Two weeks went by in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Cassie felt like she’d been moving practically every waking moment of those two weeks, too. Between work, helping out more at Pearson Farms when she had time, the occasional delivery run from the job board, and training her team, she had packed as much as she could possibly manage into the two weeks she had before her gym fight. She felt almost overwhelmed sometimes from the stress, but she managed it with support from her team and words of advice from Kaitlyn. It had all paid off in the end, though. She had managed to make enough money in the span of those two weeks to finally afford the Silph bag she wanted along with some basic camping supplies while not completely cleaning her account out.
Grow - Orion - had been growing by leaps and bounds as well, starting to pick up the basics of Quick Attack with Paulos’ help as well as refining his skill and speed with his Fire-based moves. He’d picked up two new moves while training as well, namely Helping Hand and Agility. The former turned Paulos’ Gust into something more approaching a proper windstorm, though he still wasn’t too adept at utilizing Psychic TE to boost his speed with Agility like he was with Quick Attack just yet.
Paulos, meanwhile, had further improved his speed with Quick Attack as well as his ability to speed up the rotation of his Gust with better control over his Flying TE, turning the move into something which could inflict some reasonable damage instead of merely small cuts and scrapes. He’d even learned and started practicing Whirlwind, something which he was strangely delighted by and had tested out by blowing Orion into one of the decorative topiaries the first time he used it in the park.
He’d gotten a few singed tailfeathers from the dog for that one.
Sparring with Kaitlyn had gradually grown a little more fierce as the older girl tested Cassie’s team, finding the limits of what they could safely handle before slowly pushing a bit beyond it with each passing day. Astrid had stayed out of the battles for the most part, the Mawile being far more experienced than either other member of the Steel specialist’s team, but Tera had continued to give Orion an annoyingly agile target to attempt to pin down and frustrated both of Cassie’s team members at every turn. Orion in particular swore that he was going to find a way to knock the smug look off the Steel-type’s face - or what passed for one - which seemed to give the Magnemite no end of amusement.
She’d also finally gotten to see the other member of Kaitlyn’s current team once they visited one of the proper public battlegrounds in town, and it was no wonder why Kaitlyn hadn’t shown it off before now. The first time she’d sent out Ivan, Cassie had paled at the sight of the twenty-plus foot long behemoth of an Onix, but it turned out that the rock snake was a big softy despite his stony, gruff exterior. He clearly fancied himself the protector of Kaitlyn’s squad and made a very patient companion during training, happy to let Orion and Paulos practice their moves on his hardy skin since they weren’t able to do much actual harm to him with their complement of Fire, Normal, and Flying attacks.
That practice had also caused Cassie to come to an uncomfortable realization. If she was facing Gardenia for her first badge, the next likely direction of travel would be to the south towards Oreburgh City to face Roark...who was a Rock-type Gym Leader. Having two Pokemon who were weak to Rock-type attacks as well as having no good offensive options against such would put her in quite the tough spot, and she had started to consider how she might pick up a Water or Grass-type teammate on the way if that was the direction they were going to head.
She wished she could set aside the nervousness she was feeling as easily as she put aside her book, she thought as she bookmarked the text once again. It was about an hour until her match, and Kaitlyn had texted her to let her know she was on the way to the gym already. She had fed her team not long before, wanting to make sure they had a good meal before such an important battle, and both Orion and Paulos were raring to go.
“Don’t be afraid to try,” she said to herself, trying to ward off the unpleasant feelings as she triple-checked her bag once again. She knew in the back of her mind that there wouldn’t be any shame in losing, no penalty for not getting it right on the first try, but she wanted this. She wanted proof that she would be able to do this, something to show that all her effort wasn’t just wasted or fooling her into believing she actually had a shot at taking on the Sinnoh League.
