will be declared the winner. Now if you would please present your Pokémon.

Grant took out a pokeball. “Tyrantrum, you’re up!” He threw it and out came Tyrantrum, falling to the ground with a great shudder. It towered everyone there.

Marie held on to the top of her beanie. “Whoa, look at the size of that thing!” Tyrantrum roared loudly. Scorbunny and Solosis grasped at each other and yelled in fear. Noibat did the opposite, practically cackling at the coolness it felt from Tyrantrum.

“So Marie?” asked Grant with his arms crossed, “How will you respond?”

“Hmph! Fennekin! Let’s take him down!” shouted Marie. Fennekin jumped out onto the battlefield and readied itself. “Now it’s gonna be personal! Makin’ an assumption like that!”

Grant shrugged. “Sharp as ever huh? May in time you find forgiveness for my sins.” Grant's eyes seemed to sparkle with light. “Now let’s get this started.”

“Use howl!” Fennekin howled, blowing away the dust around it. Tyrantrum didn’t even so much as blink. Marie and Grant stared each other down for a moment.

“You first, Marie.” said Grant, somewhat goadingly.

“Use Scratch!” Fennekin ran forward and scratched Tyrantrum straight across the face. It only had its eyes closed and its head moved slightly. “What?! Keep going!” Fennekin gave a rapid flurry of scratches. Tyrantrum's nose began to grow red with irritation and its brows showed signs of anger.

Grant crossed his arms. “Push it back,” he said. Tyrantrum's eyes flashed open, startling Fennekin slightly in mid air. Tyrantrum only took one step forward and shoved Fennekin down to the ground with only its snout. Fennekin slid to a halt and looked at Tyrantrum with a shocked expression. Tyrantrum looked down on it and exhaled through its nostrils, huffs of vapor pouring out.

Scorbunny and Solosis were so nervous for Fennekin that they started to shiver. Noibat however stepped forward and cheered on Fennekin. Fennekin took that encouragement to heart.

Grant looked at Marie. “Tyrantrum is big, Marie. Your hits won’t topple this wall. What are you gonna do about it?”

Marie grit her teeth, “Hit it harder!” she said with a clenched fist. Grant frowned at this. “Howl again!” Fennekin howled high into the sky, blowing away even more dust. Noibat flinched a bit as it had hurt its ears.

“Use stomping tantrum!” said Grant. Tantrum roared with rage and started barreling towards Fennekin. Fennekin could barely stand up as Tyrantrum’s tremendous steps

Marie Gasped. “Um um, t-try and get behind it, it’ll have a hard time seeing you there!” Fennekin nodded and charged straight towards Tyrantrum. “Not like that!” Fennekin charged ahead anyway. Tyrantrum stomped right where Fennekin was going to be, but Fennekin made a side step and dodged it. Tyrantrum tried stomping with the other foot, only for nothing to connect. It turned around and there was no Fennekin. Turning around again, the same thing happened.

“Oh! W-We got you now! Use ember!” Fennekin peeked out from under Tyrantrum and shot an ember at Tyrantrum’s back. It roared in annoyance. “Can’t see us, huh?” Marie Taunted.

“No, but I can,” said Grant. Marie gasped, she had gotten so absorbed with Tyrantrum that she forgot about Grant. “Sweep the ground behind you with dragon tail!” A scaly energy tail formed around Tyrantrum’s tail.

“Jump Fennekin!” Fennekin jumped. At its peak however, it had noticed Tyrantrum looking right at it.

“Now use crunch!” Tantrum lurched forward and chomped down on Fennekin with a huge projecting of jagged jaws, exploding on impact. Fennekin flew far, clearing the entire battlefield and stopped just behind Marie's feet.

“Fennekin! Are you okay?!” asked Marie. Fennekin coughed as if it had the wind knocked out of it.

Ceailean bit at his nail through his glove. “They got played pretty hard. How were they supposed to recover from that?”

“It was too late already,” said Crisis. “And I bet that Tyrantrum has strong jaw as its ability. That attack had to have done a huge amount of damage.” Ceailean crossed his arms and looked at Marie.

“So? Are you done?” asked Grant. Marie looked at him, somewhat taken aback by his insinuation. “Are you really gonna give up?”

