Chad took a deep breath in, then out, and slowly walked towards what was sure to be the hardest fight so far. The hallway was relatively short, and the door at the far end opened as he was within four paces of the portal. Emerging through the other side, the bright lights revealed a wide open area, complete with stone ramps and quarter-pipes along the outer walls. Several oddly-placed metal rails were spread about, some in the middle of nowhere.
Chad took each stair one by one, unhooking the belt from his waist and grabbing Gaston’s pokeball. Across the field, he could spot Korrina standing in the gym trainer’s box. She was palming a blue pokeball, her face somewhat pained but firm in her resolution. Upon stepping into the trainer’s box, Chad releases Gaston beside him, reattaching the pokeball before handing the belt to his teammate. The room is deafeningly quiet, without an audience or referee, just the two trainers preparing to throw down.
“I guess you want to face Luca first, huh?” Korrina asks, as Chad steps onto the field. He nods, as she lobs the great ball onto the field. “I’ll count us down. Three, two, one, begin!”
Yep, another theme song for a fight, this time in keeping with Chad's Eurobeat kick, it's "Faith" by T. Stebbins. Didn't have the time for the whole synchronized reading thing, but I felt it set the mood.
Spotify:
Youtube:
Chad chose the moment to stand stock still, shutting his eyes in meditation. Throughout the arena, faint piano notes began to play… His head was lightly glowing with magenta energy, his feet flickering with two miniature matching wings sprouting from his ankles. His pose was solemn, almost in quiet contemplation, his lips moving with an inaudible whisper. Were he human, it almost would’ve been described as a personal prayer.
Luca leapt across the distance in a flash, piercing where Chad had been standing as the lizard leapt backwards. The psychic energy faded, and he quickly coated his body with brown ki. As Luca continued to give chase, Chad barely kept ahead of the attacks with his newfound speed. Meeting strikes, punches, chops, and kicks with continuously creative attempts to evade, Luca begins to press Chad even as the fire type’s ankles flicker with another pair of magenta wings. Chad speeds up even more, using the distance to coat his head in another application of the psychic energy.
<”He can’t keep it up forever, Luca! Start mixing in ranged attacks!” Korrina shouted from her box, inspiring the blue jackal to pull back from the next attack and generate a glowing white orb between his two cupped hands.>
Psychic energy fading again, Chad raised his left arm defensively while compressing fire into a blazing sphere in his right. A transparent white disc begins to form along his forearm, acting as a buckler while the fire orb begins to compress into plasma. “C’mon, just a little bit more…” Chad begs, as the raging ball of energy flies from Luca straight towards him, exploding with a cloud of white as he barely finishes forming the miniaturized sun. As the micro star floats into the sky, Chad begins sprinting towards his foe.
<”Now, show me the results of your training, Chad! Luca, press him with Metal Claw!” Korrina commanded, as Luca’s claws shone bright silver.>
Chad reached for his sides, near his waist, as fire energy began to concentrate again and compress into two small daggers of raw energy. Swinging in a cross motion, the two daggers met with Luca’s claws, arresting both of their attacks as the two collided and pushed Luca back a step. Between the sparks flying and the piercing high-pitched sound, both tested for an opening but were found wanting.
Chad threw the two daggers at his pursuer forcing him to hack at the two fire weapons with his claws instead. A quick bulge of the cheeks and the lizard blasted a gout of flame as a follow-up; the sudden fire forced Luca to retreat and propelled Chad some extra distance away. One final time, his head and feet were coated in the magenta energy as he kept moving to the side, strafing his foe’s position. Luca, not to be outdone, took an odd stance as wind began to whirl around his arm. “I will admit you’re definitely better than those I usually face, but still miles behind me!” Luca shouted, firing the wind cannon across the field to intersect with Chad’s path.
A quick blast of flame threw Chad backwards, barely dodging the wind as several lacerations opened on his chest. Immediately, he began sprinting towards his opponent, who was charging up another air punch. A pair of fiery wings sprung from his back, accelerating the lizard forward as another two daggers formed in his hands. Right at the apex of Luca’s wind-up, Chad’s eyes flared white, and he threw himself forward in a dive. Barely threading the needle, the fire type began to bleed all over as he successfully leapt through the opening in the center of the gust.
“Huh, that–” Luca was interrupted as Chad threw one of the daggers at him as a distraction. The jackal was forced to dodge by shifting his head slightly to the left, nonplussed by how close the attack flew by. “-was moderately acceptable.” He finished, his eyes glowing white as he made slight movements to dodge Chad’s dual-wielding flurry of stabs and slashes. Chad couldn’t keep up the speed forever, and had his entire assault frozen when Luca caught one of his wrists, holding the lizard’s arm across his chest and leaving him wide open.
“Thank you,” Chad responded, his body surging with Ki and muscles exploding as he used the caught arm to pull Luca off the ground and throw him in an overhead arc. Floating through the air, Luca charged up another white sphere, daring Chad to get closer. The fire type narrowed his eyes before charging headfirst, both daggers ready to intercept the ball.