Anyone could get a trainer’s license, but how many could get eight badges and enter the Lily of the Valley Conference? She desperately wanted to be one of those few, more than she’d ever realized, and she hadn’t realized how strongly she wished to be the conference winner until she started seriously training with Kaitlyn. It wasn’t just for her own desire to be noticed and acclaimed, though. She’d thought back to what Kaitlyn said about how Pokemon loved to grow and learn, and how battling was a fundamental expression of that desire. She wanted more than anything else to see just what Orion and Paulos - and any other team members she picked up along the way - could achieve when they all put their hearts and minds to it. Just the thought of Orion as an Arcanine, blasting waves of fire at Cynthia’s team was enough to put a smile on her face, and she vowed she would do everything she could to see that wild dream turn into a reality.
Orion and Paulos were much calmer than their trainer, but there was an edge of nervousness around the Growlithe that Paulos couldn’t figure out. To the Pidgey, their impending task was a simple thing - Growlithe was a Fire-type, he was a Flying-type, and the Gym Leader of this city trained Grass-types. Both of them had the advantage in type, and should have all the confidence in the world about it much as he himself did. Still, the Growlithe jittered on pins and needles as if he couldn’t stay still, and the sight of it was giving Paulos no small amount of unease.
It simply wouldn’t do to have a member of his new flock so nervous, the bird thought to himself.
“Orion!” he called, flapping his wings to fly down from his vantage point atop the kitchen appliance before landing directly in front of the Growlithe. “Paulos cannot bear to see his flock brother so ill at ease! What troubles your heart?”
The Growlithe stopped his pacing to stare at the bird, unsure of whether he wanted to truly go into his worries or not. Paulos was...eccentric, to say the least, but Orion could tell the bird seemed to have a good heart despite his boisterous nature. Those wounds were still fresh, though, laced with the poison of abandonment and fears that still made him eye his current trainer with distrust sometimes when she wasn’t looking.
He liked Cassie, he really did. There was something about her that was simply soothing to him, her presence like a balm on aching wounds. But those raw wounds still wanted to fester, to bubble up and whisper in his ears that no one was worth trusting again after what his last trainer had done. He desperately wanted not to listen, to plead, to argue back into the void that none of it was true, but sometimes the fears threatened to drown him.
“I...” he started, wanting to push the words out, but the fear stayed his tongue and silenced his voice. He shook his head, eyes cast down to the floor and ears drooping flat. “I can’t...not yet. Not now.”
“You still grieve for what was.” Paulos’ voice was the quietest Orion thought he’d ever heard since meeting him. Orion nodded, mouth as dry as a desert.
“Yes,” he whispered at last, unable to meet Paulos’ gaze. The bird had tried several times over the course of the last two weeks together to get him to open up about what troubled him, each time in the same loud, boasting verbiage he usually employed. Every time, his voice failed him, his courage fleeing like the fastest Rapidash in the face of confronting that demon inside him.
“Orion. Listen to Paulos.”
The Growlithe’s eyes finally rose to meet his teammate.
“Paulos knows not what troubles you, but he will listen when you wish to tell. Do not let your hurts consume you until that time comes. Where there is life, there is hope.”
A single wing rose to rest on the Growlithe’s shoulder. “You are her first, the one meant to be her truest companion. If you cannot believe in yourself, believe in her. She will do the same.”
Paulos’ words were spoken as if they were incontrovertible truth, uttered in such a manner as to dare the universe to defy him. Orion found himself envious of the bird’s strength of will. He didn’t feel as if he possessed that kind of sureness, that unwavering faith in oneself and others. The bond between trainer and Pokemon was supposed to be unbreakable, but it had been broken once before. He wasn’t sure that he could stand to have it broken for a second time.
Still, that unfaltering surety in his teammate’s voice was...inspiring. He wanted to believe, to hope, to love. Growlithe were loyal, steadfast in their dedication to their masters and friends. He had remained so until the world had forced it to be otherwise...
No. No more of that kind of thinking. He shook his head to clear it, taking a deep breath to calm himself once more as Paulos stood vigilant in front of him, practically a statue as he watched the Fire-type.