Marie looked back to Fennekin. “Fennekin I-” Her eyes widened. It was gone. She looked back towards the battlefield. Fennekin stood confidently, staring down Tyrantrum with its eyes like daggers. Marie smiled, “Still so headstrong, aren’t you? Alright then, I’ll follow you!” Grant smiled at this. “Use Psybeam!” Fennekin charged up a psybeam and shot it at Tyrantrum. The attack exploded on impact, but Tyrantrum stood its ground.

“Use dragon tail!” commanded Grant. Tyrantrum didn’t move. “Tyrantrum?” Tyrantrum then roared viciously into the air, its eyes somewhat sunken. “No way! It’s confused!” Tyrantrum formed a dragon tail and swung behind it. Grant dived out of the way right before Tyrantrum smashed the concrete planter behind him. It winced in pain from this.

“This is our chance! Use howl and go in for a scratch!” said Marie. Fennekin howled to the sky and rushed towards Tyrantrum with enlarged claws, now with a noticeable tinge of gold on them. Tyrantrum looked at Grant, visibly holding back its urge to attack him.

Grant looked at it with a confident smile. “I believe in you, you’re stronger than this. Use stomping tantrum.” Tyrantrum grit its teeth and shut its eyes tightly. It then jumped up over the tree line, doing a twirl as it did so.

“What the heck?!” said Marie, astonished. Tyrantrum came back down like a meteor. “Fennekin! Get out of the way!” Fennekin jumped back right as Tyrantrum landed. The ground around it caved in and sent splinters through the air. Some had hit Fennekin.

“Where did that power come from? asked Ceailean, shocked.

“Tyrantrum hurt itself with confusion, meaning the stomping tantrum now has double the power!” said Crisis.

Tyrantrum wasn’t done. As soon as Fennekin landed back on its paws, it pursued in a fit of rage. “Fennekin move!” Fennekin dodge to the side, but it was a little late and Tyrantrum's foot came down right on Fennekin’s tail. It yelped in pain.

“Ooh, ouch!” said Grant with a wince. “Sorry about that, that seems a little too low under the belt for me. Tyrantrum, if you would?” Tyrantrum shook its head and life came back to its eyes.

“It shook off the confusion already?” said Marie to herself. Tyrantrum looked down at Fennekin. It was pulling itself as much as its pain would let it. “Fennekin! You don’t have to hurt yourself so much! Stop being so headstrong and just-” Marie then looked at Tyrantrum's position, watching its head get closer to the ground. “Wait wait, this could work.”

“Oh?” asked Grant.

“Fennekin! Close your eyes and use ember on the ground!” Fennekin shot an ember straight into the ground, making a huge plume of dust. Tyrantrum stumbled back, trying to get the sand out of its eyes.

“You really got us huh?” said Grant, “Use a dragon tail!” Tyrantrum whipped its tail around and blew the dust away, revealing Fennekin right next to Marie's feet charging up a psybeam.

Marie crouched down to Fennekin's height. “Fennekin! Put in every ounce of power you have in you!” Fennekin’s ball of energy doubled in size. Its eyes went wide with intensity. “Right NOW!” Fennekin fired Psybeam, the force of which almost sent it backward.

“Try to charge through with crunch!” shouted Grant. Tyrantrum formed a projection of jaws just in time to have psybeam collide with it. The battlefield was covered in a hue of blue as the attacks continued to clash.

“What?! You can do that?!” said Marie.

“You’d be surprised of the versatility any move could have.” said Grant, “No move only has to do only one thing.” Tyrantrum put one foot forward, slowly advancing towards Fennekin.

“It’s coming.” said Ceailean under his breath. He began to unconsciously grip his arm tightly. “What’re you gonna do Marie?”

Tyrantrum took another step, the psybeam dispersing away as a cone as it hit the crunch projection. “Come on big boy, come a little closer.” said Marie under her breath. “Keep trying Fennekin!” Fennekin was straining hard trying to keep firing. One more step, then another, until Tyrantrum only stood one step away from Fennekin.

“Do it now, Tyrantrum,” said Grant. Tyrantrum raised its foot.

“Now’s your chance! Do it!” shouted Marie. Fennekin yelled as loud as it could and the psybeam grew even bigger. Tyrantrum lost its balance. The projected jaws shattered apart and the psybeam blasted straight into its chest, knocking it down to the ground. Tyrantrum roared in pain as vapor emanated from where the psybeam landed.

