“Great work today.” Michelle smiled fondly at the serious tone showcased by her daughter during training. The girl sat down next to her and sipped on a bottle of water. “You know, Valerie, you sound just like Drew when he got started on his journey.”

  “Really?” She asked between sips.

  “You do. he also always turned serious when it came to training.” She laughed to herself with a nostalgic look on her face as Larry and Sybil also returned. “I’d come over to his place and he’d be sprawled out on the couch with Buddy next to him, and after just a few minutes he’d be out in the garden working on some new strategy or whatever. Even though I knew he’d just gotten up to look cool in front of me.”

  “How do you know that?” Valerie asked, fishing through her Silph Co. Bag for PokeChow.

  “Well, because his mom would complain to mine about how he’d just spent the entire day lazing around on the days when I didn’t come over.” Michelle snickered.

  Valerie's Pokemon sat themselves down next to the bench. She handed a bowl of fresh Pokechow to the two of them, a mineral-heavy mix for Larry and an avian formula for Sybil with a slight bit of the more expensive Psychic-Chow mixed in.

  Most of the trainers and tourists had started waning by now. Valerie had had every single eye on her when she’d entered the training grounds with her two rare Pokemon, but over the day, people stopped caring and left the place. The allure of a destroyed PokeCenter had already left the place, as all remnants of destruction were covered up with scaffolding and tarps of various shapes and sizes by construction crews.

  She continued listening to her mother as the pair relaxed after training. Michlle had put away her phone and was looking at Mt. Silver in the distance, which painted quite a beautiful vista in the afternoon. “I’m in my late thirties now, and I still don’t quite get what all the drama is for Pokemon Trainers. I couldn’t imagine myself happy going on a journey, caring for more than one small Pokemon seems like a hassle I wouldn’t want to put up with, and I’m more than content with my job as it is.”

  Michelle turned to her daughter. “What do you and Drew see in it? Why’d you jump into danger like that at Mt. Silver and now at the PokeCenter?”

  “Hmm…” Valerie let the idea run through her mind before falling on a simple answer, “It's exciting.”

  Before Michelle could question her, she continued, “I liked watching Battles on TV when I was still at home. There was just something about them that hooked me. It's got to be the same thing now. I do like Pokemon a whole lot as well.”

  “So it's just your interest in Pokemon?” Michelle gauged.

  “I think there’s also competition. Pokemon battles are exciting after all.” Valerie added, “When we fought those Magmar in Mt. Silver, I really felt alive.”

  “You’d better.” Michelle bonked her daughter on the head with her knuckles. “You could’ve died.”

  A voice called out behind them. When they turned, the two saw a duo of Youngsters standing there defiantly.

  “You’re the girl who beat David!” A pointer finger was aimed squarely at Valerie as the kids lined up next to each other. “Battle us! We’ll beat you!”

  “Umm…” Valerie looked down towards her Pokemon, only to see Larry already looking up towards her with stars in his eyes. She wasn’t going to be able to refuse. “Fine, alright. Who wants to fight?”

  The Youngsters were temporarily stunned as they looked at each other, gauging the other's reaction to see who they would fight. The two turned back to her and spoke in unison, “Me!”

  She quirked an eyebrow at the energetic duo. “Sorry, but you’ll have to decide. I can’t battle both o-” Larry, next to her, jumped at her leg excitedly, pointing at Sybil next to him. “Oh wait, I actually could, couldn’t I?

  “Yeah, you have two Pokemon!” One boy pointed at the two, “You can fight each of us with one! That's fair!”

  Valerie grinned at the boys. “I’ve got a better idea. How about a Double Battle?”

  The two boys shared in Larry's starry-eyed look, as Double Battles weren’t very common to come across in Kanto. “Double Battle?! Of course! Kouta, let's do it!” One of the boys called out to his friend next to him.

  …

  Being about to stand out on the field again felt good to Larry, it was some part in the back of his Pokemon brain that told him he was supposed to be here. Same as when he’d just heard the kids challenge, it just kind of hyped him up for some reason. ‘Probably some Pokemon quirk, but Sybil didn’t get excited. So, a Larvitar quirk?’

  The two Youngsters, who had introduced themselves as Kouta and Yuuto, had already taken their places on the other side of the arena. For proper etiquette, both Larry and Sybil were recalled back into their balls to be released when the battle started.

  A third boy was quickly found in the crowd of people to act as referee, and the Mother-Daughter duo had made their way over to the correct arena as well, with Michelle opting to look on from the small bleachers set up around the individual arenas. The bleachers themselves weren’t filled with people from what Larry could see out of his Pokeball, but they were still far too full for something that was a simple Double Battle, ‘That guy has his phone out. This is being recorded. Great…’ Larry complained to himself.

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  “This is a double battle, Valerie against Kouta and Yuuto. Standard Rules. Are all trainers ready?” Their referee announced, to nods came from both sides. Above them, Valerie took in a deep breath, closing her eyes for focus.

  “Go!”

  “Larry, Sybil! Come out!” Valerie threw both of their Pokeballs into the field, and Larry appeared in a flash of light, roaring a challenge at his opponents, “Let's go!” Sybil stood resolutely by his side, giving a single blink in response to her release.

