CHAPTER 27
Denzel’s battle went rather well, as he and Eevee made short work of a trainer’s Krabby and Poocheyena with Bite and Quick Kick. Eevee was excellent, only getting hit twice by Krabby’s Bubblebeam. Fighting Denzel would definitely be a hard battle. I would have the advantage due to my focus on long-distance battling and flight, but he was very good at conserving as much energy as he could and only spending it with quick bursts of Quick Attack. The battle would probably beco a fight of attrition. If Eevee tired out first, I would win, but if my Pokemon did, the contrary would be true.
I was also quickly figuring out that this tournant wasn’t only about your battle prowess as a trainer, but also about your battle managent skills. What I ant by this was that there were no healing services given out after every battle, and the Pokemon Center was twenty minutes away by foot. That ant that if your Pokemon took too many hits, you’d be screwed for the next battle, and that could start a snowball effect where you ended up only having one Pokemon to battle, or even both of them being unable to.
In that regard, I had underestimated the power of flight in Pokemon. It was truly a great advantage to have, and it would eventually be a thwarted advantage as I got further into the Circuit and my opponents got more diverse, but as it stood now, in the middle of this tournant for beginners? I was possibly among the top contenders— ignoring a few prodigies, of course. It was finally ti for Cecilia Obel to take the stage. Funnily enough, she was going against one of her friends.
“That’s Justin Gardner. His father owns Pherzen, a pharmaceutical company that makes a lot of what Pokemon Centers use,” Denzel said with admiration.
“I don’t care about his dad, tell about his skill as a trainer,” I answered, rolling my eyes.
“Don’t know much apart from the fact that he has a Sandile and a Growlithe. This should be interesting.”
“Ele! Kid!” My Pokemon added.
I leaned against my fist and observed Cecilia. I thought our eyes t again, but that must have been my imagination. She sent out a Fletchling, finally revealing her third Pokemon. It was one of the more common birds in Kalos. There weren’t too many in Sinnoh due to the cold climate, but so could still be found in the southern reaches of the region. I couldn’t contain my smile, as the fact that a trainer clearly better than was also using a flying Pokemon confird my thoughts about the tournant.
Or maybe it was a coincidence and I was in over my head.
The Gardner kid sent out his Growlithe and the battle began.
“Ember! Shoot it out of the sky!” He yelled out, pointing toward the bird.
Growlithe’s mouth lit ablaze as huge globs of fire shot out toward the Fletchling. The bird effortlessly dodged with minimal movent before being recalled by its trainer.
“What?” I said, not hesitating to show Denzel my surprise.
“Hold on,” He said.
Cecilia sent out her Deino, who turned toward her trainer and let out a low growl.
She clicked her tongue. “Be good, Deino. Dragon Breath, fifty percent.”
The dragon roared in disapproval, but listened, as draconic energy built up in its mouth. It looked stronger than it had been during Roark's battle.
If that was only fifty percent, I can’t imagine what it’s like at full power.
“Growlithe, escape with Dig!” Justin panicked.
Deino roared out his Dragon Breath, but Growlithe was already underground. Denzel used the slight lull in the battle to tap my shoulder.
“Here’s what I think happened. Growlithe can have the Flash Fire ability, aning that all fire type moves against them only make them stronger,” He explained.
“Ahh, that makes so much sense. And I’m guessing Fletchling’s only long-distance moves were fire type, and a bird that frail would get beaten by Growlithe at close range. Plus, she lost the coin flip so she had to send out her Pokemon first.”
“Correct.”
Growlithe erged right under Deino, hitting it right in the chin. The dragon seed rather unphased, and brought its huge jaw around the fire type’s neck, biting down hard. Growlithe whined and scread as it squird on the ground, desperately trying to move out of Deino’s grasp.
“Bad! Deino, bad!” Cecilia said, before clicking her tongue multiple tis.
Deino let go of Growlithe’s neck, and the poor Pokemon scrambled away. I bit the inside of my lip. This was less like a battle and more like a complete humiliation. Cecilia was just trying to keep her dragon on a leash, lest it killed sobody else’s Pokemon.
“Good boy. Now Dragon Breath, sixty percent.”
“Dig again, but don’t attack him this ti!” Justin snapped.
Sixty percent now? I thought. Just like with Roark, she’s slowly going up.
Growlithe barely managed to dodge this ti, since the attack was not only stronger than before but also faster.
“Get to the hole, Deino,” Cecilia ordered.
Deino growled and ambled toward the hole Growlithe had dug, angrily snapping its mouth at any noise it heard.
“Dragon Breath into the hole, at seventy percent,” She said.
Justin gasped. “Growlithe, get out of there!”
Deino hacked a few tis as his throat glowed, and then expelled another Dragon Breath inside of Growlithe’s tunnel. We heard a yelp deep from inside the hole, and Growlithe was thrown out through another exit created by Deino’s attack, flying off for a few feet before hitting the ground. Justin sighed, and he recalled his Pokemon.
“I give. Your Deino is simply magnificent, Cece. You win,” He said with a small bow.
“You did well, Justin. You would have bested with Growlithe if I hadn’t been able to switch out. You are improving at a great pace.”
“You flatter .”
I raised my eyebrows. He seemingly didn’t even care about his extrely embarrassing loss. Personally, I would have left running and never showed my face in Floaroma again, but then again, I was extrely self-conscious, which was sothing I needed to work on. I stared at Cecilia as she climbed back onto the bleachers, but my eyes slowly widened when I realized she wasn’t going back to sit with her group.
She was coming straight for .
“You, co with ,” Cecilia said. She grabbed my wrist and pulled.