“I will try,” he finally uttered, head rising to meet Paulos’ gaze. “I still worry about the past repeating itself...but I will try.”
“It will not,” Paulos chirped, turning away. “Paulos has seen her heart.” Orion wasn’t quite sure how to take the enigmatic statement from the Flying-type, and quite frankly, he was a little scared to bother asking for fear of the answer he might get.
Paulos broke into laughter as he saw Cassie exiting the bathroom, hair pulled back into a ponytail and her new bag slung over one shoulder. “Now, come! Our foes await us, and it would speak ill of us to have their demise delayed any more than we must!”
Orion wanted to bang his head on the floor, but refrained through mental fortitude that he didn’t know he had. He was sure now more than ever that he’d never understand that bird.
“Cassie!”
Kaitlyn waved as she saw Cassie approaching from her seat on a bench lining the entrance path to the Gym, Astrid’s tiny arm shooting up in an excited wave alongside her trainer. Cassie grinned and waved back, Orion also barking out a greeting as Paulos chirped loudly in her ear and puffed his chest out.
“I tried to be a little earlier than they told us,” she said, checking her phone to see that it still only showed one-eighteen, still a few minutes early for check-in.
“Good habit to get into,” Kaitlyn replied as she stood, recalling Astrid into her ball. “Think you’re ready?”
“...As ready as I think I’ll get,” Cassie answered, reaching down to pet Orion for a moment to try and calm her nerves. “Anything you think I should know before I go in?”
“Well, you said you’ve been watching Gardenia’s battle videos, so I don’t know what advice I could give that you haven’t already seen,” Kaitlyn said, shrugging as she headed towards the door. “Just do your best. Gardenia’s going to be on the back foot as far as type advantages go, but I know she’ll have ways to deal with that. Be ready for anything, and use the advantages you have. Punish weaknesses, exploit speed differences, anything you can find. This isn’t a fight for survival or anything, but don’t hold anything back - she’s certainly not going to.”
Cassie nodded, digesting the information as she recalled both Orion and Paulos before walking inside. They were greeted by a cheerful wave from Annie, sitting behind the desk with a smile as they’d grown accustomed to seeing.
“Good afternoon, and welcome to the Eterna City Gym!” she greeted, already knowing the answer to the question she was about to ask. “Are you both here for a gym challenge?”
“Yes, we are,” Kaitlyn nodded. “Kaitlyn Rayne and Cassie Blair - she’s before me.”
Annie took a quick glance over at the computer screen just to confirm, but quickly nodded at the pair. “Yes, I see both of you here. Miss Blair, we should be with you in just a few minutes if you want to have a seat.”
Cassie nodded politely, turning and heading for one of the seats that ringed the outer wall of the lobby almost like a doctor’s office waiting room. As she sat down, she let her eyes track around the room, hoping to keep her mind occupied enough that her nerves wouldn’t overwhelm her before the time came. There were a few other people sitting around, some of whom were reading magazines, others playing on their phones as they presumably waited for other people to be finished with their match in progress. Her eyes eventually fell on a portrait she hadn’t paid any attention to the other times she’d come here, a wonderful rendition of the mythical Pokemon Shaymin frolicking in a field of sunflowers. She loved the design of the little hedgehog-esque Grass-type, and the painting did an excellent job of bringing out the vibrancy of the Pokemon and its exuberant movement that contrasted with the sunny yellow flora around it.
True to Annie’s words, it only took a couple of minutes before the door marked “Staff Only” opened to let a man into the room with a clipboard, dressed in what appeared to be the official gym uniform with an earpiece on and headset at his side. “Blair - Cassandra Blair?” he called, looking around the room as Cassie stood up and waved. “Come this way, please,” he said, stepping around the desk and heading for the other door leading to the stadium beyond.
“You’ve got this,” Kaitlyn said, nodding lightly to Cassie. “I’ll be in the stands watching, so give it all you’ve got.”
