"Hey Barry!" I shouted.

The boy with yellow hair stopped dead in his tracks and looked around to locate the sound. His eyes met mine and surprise passed his face before he raised his hand and waved at me, "Hey Dust!"

He turned around to say something to his Piplup and then the pair jogged towards us.

The way he jogged was almost mechanical, like he tried his best to copy a professional but had only seen one video.

"It's you!" He slowed his pace and stopped in front of the table, slightly winded.

"Sup Barry," I greeted him.

"Ralts," Luna greeted the pair.

Haunter floated off the table and made a spin around the blue penguin that stood next to its trainer.

Piplup gave the Haunter a suspicious glance. Haunter opened his mouth and a big tongue uncurled and licked him.

"Piplup!" The Penguin screeched embarrassed, he didn't seem to be actually hurt. I think that Haunter was just messing with him. Made me wonder why a ghost had a tongue in the first place?

"Hello, great to see you two again," Barry said.

Piplup's cries gained his attention, he turned to look and saw the Haunter laughing at the pair.

Barry's eyes drew towards Chelsea who sat besides me, trying to look innocent.

"You!" He pointed at her, "I could fine you for that."

It was interesting to see how Barry immediately made the correlation between the creepy girl and the creepy ghost.

Chelsea gave him a shit eating grin that was quickly copied by Haunter.

I sighed, "Barry, meet Chelsea, Chelsea mee-"

"Barry," Barry cut me off, "And I'm going to become the best trainer in the world."

"Piplup." Piplup nodded.

Luna giggled while Fay gave Barry a skeptical look.

"Hello," Chelsea said, "And I really doubt you're going to become the best trainer in the world."

"Pffffttt," Barry scoffed, "Who's gonna stand in my way?"

"Me," I suggested and Luna nodded.

"The world." Chelsea offered.

Barry gave me a horrified look, "Aren't you supposed to root for me?"

I rolled my eyes, "Saying I hope you become the best is not compatible with my own dream of becoming the best."

"What does being the best even mean?" Chelsea wondered, "I mean you can become the champion of Sinnoh but how'd you know if you're the best in the world? Let alone ever?"

"Either be the only human alive or capture every Pokémon in existence," I mused. "Gotta catch 'em all."

"You two are weird," Barry judged. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm heading towards Floaroma Town."

"And I," Chelsea smiled, "Am visiting a Pokémon anatomy exposition."

Barry and I stared at Chelsea.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow, "I'm not dreaming to be the best, I just want to see the world."

"Well, I am here to train with Piplup, lots of strong trainers gather in Jubilife City."

He quickly glanced around. "Though it's kind of empty today."

I pointed up at the dark clouds above us. "That's the reason."

Barry gazed up as if he hadn't noticed it yet. "Well, that's no reason to stop training."

"I agree," I smiled, "So how about we do a battle, the three of us? You two just met, both of you want to be my rivals. Let’s hit two Pidgeots with one bomb."

"Uh," Chelsea tapped my shoulder, "You do realize tha-"

"Is a great idea." Barry cut her off, "The pressure of a three way battle can be a valuable learning experience."

"Great minds think alike," I agreed, "So you are up for it?"

"Definitely!" Barry raised his fist and smiled.

"We could have our battle over there," I pointed at the pond at the center of the park.

The pond was deep and surrounded by grass. There were some trees and boulders that could provide cover. Whoever designed this park must have tried to imitate wild nature, seeing how that section was less organized.

"Mmm, yes, I think that will be interesting."

As we made our way towards the battlefield, I laid out the rules, "So, 1v1v1, last man standing, two rounds? That should give all our Pokémon the chance to play."

"That's a great idea." Barry said, sounding really excited.

Chelsea quietly nodded.

Because there were three of us we positioned ourselves into a rough triangle shape.

Barry obviously took place next to the pond which would give Piplup more resources to work with.

Chelsea stood between the path of oak trees, Chimchar who was in front of her looked nervous.

I decided to take the big rock as my side. It had the size of a small car and if you narrowed your eyes a bit you could see a heart shape in it. Smaller boulders and rubble surrounded it which could be turned into projectiles if we were to claim this spot as ours.

The wind had picked up and swept over the grass, it made ripples on the water's surface. Dark clouds loomed over us and the temperature had dropped but adrenaline would keep us warm.

I turned to my Pokémon who stood behind me, patiently awaiting orders.

Kneeling down to meet my Pokémon eye-to-eye I spoke. "Okay, this battle will be a free for all, meaning the pace will be higher and it will be much harder than a standard 1v1.

{Camp?} Luna suggested.

I shook my head, "I suggest not camping, there's a certain risk that Chelsea and Barry decide to work together and take us out first."

"So we should play more aggressively?" Fay suggested.

"Yes, but don't commit to slow attacks, remember there's two of them but that they are not on the same side. Try to keep two of them in line of sight at all times and use them as shield if possible."