“Whoa, would you look at that,” said Grant.

Marie jumped for joy. “We got it, Fennekin!” She looked at it, only to notice that it was gasping for air and could barely stand. “Fennekin…?”

Grant smiled. “Now, use head smash!”

Marie gasped. “Fennekin move!” It tried to move, but one of its legs gave out and it fell over. Tyrantrum got back up and roared with fury. It charged forward with a blue mach cone. “S-Stop!” Marie rushed forward and threw her arms around Fennekin.

“Marie! What the heck-!” exclaimed Ceailean.

“Enough!” said Grant. Tyrantrum slid to a halt just in front of Marie and Fennekin. Marie kept her eyes closed tight. Then after a moment, she slowly cracked them open and peered upwards. Tyrantrum was looking down at them, looking like it was wondering if they were okay.

“I’ll call it.” said Crisis. “Fennekin is unable to battle, this one goes to Tyrantrum.”

“Darn, let’s hope we did enough.” said Marie, still looking up at Tyrantrum. Fennekin was still catching its breath, but it noticed Marie’s hands were shivering. It placed its paw on her left hand. Marie gasped and looked at Fennekin. “I… um. We’ll try our best Fennekin.” Marie picked up Fennekin and stood up. She then noticed that Ceailean was standing a few feet away.

Ceailean seemed to jump a bit when she saw him. “Oh uh, I guess there was nothing to worry about… maybe.” Ceailean turned around and waved his hand to the side. “Keep trying Marie, I believe in you.”

Marie nodded. “Yeah…” Marie put Fennekin at her side. Fennekin was worried however. “Snom, it’s up to you!” Marie took her beanie off and shook it in front of her. Snom plopped down on the ground and immediately huffed out ice particles. It was raring to go.

Crisis raised his hand. “Battle resume!”

“Up in the sky with Icy wind!” said Marie. Snom blasted itself up into the air and began to fly around.

“What a unique way to deal with Snom’s general lack of speed,” said Grant.

“Just try touching us! Use Icy wind down on Tyrantrum!” Snom blasted the entire area around Tyrantrum with icy wind. It stood there stoically as it did. Icy was starting to form around its face. “Don’t sit there and act tough! It can’t take icy wind forever.”

“I do agree,” said Grant. “Use dragon tail!”

“Watch out, it’s coming!” said Marie. Snom prepared for Tyrantrum’s advance. But it just stood there. Tyrantrum’s tail glowed with the energy scales of dragon tail and it swung it up in the air towards Snom. A huge jet stream of air tore through icy wind, shocking Snom right before it hit it, knocking it off balance. “What the-?! With just the air pressure?!”

“Now, jump and use crunch!” said Grant. Tyrantrum jumped up to Snom’s height in almost an instant and clamped down a crunch on it. The attack exploded and Snom fell limp to the ground.

“Snom! Are you okay?” said Marie.

“Use stomping tantrum,” said Grant. Tyrantrum roared and stretched its legs outward towards Snom as it began to fall.

“Icy Wind! Hurry!” said Marie. Snom quickly recovered and flew away with icy wind right before Tyrantrum hit the ground. Noibat and Scorbunny were both suspended in the air for a bit when the ground shook violently. Tyrantrum raised its head and looked around and couldn’t see Snom anywhere.

“Kind of a sneaky one, isn’t it?” said Grant. “Even I’m having a hard time keeping track of it. It’s so small.”

“All part of the plan!” said Marie. “Snom, get under it and use struggle bug!” Snom flew under in a flash and blew up into struggle bug. A huge green flashed exploded from under Tyrantrum’s tail, forcing it to fall over forward. Fennekin cheered at Snom’s accomplishment. “Now get up top and use struggle bug again!” Snom flew over Tyrantrum’s head and began to charge another attack.

“Use crunch!” said Grant. Tyrantrum immediately faced its jaws over to Snom’s location.

“Ah! Get back!” said Marie. Snom blasted itself backward just out of reach of the snapping jaws. Snom landed on the ground, but Tyrantrum was quick to pursue. “Get back up!”

“Don’t let them! Use stomping tantrum.” said Grant. Tyrantrum stomped the ground in a fit. The ground shook so violently that Snom couldn’t even aim towards the ground to launch as it was getting tossed around. Tyrantrum got close to Snom. “Now finish it with head smash!” Tyrantrum was covered in blue energy as it moved to hammer Snom with its head.