“I will,” Cassie said, steeling herself as she followed the man and disappeared behind the door to the stadium to head for her first gym challenge.
Cassie had never been one to watch much of the Pokemon anime from what she could remember. She’d seen pretty much all of the original series and a little of the series after that followed the travels in Johto, but by and large she had been much more interested in the games. She had no idea what to expect when she first walked into the Eterna City Gym’s battle arena as a result, but after her first look at the arena she realized she wouldn’t have known how to plan for it even if she had.
The stadium area was quite large, surrounded by bleachers like the ones you’d see in any sports arena divided into several sections, and there was a single box on one side that looked as if it was some kind of VIP seating area. A scoreboard sat on each wall to give easy visibility no matter what section one might be sitting in, and the array of lights illuminating the area was dazzlingly bright. The battle area itself was ringed by a hard-floored area that seemed to be some kind of tile or smooth concrete, painted clearly to delineate the edges of the arena, trainer boxes, and walking space around both.
Not that the delineation was particularly needed, that is - the battle area stood out perfectly well. It seemed to be at least a hundred meters long and maybe two-thirds that amount in width, giving plenty of space for Pokemon to maneuver and hide. Yes, she realized, hiding would be a viable tactic. The entire combat area was a grassy field with spots of bare dirt, filled with bushes and large oak-like trees scattered throughout the arena. There would be plenty of opportunities to use surprise to the advantage, though she did worry a bit about Orion simply burning the whole thing down.
‘I’m sure they plan for that,’ she thought, trying to stay focused. She snuck another quick look at her phone - one fifty-seven. It was almost time now, and as if on cue from her check of the time, she watched a man walk out of a door at the side of the arena and head for the center, a microphone in his hand.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” the man began, turning to look at the people gathered in the arena. There didn’t seem to be too many people from what Cassie could see, and she assumed that most of the ones here right now were probably locals. “Thank you for joining us for another exciting challenge match here at the Eterna City Gym! Today, Gym Leader Gardenia Natane will be facing Cassandra Blair in a two-on-two battle for the Forest Badge! Standard battle rules will apply - each trainer will be allowed one substitution in the match, and the battle will end when both of one trainer’s Pokemon are deemed unable to battle!”
The man beside Cassie took a clip-on microphone from the wall, quickly testing it to make sure it was working, before pinning it to the collar of her t-shirt carefully and giving her a thumbs-up. She could feel her hands trembling slightly, and she tried her best to tamp down the feeling of stage fright as she waited.
“Gym Leader, please enter the battle arena!”
Cassie watched as Gardenia entered from a door opposite her to the sound of cheers, people loudly clapping and yelling for their city’s Gym Leader before the man gestured towards her direction.
“Challenger, please enter the battle arena!”
‘This is it...’
She took a deep breath before striding forward into the arena, trying her best to ignore all the noise as she stopped within the outlined challenger’s box and focused on her opponent across the field. Luckily, the center of the arena and a path straight through it from box to box was clear of foliage, letting her see the brightly-grinning form of the green-clad Gym Leader on the other side.
“Trainers ready!” the man called, beginning to step back towards the edge of the field as he released a Pokemon of his own - a bipedal, yellow fox-like Pokemon holding a spoon that Cassie quickly identified as a Kadabra. It must be one of the gym’s Pokemon, she realized. Kaitlyn had explained a bit about how gym battles usually went, and one of things she had mentioned was how gyms had a complement of Psychic-type Pokemon on staff for the sole purpose of creating barriers to keep spectators safe, particularly during higher-level matches.
Sure enough, the Kadabra’s eyes and spoon glowed an eerie blue as a translucent shield of Psychic force rose around the entire battleground, with another such shield curving around both trainers in a semi-circular angle before all of the shields faded into invisibility. Cassie could almost feel the shields near her, and the odd static feeling in the air made her skin tingle the faintest bit.
“Please select your first Pokemon!”