The wind was blowing harder. I swiped a hair lock out of my face.

"Chimchar is weak to Piplup so expect some shenanigans there. Expect Piplup to use Shaker and Blaster moves, seeing how he can use the pond as a source."

I glanced at Chimchar. "The monkey will most likely resort to using Blaster moves, mostly fire."

"That's all?" Fay asked.

"Nope," I smiled and booped Luna on the nose. "Remember to have fun."

She giggled.

Fay gave me a weird look I couldn't really place.

Stolen story; please report.

"Anyway, Fay you're going first, alright with that?" I asked her.

She gave me a nod.

Barry and Chelsea were done with their little team talk as well and Barry threw up a rock.

As we had agreed, the moment the rock hit the ground 2 commands were shouted.

"Piplup, retreat into the water!"

"Chimchar, charge at Riolu with Flamethrower!"

Like Piplup didn't even care about the battle he retreated into the pond with a big splash.

Chimchar gave Fay a nervous look, Fay returned it with a cold glare.

Yeah, I doubt they'll become good friends.

Chimchar swallowed and opened his mouth, a small flame appeared; ready to grow at a moment's notice. He ran towards Fay on all fours, and turned out to be surprisingly fast.

"Chase after Piplup," I ordered.

She paid the incoming threat no attention and turned left towards the pond, using a Quick Attack to move faster.

Chimchar didn't let Fay be, he chased after Fay without too much trouble.

Fay patiently waited for Chimchar to catch up and once it was close enough claws appeared on her feet.

The claws dug into the grass and she kicked it up. A lump of dirt shot up and she spun around. Like it was a football she kicked it towards Chimchar's face.

"Flame Charge!" Chelsea countered.

Chimchar slammed his arms together in an X in front of his chest, flames erupted around his body. Red and yellow flames licked the monkey's fur and lashed out violently.

I raised an eyebrow, that was definitely something new.

Chimchar met the newly created projectile head on and ran forwards, this time even faster.

It successfully managed to prevent the earth from hitting him but it merely served as a distraction.

Fay had followed up her initial attack with a big leap and landed behind her opponent. A claw was raised to strike him from behind when Barry messed up the plan.

"Water Gun!" Barry cried out.

Piplup shot out of the water and landed on the shore, still dripping wet. His beak opened.

A torrent of water shot out his beak like a fire hydrant and sprayed towards Chimchar and Fay.

"Dodge!" Chelsea yelled.

"Fay, strike Chimchar once!" I said.

Fay struck Chimchar and immediately jumped out of the water beam's way and narrowly dodged the torrent. Metal Claw's hit-stun prevented Chimchar from fleeing and it was caught in the beam and thrown across the field.

"Now go for Piplup!" I said.

"Shoot the ground in front of you!" Barry said.

Piplup redirected his water beam to the ground in front of him. The water increased in force, instead of being absorbed by the soil it blended together and mud splashed towards Fay.

It caught both of us by surprise.

Mud got into her eyes and she was suddenly blinded.

"Peck!" Barry followed up.

The mud wave dispersed and Piplup shot out of it, his beak glowing.

"Counter!" I said, trying to reverse the situation and get Fay into a better position.

To my surprise Fay didn't listen, she tried to jump to the left but the ground was too slippery and the mud still covered her eyes.

She fell just as Piplup slammed into her with Peck.

Fay was launched backwards, miraculously she managed to break her fall and landed on all fours.

She swiped the mud out of her face and glared at Piplup.

"Seriously?" I questioned Barry.

He shot me a grin, "I hope you don't mind me borrowing your strategy."

I glared at him, "Oh, now it's -"

Without a warning a fireball was flung towards Piplup. The penguin managed to dodge it but by a hair only.

Chimchar followed after the fireball and unleashed a fury of swipes.

"Yeah, keep going!" Chelsea cheered.

"Join the fight, " I urged Fay, "Use Blaster Protocol 1."

For some reason both Chelsea and Barry thought I was the bigger threat because they called off their attacks at the same time and ordered both Pokémon to fire at Fay.

Piplup switched to Bubble Beam and Chimchar switched to a continuous beam of fire, though it was narrow and the reach was small.

Fay used a Quick Attack and dashed to the left of the pair, disappearing and reappearing with a flash.

A reason people in this world weren't using Quick Attack to move faster was the momentum it had, once the attack part was canceled the momentum would keep the user going, which would turn the user into a loose cannon ball that couldn't change its trajectory.; leaving you very vulnerable.

Or at least that what I figured out, another possible reason was that the people in this world were stupid and lazy.

Fay's claws dug into the dirt as her Quick Attack was halted, with only one claw in the ground she readjusted her angle without being stopped by her own speed. Instead it helped her set up a second Quick Attack.

Just as Piplup and Chimchar pinpointed Fay's new location she disappeared.

She shot left and right, dodging the long ranged Blaster attacks while steadily getting closer.