“Gah! No choice, Snom! Repel it with icy wind!” Snom aimed upward and shot as much icy wind as it could. Tyrantrum was slowed down significantly, but as it strained hard, it moved closer with each passing second. “Come on, Snom! We just gotta try harder!” Snom pushed as hard as it could. Its voice was practically curling under the pressure. “Do it! I believe in you! I always have!” Something in Snom clicked. Suddenly, the icy wind audibly sheared through the air and impacted Tyrantrum hard. It tried to push through, but it was ultimately pushed back. The icy wind poured into the sky like a beacon. Marie gasped. “Watch out!” Just as quickly as it was pushed away, Tyrantrum doubled down with head smash and tore through icy wind, smashing its head upon Snom.

“Snom no!” shouted Marie.

“Damn.” said Ceailean disappointingly under his breath. He took a step forward and heard a crunch. He looked around and noticed the battlefield was covered in snow. “Look at that.” He spun around looking at all the ice. “This was all from Snom?”

Tyrantrum lifted its head up from the ground. Fennekin took a step forward just as Marie slid over to Snom’s side. “Snom! Are you okay?” Snom laid in the middle of a crater shaped exactly like the front of Tyrantrum’s face. Its eyes were swirled.

“Snom is unable to battle,” said Crisis. “That makes Grant the Gym Leader the winner.”

Grant walked up to Marie's side. “Your pokemon fought quite valiantly. You should be proud of them.”

Marie’s lip began to quiver. “Y-Yeah, but…” Snom regained consciousness and coughed up puffs of ice. It looked up to her weakly. “Snom I…” Marie clenched her teeth. She picked up Snom and cradled it in her hands. She then beckoned Fennekin to come over. Fennekin nodded and walked over. Marie picked it up, much to Fennekin’s slight confusion.

She then walked over to Noibat, Scorbunny, and Solosis. “Marie?” asked Ceailean. Marie ignored him and sat down near all the pokemon. She placed Fennekin at her side and put Snom on its head. All the pokemon began to circle around her. Marie scooted back, sat for a moment, and then bowed to all of them.

“I’m so sorry everyone!” she said. All the pokemon were taken aback. “I really am. I feel it was selfish of me to have gone off on all of you like that earlier.” Marie sat up. “It’s just, things have been so weird since Tuviere. My whole life got thrown upside down ever since then and it felt like everything was backwards.

We’ve been able to pull through ever since, but I still feel inadequate. You all try so hard… and I guess I just wasn’t ready to admit that maybe, I just haven’t been trying as hard as you guys. I feel like I’ve been holding you guys back, and I-”

“You’re so delusional.” Marie was shocked. Not only did whoever said that ruin the moment, but they would also insinuate towards her? She looked and saw Ceailean walking up to her.

“Excuse me?” she said irritably. All the Pokémon expressed the same confusion.

“You’re delusional, Marie. I said what I said. You honestly think… you hold your pokemon back?”

“Uh-” Marie broke eye contact for a second. “What do you mean?” she asked, her mood slightly improving.

“You said you don’t try as hard as your pokemon do, thus you think that must be a correlation to you holding your pokemon back. But if I’m completely honest Marie, no one in this group ever comes close to how hard you try.”

Marie’s eyes widened. “What…?”

Ceailean crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “Think about it. You took Fennekin when it wanted to leave the lab-”

“That almost got us arrested…”

“Lemme finish!” Ceailean cleared his throat, “At Tuviere, you never stopped trying even though I kept trying to get you to stop.”

“I’m still mad about that…”

“You were the first that was willing to forgive Boug and you were the one the one that went after Solga before anyone else.”

“That was only because he had Snom. I had to go after him.”

“Then why didn’t the rest of us?” Marie didn't answer. “Marie, you try so much more than you think. Look at me, what have I done? I never even agreed to start training with you until yesterday. I wasn’t even there the first time you fought Solga.”

“I concur,” said Grant, walking up to them with Tyrantrum at his side. “You massively underestimate yourself young lady.” Tyrantrum bowed in respect of Marie.

“You guys…” said Marie.

“Basically what I’m saying, Marie. Don’t sell yourself short.” said Ceailean. “You mean so much more to us and your Pokémon.”