“Rowlet, let’s do it!” Gardenia called, tossing out a white-colored Poke Ball that snapped open to release what appeared to be a tiny owl-like Pokemon to the field. Its body was almost entirely brown save for its white underbelly and patterns around its eyes, as well as a pair of leaves that made a sort of bow tie on its neck. It fluttered into the air, hooting loudly in challenge to Cassie as she grabbed her own Poke Ball.
“Paulos, get ready!”
She threw the ball in to release the cream-colored Flying-type, catching it again as it snapped back to her on a near-perfect return trajectory. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to how Poke Balls could do that, but it was fascinating to watch every single time it happened. Gardenia’s eyes noticeably widened a little as she took in the Pidgey in front of her, but the grin quickly returned to her face.
“Round one, Rowlet versus Pidgey! Battle...start!”
The referee’s hand came down to signal the beginning of the match, and Gardenia wasted no time giving her first command.
“Into the trees, then Leafage!”
Rowlet twirled and made a quick dive for the nearest group of trees to it, wings glowing with the green light of Grass TE as it whirled around a large oak. The spin conjured a series of bright green shards of energy resembling leaves that flew towards Pidgey with all haste, but Cassie already knew how she would deal with that.
“Blow them away with Gust, then Quick Attack!”
Paulos gave a loud chirping cry as he brought his wings back, faintly glowing a sky blue color, then thrust them forward with a wham of displaced air in a powerful Gust that leapt away from him and scattered the leaves like tenpins. Rowlet only got a brief moment to react before Paulos dove forward, form outlined white as he rocketed forward and cuffed Rowlet across the face with a wing before it could retreat behind the tree.
“Reposition, then try a Razor Leaf!” Gardenia yelled, watching Rowlet tumble towards the ground before turning its fall into a glide and swooping upwards once again. Paulos tracked it through the trees, but momentarily lost track when it soared into the high branches to send a storm of sharp-edged leaves back down. He tried another Gust on instinct, but these leaves were moving significantly faster than the previous and stayed mostly on course, slicing painful gashes along his body and wings. Rowlet, meanwhile, seemed content to stay in the treetops, fluttering around and using the canopy as cover to continue to send more Razor Leaves down at the Pidgey.
“Back away - we’ll draw it out!” Cassie yelled, watching as Paulos lit up with Quick Attack once again and retreated back to the center of the arena, followed closely by another salvo of leaves that dug furrows into the earth beneath him. Paulos was chirping something loudly that was probably unkind, Cassie noticed, and she watched the trees carefully for any sign of the owl Pokemon. Unfortunately, the brown body was keeping it quite well camouflaged against the trees, and it didn’t seem to want to follow Paulos out for round two. Another Gust flew up into the trees but did nothing except rattle the branches, and for a minute the arena was full of flying leaves and retaliatory windstorms as Rowlet and Paulos sniped at each other from afar.
‘Wait a minute...that’s it!’
“Paulos!” Cassie cried, pointing up at the canopy towards where the last salvo of Razor Leaves had come from. “Whirlwind, full power!”
If a bird could have grinned, Paulos certainly would have as he started to fly in a tight circle in the middle of the arena, whipping up grass, dirt, and twigs as he prepared to attack. The windstorm swirled higher and higher until it was near the top of the smaller trees, dirt and debris making the miniature tornado visible against the greenery, and Paulos emerged from it before slamming his wings forward as hard as he could to send the Whirlwind off into the foliage. It shredded the first few branches it hit as it tore through the trees, losing power but not rapidly enough to keep it from accomplishing what Paulos had set out to do with it.
“Rowlet!”
Gardenia yelled for her Pokemon as she caught a glimpse of the Grass and Flying-type before it was swept up into the storm, tossed and turned in every direction and battered with debris as it tried to get control of its flight again. Unfortunately, all the disorientation caused it to lose track of which way was up, and it regained control just in time to slam into the ground face-first as it failed to pull up in time.
“Quick Attack again!”