Luca waited until the last moment, unleashing the orb right when Chad was too close to dodge, obscuring the pair in another white cloud. A split-second later, Luca leapt back, a searing slash mark crossing his chest from one of the daggers. A gentle touch with his paw met with light recoil, as Luca laughed in amusement. “Impressive, but I doubt it was worth the trade, right Chaz?”
The smoke cleared, as Chad stood with one dagger gripped in his right arm, his left dangling limp and slightly off-set. Straightening up, Chad dismissed the dagger, placing an empty palm against the front of his dislocated left shoulder. Like a tree, he slowly fell backwards to land on his back at an angle, shouting in pain as a spine-tingling ‘crack’ echoed through the arena. Luca couldn’t help but smile as he watched his foe slowly stand up, the arm back in its socket, as the fire lizard took up a battle stance again. “I didn’t hear no bell,” Chad responded, slowly trodding forward.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Chad, having increased in speed, prepared to launch his own counter attack, first flooding the gap between them with a purple explosion of flames. Trusting his instincts, Luca threw his fist forward in a punch, dead center for where he expected Chad to be. The punch threw energy, wind, everything that wasn’t bolted down, forward into the draconic plume. The obscuring attack was ripped apart as the attack flattened everything in its path.
With his right arm up, Luca created a small blindspot, one just big enough that Chad was able to step in and bury a dagger deep into Luca’s exposed armpit. As Luca shouted in pain, Chad used the momentum to swing up, wrap his legs around Luca's waist, and repeatedly drive the other fire dagger into his foe’s back. The brutal stabbing stretched on for several seconds, before Luca went silent and collapsed forward. Satisfied, Chad, dismissed the energy hanging over him and limped back to where Gaston was waiting.
Chad, an absolute wreck and miracle to still be standing, sat down beyond the challenger’s box, crossing his legs. “Gaston, you know what to do.” He instructed, closing his eyes as his entire body became awash with the soft embrace of psychic energy. The dinosaur, eyeing his teammate with warranted concern, plucked Ginette’s ball from the belt with his teeth before chucking it with a flick of his head.
“Narrator, s'il te pla?t. Just stay out of this one, OK?” Ginette requested, her eyes firmly on her opponent.
Lucario and Korrina seemingly shifted, like they had been released from a psychic hold. “Only once or twice, huh? Never thrice?” The frog inquired, her stance relaxed as she remained still on her half of the field. The two had locked eyes, one pair filled with regret, the other with simmering rage. “How many?”
“How many, what?” Lucario’s gaze began to blend in a hint of panic, now that she was free to make her own choices, her own mistakes.
“How many c?urs have you stolen? How many rêves have you crushed? Combien de fois avez-vous gagné l'amour de quelqu'un pour lui dire ensuite que vous ne ressentiez plus la même chose?!”
“Ginette, I’m sorry! I just got so swept up by you that I didn’t–”
“Non.” Ginette widened her stance, sliding down into a battle pose. “You broke my heart, now you’re going to stand there while I break my body and soul until there’s nothing left for you to take from me.”
Oh Baby a double! Yep, Chad shouldn't be the only one getting a theme song; Ginette gets one of her own. "Feel Good Drag" by Anberlin
Spotify:
Youtube (warning, age-restricted) :
Lucario watched on as Ginette acted out a hybrid dance between a waltz and a ballet, her emotions exuding from every gesture. In response, the sky began to cry in sympathy; the dark clouds covering the field with ambient sounds of distant thunder, while the rain steadily began to pour. However, Ginette continued to dance, as echoes of her began to appear like mirages between the water droplets.
Recognizing the situation, the blue jackal’s body flowed with brown Ki, her muscles gaining further definition and mass. Calmly, she walked towards the center of the field, watching as the clones shifted their dance to something more aggressive; their arms glinting with white energy along an edge. Reactively, Lucario’s eyes took on a bright white glow, as she scanned around her for the opening salvo. “If I had known you’d react this way, I likely wouldn’t have–”
“That’s just it, love...” The voice echoed from each of the clones, a harrowing chorus from all around the field. “I meant every word I said, while I fell for the hollow facade you gave me.”
Lucario threw herself flat as a pulsing ring of water shot overhead, having come from an angle behind her. Glancing back, she barely had enough time to roll to her right before a steaming jet of water cratered the arena beside her. She had to keep rolling, dodging the sequence of boiling shots that seemed to be leading her directly around towards–
Lucario brought her arms up in a cross block, a pair of white rectangles covering her forearms as she intercepted a kick radiating Ki that had been aimed at her prone form. Pushing against the attack, she stood up without even a grunt, demonstrating the amphibian’s flexibility. “I gave you my everything, et tu n'as même pas pu dire merci!” Ginette growled, lifting her leg up and around with a jump into a roundhouse kick that sent Lucario rolling.
She tumbled for a few feet before pushing off the ground to land in a crawling crouch, using her tail for balance as the two squared off. Ginette lowered her leg back into a ready stance, as Lucario rose up while compressing raw white energy into a sphere in her left paw. “Why do you believe I wouldn’t go with you, if I could? We have our own responsibilities; you to your team, and me to this gym.” There was a clap as Lucario threw her hands together, extending her left arm down and right arm up as the white ball reshaped into a glowing white quarterstaff. The base of the staff had two small white nubs, while the top featured a forty-five degree angle change with a large sphere at the end, with the whole weapon resembling an elongated femur.