“You mean that?” Marie looked at all the Pokémon, “You all mean that?” All the Pokémon except Noibat jumped onto her and snuggled her lovingly. Marie chuckled. “Aw, you guys!” She then noticed Noibat didn’t join them. “Noibat?” Noibat sighed and opted to give her a smirk instead and pointed its wing as if to give a thumbs up. “Oh Noibat, think you’re so cool.” Noibat seemed a bit miffed. “When in reality you are just adorable. Come here!” Marie reached her arm around Noibat, pulling it into her embrace. Noibat tried to escape before she could, but it was too late. “Come on, don’t be shy.” Marie hugged all the Pokémon tightly, and they all hugged back. Noibat however, only hung from her arm, blushing from embarrassment. “Oh and Noibat, I forgive you for biting my arm.” Noibat looked at her and nodded.

Ceailean chuckled. “Careful Noibat, you only look more adorable when you blush like that.” Noibat blushed furiously and covered its face with its wings. Ceailean then made sure to take a picture with his pokédex before it noticed. “Heh, gotcha. I’m gonna send this to my mom.”

Marie’s heart sank. She still remembers that she blocked Ceailean’s mom. Now his mom could spill the beans on everything. “W-Wait…” she said a little too softly. Just then, Noibat had enough of being embarrassed. It freed itself from Marie’s grasp and ran over to Tyrantrum. Tyrantrum stared at Noibat curiously. Noibat pointed its wing at it and challenged it to a battle. Tyrantrum was surprised.

“Noibat? You wanna battle?” asked Ceailean. Noibat nodded excitedly. “Are you really sure though?” Noibat faced Tyrantrum and then exploded into dragon rush, getting into a battle stance. Scorbunny shrugged and shook its head while smiling, what else would it expect. Solosis groaned at Noibat’s insistence. “Would you be opposed, Grant?”

“Your Noibat’s battle spirit is unquenchable, who would I be to say no?” said Grant.

“Okay then Noibat. Let’s go for it!” said Ceailean. Marie gave a sigh of relief. Noibat jumped for joy. Noibat yelled as loud as it could, empowering its dragon rush as it did so. As its aura grew, the winds grew more fierce and the ground shook more violently. “Whoa! You’re really into it!”

Marie and the Pokémon moved off the battlefield. “Good luck, C! Show ‘em what for!”

“You guys ready?” asked Ceailean.

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” said Grant reassuringly.

“Alright then. Noibat, use dragon rush!”

----------------------------------------

() Nurse Joy spoke over the intercom. “Ceailean Crimis. Your Pokémon have been healed and are ready for pickup.”

Ceailean walked over from the bench. “Thanks, Nurse Joy.”

Nurse Joy bowed. “We hope to see you again.”

Ceailean then walked back over to the bench and let Noibat out of its pokeball. “Man, we got stomped, didn’t we.” Noibat crossed its wings and looked away while pouting. “We’ll win the next battle, I’ll be sure of that.” Noibat nodded.

“Quite a ferocious fighting style that Noibat has,” said Grant. “To be honest, he almost toppled all the walls I set for it.”

“Heh, thanks.”

“And also one more thing, you guys talked about Tuviere like you guys were involved. Am I true in saying this?”

“Uh…” Ceailean grew nervous, “Nooooo?”

Grant smiled, “Whatever you say I suppose.” He turned his body towards the door. “Well, I’ll be taking my leave. Tell Marie I’ll be awaiting her challenge at Cyllage City.”

“I will.”

Grant nodded. “Hm, see ya.”

“See ya’s.”

Grant waved goodbye and left the Pokémon center. Ceailean sat for a moment before Crisis walked up to him. “How are you taking the loss?” he asked.

“Suppose it wasn’t that bad.” said Ceailean, leaning back with his hands behind his head. “I think this was the first loss we had since I got Noibat. I don’t imagine that it's particularly thrilled about losing its win streak, but I’d think it's a needed humble experience.”

“Wait, I had thought you had lost against Solga when you had encountered him for the first time?”

“Nah, he ran away, that doesn’t count.”

“Supposedly.”

“Well, I don’t think we’re doing anything else today. Let’s just head back to the room and chill. Then we can check tomorrow if Marie is able to move out.”