This time, Paulos was locked firmly on target, and Normal TE engulfed him once again before he swooped down and slammed his body into the Rowlet, leading wing-first like a linebacker before shoving it through the dirt and into the base of a tree hard enough to shake some leaves from the branches overhead. Dirt and dust engulfed both birds in the aftermath of the hit, and Paulos burst through the cloud once again to chirp victoriously as Rowlet was revealed at the base of the tree, unconscious.
“Rowlet is unable to battle!” the referee declared upon seeing the defeated Grass-type. “Gym Leader, you have thirty seconds to select your next Pokemon!”
“Good try, Rowlet,” Gardenia whispered to the Poke Ball as she recalled her Pokemon, turning to face Cassie again with a wide grin on her face. “My, my...that’s one strong Pidgey you have there! Looks like I’ll have to get a bit more serious here!”
She reached to her belt and grabbed a Great Ball sitting there, enlarging the blue and red sphere before lobbing it into the arena. “Chespin, it’s your turn!”
The ball snapped open with a hiss to reveal Gardenia’s second Pokemon, a short brown bipedal Pokemon only about a foot tall with rodent-like front teeth and sharp claws on its feet. Its head, back, and short tail were covered in green fur that almost made it look like it was wearing a sort of spiky hoodie, and it took a stance with an angry ‘Ches!’ as the referee prepared to restart the match.
“Round two, Chespin versus Pidgey! Begin!”
“Use the trees for Rollout!”
Gardenia’s call was immediate, almost drowning out Cassie’s own call for a Sand-Attack as Chespin started to climb the nearest tree. The sand that Paulos kicked up did little to bother it as it sprayed across the Grass-type’s back, and it hopped onto a branch before slinging out a Vine Whip around one of the branches on the opposite side of the tree.
‘What’s he doing?’
Chespin gave a loud, exuberant cry before diving off the branch towards the one it had wrapped the vine around, and Cassie realized its plan a second too late as it slingshotted around towards Paulos, who had flown up to try and get to it on the upper branch.
“Paulos, look out!”
Gray energy surrounded Chespin as it curled up its flying body, and the Rock TE hardened its skin as it spun into a Rollout, slamming directly into Paulos and sending the Pidgey careening towards the ground with a squawk of surprise. The large bird hit the ground and bounced before skidding to a stop, and Chespin dropped out of the air to land near him before spinning into another Rollout as Paulos tried to get up.
“Quick Attack!”
Cassie’s yell, much like before, came too late for Paulos to react with how dazed he was from the first impact. She winced as the second hit picked him up bodily with a crack, tossing him off to one side of the arena near the referee, and he tumbled to the ground to lie still as Chespin skidded back to a stop and cried out in victory accompanied by the cheers of the crowd.
“Pidgey is unable to battle!” the referee called as Cassie grabbed her Poke Ball to recall Paulos. “Challenger, you have thirty seconds to select your next Pokemon!”
“Great job, Paulos...we’ll get you healed up soon, okay?” she said, shrinking and tucking the ball back on her belt as she reached for Orion’s ball. “Ready to do this?”
The ball shook in response to her question, and she grinned as she threw the ball as hard as she could into the center of the arena. “Orion, let’s go!”
Orion appeared from the ball in a flash of red light, howling a challenge to the ‘mon that had taken down his teammate, and Chespin stood tall as it answered back with just as much vigor. The two Pokemon stared each other down in the center of the arena, ready to go the moment the referee gave the signal.
“Round three, Chespin versus Growlithe! Begin!”
“Leech Seed, then Rollout!”
“Flame Wheel - burn up the seeds, then attack!”
Both trainers gave their commands at nearly the same time, with Cassie being a bit slower than the experienced Gym Leader. Chespin’s mouth bulged as it called up Grass TE, spitting out a group of brown-shelled seeds that flew straight for Orion to try and latch on and sap his energy. None of them got the chance to do so as Orion’s body burst into flames, incinerating the seeds almost on contact, and the pup spun into a dizzying Flame Wheel even as Chespin’s body curled up with the gray-colored energy of Rollout. Both sped straight at each other, meeting in the center of the arena in a tremendous clash that sent both Pokemon tumbling away. Flames licked at Chespin’s body as it recovered, quickly extinguishing the remnants of the fire by patting itself down with dirt, but its body still sported a clear burn from the impact of the attack.
