Chapter 32: Chapter 27

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 become 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 tournament wasn’t only about your battle prowess as a trainer, but also about your battle management skills. What I meant 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 meant 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 tournament for beginners? I was possibly among the top contenders— ignoring a few prodigies, of course. It was finally time 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 me 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 met 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 some 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 me was also using a flying Pokemon confirmed my thoughts about the tournament.

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 movement 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, meaning 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 emerged right under Deino, hitting it right in the chin. The dragon seemed rather unphased, and brought its huge jaw around the fire type’s neck, biting down hard. Growlithe whined and screamed as it squirmed on the ground, desperately trying to move out of Deino’s grasp.

“Bad! Deino, bad!” Cecilia said, before clicking her tongue multiple times.

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 somebody else’s Pokemon.

“Good boy. Now Dragon Breath, sixty percent.”

“Dig again, but don’t attack him this time!” Justin snapped.

Sixty percent now? I thought. Just like with Roark, she’s slowly going up.

Growlithe barely managed to dodge this time, 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 times 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 me with Growlithe if I hadn’t been able to switch out. You are improving at a great pace.”

“You flatter me.”

I raised my eyebrows. He seemingly didn’t even care about his extremely embarrassing loss. Personally, I would have left running and never showed my face in Floaroma again, but then again, I was extremely self-conscious, which was something 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 me.

“You, come with me,” Cecilia said. She grabbed my wrist and pulled.

“Wh—wh—what? What do you want from me?!” 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 me what you want here,” I tried.

Cecilia looked at me as if she was analyzing my every move. Her group made their way to where we were sitting.

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“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 me 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 mean girl bullcrap.” I eyed Cecilia. “I’ll come with, as long as it’s just you and not her,” I finished, pointing at Pauline with a nod.

“Fine, follow me.”

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 me toward one of the bathroom stalls.

“What do you want from me? Aren’t we far enough?” I asked, looking back toward the tournament.

She didn’t answer. A few gruesome 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 me in and slammed her hand against the wall next to my head. She was taller and stronger than me, 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 refinement she had in her way of talking was gone now.

“Why would your dad send me? 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 me flinch. “At first I thought you were just some nice girl when you helped me out in Oreburgh,” Cecilia started. “But then you show up to Floaroma one day after us? And then you sign up for the same tournament, and you keep staring at me, 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 me and that he can’t do it through my group, but Arceus, now this— this is going very far! Tell me 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 me out!”

“And the stares? You didn’t deny looking at me!”

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 me 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 me? You threatened me! And I have had enough of that for an entire lifetime.”

“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 me. 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 something 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 me if I’m wrong here, but is your father… violent with you? Or threatening you in some 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 me.

“I’m leaving, alright? You should talk to someone about this… problem, whatever it is,” I said, echoing what Denzel had told me. “Anyone. Your friends, or a therapist at the center.”

Cecilia muttered something that I couldn’t catch.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“Take care,” I said and left.

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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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