“Wh—wh—what? What do you want from ?!” I asked with a shaky voice.
“What the hell?! Leave her alone, what the fuck is your deal?” Denzel shot up. Even Elekid was yelling, and we were attracting a lot of attention.
“I need to speak with her. In private,” She said.
“You need to fuck off, that’s what you need to do!” Denzel raised his voice.
“You can tell what you want here,” I tried.
Cecilia looked at as if she was analyzing my every move. Her group made their way to where we were sitting.
“Cece, my darling, is there a problem?” Louis Bianchi asked.
“I need to speak with this girl.”
“That girl? The one who can’t fight fair and square?” Pauline scoffed. “Bring with you, I’d like to see what you’re planning with her,” She said, twirling her hair with a smirk.
“Do I need to call an organizer?” Denzel hissed.
“Watch your tone, you’re talking to—”
“Stop harassing my friend!” I said. “Enough of this an girl bullcrap.” I eyed Cecilia. “I’ll co with, as long as it’s just you and not her,” I finished, pointing at Pauline with a nod.
“Fine, follow .”
I recalled Elekid and mouthed a ‘sorry’ to Denzel as he was left all alone together with those rich snobs. Obviously, I was also with a rich snob, but his life would be harder than mine. She kept grabbing my wrist and pulling toward one of the bathroom stalls.
“What do you want from ? Aren’t we far enough?” I asked, looking back toward the tournant.
She didn’t answer. A few grueso images began to swim in my mind as I imagined myself eaten alive by a bloodthirsty Deino, but as soon as we reached one of the stalls, she pushed in and slamd her hand against the wall next to my head. She was taller and stronger than , so any hopes of escape were gone.
“Did he send you?” The dark-skinned girl yelled.
“Did what? Who are you even talking about?”
“Don’t act dumb! My father! Did he send you?!” Cecilia hissed. All the refinent she had in her way of talking was gone now.
“Why would your dad send ? And to do what? I don’t even know what you’re talking about, you’re making no sense!”
“Don’t act dumb!” She yelled, slamming her hand right next to my ear again, making flinch. “At first I thought you were just so nice girl when you helped out in Oreburgh,” Cecilia started. “But then you show up to Floaroma one day after us? And then you sign up for the sa tournant, and you keep staring at , Arceus!” She said with a dry, sarcastic laugh. “You couldn’t be more obvious if you tried!”
“Okay, hold on just one second. You think I’m spying on you for your dad?” I scoffed.
“I know you are! I know he wants to control and that he can’t do it through my group, but Arceus, now this— this is going very far! Tell one reason I shouldn’t have Deino teach you a lesson right now?!”
My heart dropped. “Okay, first of all, the world doesn’t revolve around you,” I said, jamming my finger at her. “I wasn’t spying on you, and everything was a coincidence. Second of all, if I die, my friend will know you’re the culprit, so you’ll be going to prison.”
“D—die?” She deflated. “No, I was just thinking about scaring you a little…”
“Well pick your words better! Fuck, I just want to keep my head down and live my life as a trainer, is that too much to ask?! Let out!”
“And the stares? You didn’t deny looking at !”
I paused as I was caught off guard “I… I was looking at you because you’re Cecilia fucking Obel, alright?! One of the top trainers of the Circuit this year! I was just intrigued, and I wanted to know more about your battling, now let go,” I said, pushing against her.
She stepped to the side, crouching and putting her head in her hands.
“Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no!” She cried.
I stared at her in utter confusion for a few seconds before I sighed and opened the door.
“Please don’t tell this to anyone! Please.” Cecilia asked.
“Are you kidding ? You threatened ! And I have had enough of that for an entire lifeti.”
“You can’t say I threatened you… please. If it gets out and my dad finds out, I’ll be screwed. Please.”
“So what? He’ll cancel your credit card for a month, no biggie. Just get your friends to help you,” I spat. I was being vicious like Chase had been with her back in Oreburgh. I would most likely regret these words later, but right now I was pissed. I started walking out the door.
She grabbed my pant leg. “You don’t understand, this— this isn’t about money.”
I stopped and looked at her for a second, and what I saw surprised . I expected to see a capricious girl sad that her father would ground her and yell at her for a few minutes, but instead, I saw real fear. She was terrified, clasping her hair and muttering ‘please’ over and over. Thinking about it, her even thinking her father was spying on her was suspicious in the first place, and I began to worry sothing sinister was taking place. I looked back at the door and then at her before exhaling loudly.
Damn it. I’m too nice. I thought.
I crouched in front of her. “Correct if I’m wrong here, but is your father… violent with you? Or threatening you in so other way?” I probed.
She shook her head. “I can’t say. I can’t say. If he finds out…” She shuddered.
“Okay, well I promise I won’t tell anything, alright, just don’t go around threatening people. Others might not be as understanding.”
The girl nodded and sniffled. Her behavior was a far cry from the way she had been just a minute ago, and it had shattered the entire image I had of her. I had believed Cecilia Obel to be rich, infallible, and stoic, but as it turned out she was just…
She was just a girl. Like .
“I’m leaving, alright? You should talk to soone about this… problem, whatever it is,” I said, echoing what Denzel had told . “Anyone. Your friends, or a therapist at the center.”
Cecilia muttered sothing that I couldn’t catch.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Take care,” I said and left.
TEAM:
Togetic - Pound, Sweet Kiss, Growl, Headbutt, Fairy Wind, Ancient Power, Extrasensory
Frillish - Bubblebeam, Night Shade, Absorb, Water Sport, Water Pulse
Elekid - Thundershock, Swift, Thunder Punch, Charge, Leer
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