Likewise, Orion was a little wobbly getting back to his feet from the super-effective hit he’d been dealt. Blood was flowing from a cut on the side of his head, dribbling down beside his right eye even as a knot began to swell from where he’d traded blows with the Rock-type move.
“Ember, and spread it wide!”
“Counter with Mud Shot!”
A golden sphere of energy gathered in Chespin’s mouth as it molded the Ground-type energy, with flames roaring back to life in Orion’s mouth as he readied to attack. Bursts of fire spat like a machine gun from his mouth, hurtling towards the Chespin at a higher rate of speed than Gardenia expected, and Chespin quickly countered with a flurry of mud balls spat from its mouth that doused the flames and crumbled to half-baked clumps on the ground. The Grass-type started to circle while it fired, attempting to get a better angle to force Orion to miss more of his attack than Chespin’s own, but Orion simply turned in place to match him and keep the barrage going. Both cut off their attacks after a few seconds of continuous fire, neither one unable to gain an edge with raw power.
“Get back into the trees, Chespin!”
“Don’t let him go, Orion!” Cassie called. “Keep close and use Bite!”
The tiny mammalian Grass-type quickly turned and headed for the trees again, aiming to disappear into the underbrush and take on Orion the same way that Rowlet had done to Paulos, but Orion sprinted towards it at a rapid clip as faint bits of Dark TE surged around his teeth.
Gardenia’s grin grew wider, and she pointed out towards the Growlithe.
“Now - Grass Knot!”
“Orion, stop!” Cassie yelled desperately, hoping he would be able to peel himself away in time. Unluckily, Chespin had drawn him in too closely to the edge of the foliage, and vines snaked upwards to entangle themselves together as Orion ran over them, catching his ankles and sending the pup into a head over hindquarters tumble off into the bushes.
“Pin Missile - spray the whole area down!”
Chespin gave a loud cry as the spikes on its head began to glow white, and it threw its arms forward to send a flurry of green and white-colored needles into the bushes, hosing the entire area down with a barrage of barbs. Cassie could hear Orion yelping in pain from within, and she made the quickest call she could manage.
“Flame Wheel again!”
The Pin Missiles stopped as the entire bush in front of Chespin suddenly exploded into flames, and it just barely managed to get out of the way before Orion came blazing through its path again, whirling right past it and heading off into another part of the trees.
“Get ready for another Rollout!” Gardenia cried, and Chespin let loose a vine that wrapped around one of the nearby trees to pull it upwards onto a higher branch.
‘It’s probably going to try the same thing he did to Paulos, so...’
A plan clicked into Cassie’s mind, quick and dirty but still liable to work if she could time it right. “Orion, Howl and get ready!”
She couldn’t see the dog within the undergrowth, but she could certainly hear the howling cries from inside as he pumped himself up, trusting his trainer. He couldn’t see his foe either at the moment from his hidden position in the bushes, but he could still smell it...
All of a sudden, he yelped as something latched on to his hind paws, holding him fast in place - more Grass Knots had looped around his ankles. He panicked for a brief instant, his trainer unable to see his distress as he lit up with Flame Wheel once again to burn away the vines, but he heard her call out a moment too late in his distraction. Chespin crashed through the brush in front of him to slam him with another Rollout that hurled him back into a tree, stunning him and knocking the wind from his lungs as he crumpled onto the exposed roots.
“Orion, no! Come on, Orion, you can do it! Hang in there!”
He gasped as he heard Cassie desperately yelling his name, trying to suck air back into his lungs. He was going to fail here again, lose yet again to a Grass-type and she would abandon him just like before and -
“If you cannot believe in yourself, believe in her.”