Ginette’s forearms barely had time to coat with a similar edge of white energy before the jackal was on her; the clashes of energy sending bursts of sparks with each contact. Her arms slowed down with each block, forcing her to increasingly rely on dodging the energy weapon. Desperately, the frog blew a small glob of water at her attacker’s face, the boiling gambit creating an opening for her to slip away. “Excuses; I bet she’d be just fine with Luca to be her ancre. The only one keeping you here is yourself.”
Lucario aimed her staff at the frog, furious. “Are you insinuating that airhead is better than me?” She vanished, her charge so quick it was practically a teleportation. There was a ‘poof’ as she re-appeared and dispersed one of the clones. “That the guy who can barely use aura beyond offensive moves, the idiot who caused this whole mess, is somehow capable of replacing me?” Another pop, as Ginette’s clones continued to be eliminated one by one.
“Not better,” the frog wheezed, breathing hard as blood dripped from her fingertips. Her arms had small trickles running down, the blue skin broken up by red splotches and blackening bruises. “Just willing to prioritize his own désirs over the benefits of others.” The two stared each other down, as Lucario finally noted her own injuries; the pain smothered by coursing adrenaline. “You said you’d join me if you could. If she gave you the choice, right now, Qu'est-ce que ce serait?”
Lucario glanced at Korrina, her train of thought broken when she noticed the gym leader’s face. The young woman had clearly understood every word, her lip quivering. Lucario knew this expression; it always came up when a difficult decision was presented, where neither answer was correct. “I–”
“Lucario!” Korrina shouted, interrupting the battle as her voice reverberated inside the stadium. “If you can’t win a fight against a single two-badge pokemon, then maybe it’s time you took a break from gym duties and focused on your training!” It was hard to tell if she was soaked from the rain with how water streamed down her face, or if her true feelings didn't match her words.
Both competitors locked up at the declaration, the white staff disintegrating as Lucario’s arms fell slack. The two women stood as statues, both using the moment to catch their breath, while Ginette’s balance began to waver. Lucario’s breathing steadied with a deep inhale and a long exhale, turning to face her opponent. “Think you can finish this in a single attack?” She asked, noticing the frog’s unease.
Ginette smirked, standing upright with her rapidly diminishing stamina reserves. “I guess we’ll see? To be honest, I'm still working on this one.” She responded, watching Lucario slip into a defensive stance. With a soft smile, Ginette shut her eyes, crossed her arms, held her breath, as she fell backwards like a tree. There was a splash as she fell into the puddle and vanished beneath the three centimeter deep water.
Lucario’s eyes flared white, as she waited for the final move of the fight. The arena was quiet, only the steady fall of raindrops to break the silence. Until she smiled, and canceled the move around her eyes, right before a dark blue mass leapt from the puddle just under her. Their bodies tangled and rolled until, coming to a stop, it was clear Ginette had Lucario pinned with neither able to move. The jackal began to laugh as the 'attack' went for all of her most vulnerable spots, shifting and repositioning at random before she could adjust or slap away the offending digits. “I forfeit,” were the only two words the jackal could respond with, barely able to breath between the involuntary giggles.
Chad, having recovered enough to be moving about, placed Ginette’s full pokeball back on his belt, with Gaston remaining out just in case. Korrina, drying herself off with a towel, stood nearby as she worked through what had happened.
“First off: I want to congratulate you for defeating two of my team members who were rated above your level. I’m pretty certain a three badge trial would’ve been even more one-sided. As a reward, here’s your Rumble badge.” She offers a metal pin, this one of an orange fist fist-bumping a white fist. “The winnings should be deposited in your account later today. Now, there’s two more things I want to cover, but first we should head to the pokecenter. Need to have the four of you looked over while I fill out the paperwork to register Lucario to you.”
Chad nodded, leaning on Gaston with a hand atop the dinosaur’s back for balance as they slowly took the steps down from the raised battlefield. As the two pokemon and one human were on their way out of the gym, Chad whispered a small side conversation. “Hey, Author, Narrator… Can either of you maybe fix the dialogue from their fight? Maybe make it less teenage angsty romance?”
I mean, I can give it a shot, but I also wrote it the first time, so no guarantees.
“Nevermind,” Chad exasperated, walking through the automatic glass doors of the familiar red and white building. “What’s her name going to be?”
And she should mellow out Ginette’s antics just enough for you to enjoy both of their company.
??
Bite, Stomp, Rock Tomb, Dragon Dance, Hone Claws, Rock Smash, Bulk Up, Detect, Protect, Dragon Tail, Ancient Power, Stone Edge, Rock Slide
Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting, Horn Attack, Dig, Venoshock, Sludge Bomb, Poison Jab
Detect, Protect, Extreme Speed, Aura Sphere, Close Combat, Bulk Up, Power-Up Punch, Bone Rush