“Certainly. It has been quite a while ever since I’ve had this much free time.”

The two walked down the hall towards the room. Noibat flew behind them. “What’s it like working for Team Harmonious anyway?”

“My job usually requires me to lead teams, devise plans, and do all the paperwork my father doesn’t have time to waste his time on.”

“Your father?”

“Ah, I lied to you a bit. He is not quite my father, but I never knew my real parents. He took me in and I’ve been working under him ever since.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It is okay. I’ve long lost any desire to know who they were. My new family lies within Team Harmonious.”

“Sounds cool.”

They had come just outside the door. “I also admire your ability to lift Marie out of her sadness.”

“I think I’m just getting lucky at this point. I was so sure I was bad at that kind of stuff.”

“She had claimed that you had comforted her 3 times as of now, suppose it's appropriate to say that today was your 4th successful attempt, yes?”

“So you were the one listening last night.”

Crisis stopped in his tracks. “You… knew about that?”

“I had a feeling, but I thought I was just crazy. Being drowsy in the middle of the night and all. But it’s a little comforting to know it was just you.”

But that wasn’t what had Crisis concerned. He had made an effort to be at least a little stealthy, but he was still detected by Ceailean. How did he do that? But this would just be a question he’d have to set aside for now.

Ceailean opened the door to the room. There they found Marie dancing along to some music she had on full blast on her pokédex. She was also singing the lyrics. She then whipped around to Snom and held her fist up to it like she was holding a mic. Snom sang the lyrics as best as a Pokémon could. On the next verse, she held her imaginary mic to Fennekin. It was confused and even a little embarrassed.

“Ah you’ll get it next time!” said Marie encouragingly. Fennekin sighed. It then noticed Ceailean and Crisis standing in the doorway. It barked in their direction. “Huh?” Marie turned around and to her horror, she saw the two standing in the doorway. Ceailean held out his pokédex, recording the entire thing, with the smuggest face he’s ever had.

“I had no idea you were into MicroFrost.” said Crisis.

“Noooo! AHHH!” cried Marie. She immediately buried herself under as many sheets on her bed as she could.

“You know that band?” asked Ceailean.

“I’m not entirely engrossed in my duties towards Team Harmonious.”

“I guess so.”

“It would also seem that Marie will be in excellent condition to travel tomorrow.”

“No I won’t!” said Marie from under the sheets. “I’ll be dead, dead from embarrassment.”

“No need to be overdramatic Marie.” said Ceailean, “You already know I don’t use social media.”

“I know, but still…”

“We still have another 7 to 8 hours until our bed time. What do y’all suggest we do until then?” asked Crisis.

Ceailean kicked his shoes in the corner and threw himself on his bed. “T.V. sounds good right about now.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two be.” said Crisis. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“We’ll call ya.” said Ceailean, waving goodbye. Crisis nodded and left.

Noibat then flew over to Marie's bed and landed on her lump of sheets. “Whoever’s on me, I’m coming out. So you better move before you fall.” said Marie. Noibat audibly refused. “Alright, your loss.” Noibat looked over and found the seam that would let Marie out. It jumped over and clamped it down as hard as it could. “What? Whoever that is, stop it! I wanna leave!” Noibat then called Ceailean.

Ceailean knew what he had to do. “Understood. Scorbunny, Solosis!” He brought them out of their pokeballs. “Help Noibat and keep Marie from leaving those sheets.” Scorbunny gave a devious smile and saluted Ceailean. Solosis nodded and followed Scorbunny’s lead.

“C! But why though?!” said Marie. Scorbunny and Solosis tossed themselves on top of Marie. Noibat ditched the seam and joined them. Scorbunny turned around and beckoned Snom and Fennekin to join them. Fennekin was hesitant, but Snom was on board immediately. It blew itself over on top of Marie with icy wind. Fennekin sighed and thought it might as well to see if it was any fun.

A spine chilling cold made its way through the sheets, making Marie jolt. “Eep! Snom you’re so cold. Lemme out!” Marie struggled to get out from under the sheets and all the pokemon had fun trying to stay on top of her like it was a rodeo. “Augh, it's like there’s 60 pound sacks of sand on top of me. Move it or I’ll make you move it!”

Ceailean gave another smug smile. “I’m recording this too, you know.”

Marie began to move around more aggressively. “C! Come on!”