"Throw Chimchar into the water!" I cried out.

Barry caught wind of Fay's zigzagging pattern and he ordered Piplup to do a preemptive strike.

However Fay did not appear after her last Quick Attack.

A shadow caught the two combatants and they looked up.

In slow motion an ‘oh shit’ expression formed on their faces.

Fay twisted her body midair and she landed between the pair.Immediately she lashed out, multiple quick swipes and slashes were made before Chimchar exploded into flames.

Fay leaped away and got out of reach.

Chelsea ordered Chimchar to take out Piplup and one quick Flame Charge put an end to the battle between the pair.

"Piplup!" Barry cried out as the penguin was thrown back. He crashed against the boulder and one look told all of us that Piplup was out.

Barry recalled Piplup and groaned something, though he was clearly not as angry as he made it look like he was.

The fight between Fay and Chimchar exploded again.

This time Fay was at a disadvantage, she couldn't get to Chimchar without burning herself in the flames. It was the reason why I had told her to knock out Chimchar first. Steel had a disadvantage against Fire after all.

The Metal Claw attacks weren't doing as much damage as I had hoped, Chimchar was high on adrenaline and ready to fight Fay.

He should be standing on his last legs though the expression on his face told us he was ready to go down with a fight.

Fay too, was running low on power, her attacks became sloppy and she had trouble dodging the Flame Charge.

"Retreat to the big boulder." I told Fay.

She complied and with a few leaps she stood atop of the rock.

Her fur was dirty and the spikes on her palm had slight scorch marks.

The rock would at least prevent Chimchar from spamming Flame Charge, seeing how it could only move in linear lines across the ground.

"Ember!" Chelsea cried out, "Give everything you got!"

Chelsea was literally bumping on her heels, she wasn't the only one.

Barry's eyes were glued to the scene too, despite having lost already.

"Let's end it, Meteor Claw!" I told Fay.

Fay leaped up in a diagonal arc, she reached a greater height with the use of a quick speed burst. When she had reached the climax of her climb and fell down. Her eyes went wide and the claws appeared on her hands, shining fiercely in the dark.

"Diiieeee!" Fay yelled as she crashed down.

The technique she was using was a direct copy from Luna's Meteor Smash, although it was a bit more diagonal since Fay had to use Quick Attack to launch herself up instead of Disarming Voice.

Just like Mega Punch, Metal Claw got stronger as it gained momentum.

As Fay yelled, Chimchar opened his mouth and a beam of orange and yellow flames shot towards Fay.

Fay clawed through the flames and with a scream she crashed down on Chimchar.

Silver met orange and Fay landed behind Chimchar, the claws on her hands had faded away.

Miraculously Chimchar still stood straight.

I was about to ask if Fay could still fight when both Pokémon dropped to the ground at the same time.

"Double knockout," I muttered.

I looked at Chelsea who was also looking to be quite surprised with the outcome.

"So it seems." Chelsea muttered.

She pulled out a Pokéball and aimed it at Chimchar.

The red beam pulled the monkey in and she glanced at her Pokéball with renewed wonder. She thanked him and put the Pokéball away.

I doubted if an unconscious Pokémon could hear it from inside the Pokéball.

I held Fay's Pokéball and pressed the middle button. A flash later Fay disappeared.

"You were awesome," I said, looking at the Pokéball, hoping it had some kind of voicemail function. "Right Luna?"

"Raaalts." she said and I assumed it to be something encouraging.

"Well, that was so awesome." Chelsea grinned as she approached us.

"I don't know," Barry scratched the back of his head, "I think this three way battle does not properly represent our skills."

Chelsea raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fine," he waved her off. "It was kind of fun."

"By the way Barry." I looked at him, "Copying my strategy?"

He turned slightly red. "Well, it seems like a good idea...you know….I just thought the way you battled was pretty cool and smart."

I sighed, "Well, guess I have to step up my game."

Luna gave Barry a smug grin.

"Don't think you can hold up against Luna though."

Haunter suddenly jumped out of Chelsea's shadow and said its own name because why not.

"Ready for round two?" Chelsea asked.

"We are," Barry said and he threw down a Pokéball, having timed it perfectly for maximum effect.

A bird appeared with a flash, colored in black and white.

"Staravia!" It cried out triumphantly.

"Round two sounds like a deal," I agreed.

{Victory!}

"Actually," A voice behind us spoke. "I was hoping I could speak to you, Dust Wildfire."

I recognized the voice immediately, without turning around I asked Chelsea. "You are certain I don't have a tracker?"

She shot me a pained look, "Sucks to be you."

"Good to see you too Chelsea," he said, sounding quite displeased. I turned around and met Looker's tired face.

"I'm kind of having a battle now," I protested.

Looker sighed. "If I could I wouldn't bother you but time is of the essence."

"Yeah, it really sucks to be you," Chelsea repeated her previous observation.

Looker gazed directly into my eyes.

"I need your assistance Dust."