“Paulos has seen her heart.”
Paulos’ words came back to him in a flash as he struggled back onto his feet, feeling like a truck had just hit him. The Pidgey seemed to already harbor unwavering trust in his trainer, but Orion hesitated to open himself up to that hurt again.
“You’re staying with me, no matter what.”
Those words rang in his head again, echoing in his mind. Was she telling the truth? Was it all a lie?
“ORION!” Cassie screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping he could hear her through all the crowd noise. “Agility! Get out of the trees!”
Gotta move, gotta run, gotta get out...
His body moved on pure instinct and adrenaline, channeling the unfamiliar Psychic energy through his muscles to lend him a burst of speed, and he bolted out of the treeline like a Houndoom was on his heels, panting for breath as he came to a stop in the open center of the arena once again. His chest felt like it was one big bruise and his legs were quivering, but he didn’t want to give up just yet without giving it everything he had. One way or another, he’d know the truth of her words soon.
“It’s coming! Wait for my signal!”
Cassie’s warning caused him to look back at the trees again as Chespin burst out of the foliage, Rock TE swirling as it came in like a grassy boulder from a landslide.
‘Wait for it...wait for it...’
Orion watched the approaching Grass-type in what felt like slow motion, hoping that she truly had a plan.
‘Now!’
“Now! Quick Attack into Flame Wheel, side!”
Gardenia’s eyes widened as she started to call another command, but she was far too late before she even opened her mouth. Orion’s body blurred into motion as the white energy of Quick Attack let him jump forward and to the side, out of the way of the Rollout in a flash, and paws slammed into the ground like hammers before he whirled and lit himself up with one more Flame Wheel. Chespin’s path was already set, the Grass-type committed to the course, and it could do nothing as Orion’s fiery body slammed into it from a sideways angle that it was completely unprepared for. The Rock TE around it did little to cushion the blow, and the sheer momentum from the Agility-enhanced move jolted its body like a car crash as it was forcibly flung out of its attack. Flames licked at Chespin as it cried out in pain, tumbling across the ground to finally come to a stop at the edge of the treeline, exhausted and unconscious at last.
“Chespin is unable to battle! The winner of the final round and this match is Growlithe and the challenger, Cassandra Blair!”
Cassie stood in stunned surprise as the crowd began to cheer, looking out at her exhausted starter as he finally slumped to the ground, head drooping as he panted. They had won...they had actually won their gym match!
Before she knew it, she was running out to the center of the arena to check on her starter, kneeling down to look him over as Gardenia started to walk out to join her. She rubbed a hand over his head and had a small moment of panic as he didn’t respond to the touch, but she noticed the gentle rise and fall of his chest a second later which caused her to relax. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she recalled him into his ball, standing again to face Gardenia as the smile returned to her face.
“Well, that was a fun match!” Gardenia remarked happily, her bright smile mirroring Cassie’s own. She’d had quite a bit of enjoyment out of the match even with being on the losing end, it seemed, though Gym Leaders probably got to see victory and defeat in equal measures often. “It’s always nice to see someone raising their Pokemon well!”
“Thank you, Leader Gardenia,” Cassie replied. “I couldn’t have done it without them!”
“That’s the attitude I like to hear,” she said, reaching into a pocket and withdrawing a single object from it before holding it out to Cassie. The gym badge sparkled in her hand, three simple inverted V-shapes resembling pine trees in a triangular formation on a gray background that refracted the stadium’s bright lighting. “For beating me, I’m honored to present you with the Forest Badge! Keep aiming for the Lily of the Valley Conference, okay?”
Cassie’s breath caught in her throat, and she wiped away a tear as she took the gym badge from Gardenia, staring deeply into the polished metal before nodding excitedly and shaking Gardenia’s hand. “I will, don’t worry!”
The cheering of the crowd drowned out everything else in the stadium as Cassie raised the badge high in victory, the first step of a long journey finally completed at last.