  Kouta, on their left, released a large Raticate, which proceeded to let out a screech of challenge as well. A purple Nidoran was released on the right by Yuuto, squeaking and sniffling at the ground timidly. Analyzing his competition in his mind, Larry got moving. ‘A second evolutionary form, he might be tougher than expected…And those Nidoran have some pretty nasty poison, I bet…’ At that thought, another fact came to his mind, ‘And I can’t use Sandstorm with Sybil on the field either.’

  While he was looking over his competition, everyone already had action on their mind. Valerie got the scuffle started. “Larry, Bite! Sybil, Peck!”

  Their opponents started similarly, “Quick Attack!” “Double Kick!” The rat and Nidoran swapped sides as they attacked. Raticates' Quick Attack hit first, with Sybil Peck being stopped before it could even get going. The attack hit the Pokemon hard and forced it off its feet and into a roll.

  “Away!” Valerie cried out at Sybil, who was still righting herself while Raticate approached her threateningly. Just as the Youngster was about to call out Raticates' next attack, Sybil disappeared in a flash, reappearing at the same time a few steps over, just long enough to right itself back onto its feet.

  ‘Crap! Fighting-Type!’ Larry couldn’t cancel the TE already channeling into his jaw, so he was locked into his attack. Nidoran spun around on its front legs with practiced ease, turning its legs towards his approaching face. The legs reared back as Orange Fighting-TE coalesced around them, and Larry got front-row seats to the attack.

  Like coiled springs, the Nidroans' hind legs released all the pent-up energy and smashed straight into his nose at full force, “Ack!” Larry's footing was spotty at best, but his Bite was still ready to go, so he lunged forward and chomped down on the Poison-Type's backside.

  “Skwee!” A cry of pain was his reward. Nidoran was stuck in his oversized Dark-TE jaw as he wrangled with it in a Tug-of-War.

  “Wha-! That was sick!” Kouta cried out from his side, pointing at Sybil excitedly, “It teleported!”

  Valerie smiled at the kids' enthusiasm. “Eyes on the match! Confuse Ray!”

  Yuuto didn’t share his friends' enthusiasm, still being entirely focused on the battle. “Needy! Don’t give up! Poison Sting!”

  ‘What?’ Larry saw the kids' amateur mistake before he did. Needy hadn’t noticed their problem either, as he fought to get the large horn on his head turned towards him, with little success. Its rear was still stuck in Larry's jaws after all.

  The Nidoran haplessly fought to get its head turned around as it turned every which way with little grunts of exertion. Yuuto saw the error of his ways now, and he quickly fumbled out another command, “Uh, Uhm- Fury Attackl with your legs!”

  Squeaking in affirmation, Nidoran began wildly kicking around with its legs, smacking its rabbit-like paws into his chest and stomach as he kept a tight grip on its back.

  A little yellow light appeared from behind Natu and began making its way towards Raticate. “Dodge it!” Kouta called out from their side, and Raticate went into action, speeding around their side of the arena in the hopes of dodging the Confuse Ray, which was languidly following after it.

  After what felt like half a minute, but was probably more akin to five seconds, Larry finally received a command of his own from Valerie: “Larry, Payback those hits!”

  ‘Finally!’ Larry thought with a savage grin, because he’d been doing just that, taking the Normal-TE he’d received and charging up the attack he knew Valerie would call out with it. He unlatched from the Nidorans' back and pushed the TE into his chest and arm, until they glowed with a menacing, dark aura.

  Before Yuuto or Nidoran could take any sort of action, he struck. His fist hooked Nidoran on its right, hefting the Pokemon off its feet with the sheer power of the attack and launching it to the edges of the court. It rolled several times until its body came to a stop just on the edges of the arena.

  “Oh no! Needy, don’t give up now!” Yuuto cried out. To his credit, Nidoran hadn’t given up, as with heaving breaths, the little Poison-Type got its feet back under itself, shakily standing back up and looking at Larry with defiance in its eyes.

  On the other side of the court, Natu’s Confuse Ray finally fizzled out of existence, allowing Raticate to stop its wild goose chase. Kouta saw the opportunity and took it, “Crunch the bird!”

  Raticate launched itself at Sybil with reckless abandon, but Valerie had other ideas: “Stored Power!”

  Sybil had been charging the attack the whole time, as what was released was just a bit bigger than what Larry had seen during their practice. The attack exploded out of Sybil in a cone of Pink Psychic-TE, but when the attack reached the lunging Raticate, it had far less effect on the rat than expected, “Wha-?!”

  On contact with Raticate, the Pokemon's large, unnerving set of Dark-TE-enhanced teeth dispersed the Psychic-TE in Sybil's attack. All the parts of Raticate's body where no Dark-TE was present were still hit, as with its round torso and its limbs, which were peppered with the Psychic-Type Energy, but the Normal-Type's attack still went through, crunching down on Sybil's side with an unsettling sound of something akin to a bear trap.

  The Super-Effective attack from a second evolutionary form immediately put Sybil out of commission, felling the Psychic-Type as quickly as it was hit. Larry watched as Sybil went limp in the jaws of the Raticade. It unlatched from the bird, and the ref raised a hand towards the opposing side. “Natu has fainted and is out of the fight! Please recall your Pokemon.” Valerie did as instructed with a nod. She held the ball close to her mouth and spoke a quiet apology.

  ‘Damn it!’ Larry thought to himself as he looked between the two opposing Pokemon, who were now both turning their eyes on him. Natu weren’t naturally tanky, but they hadn’t been working together as they had practiced the entire fight. It was only natural that a support Pokemon like Sybil would fall in a 1v1 against a Raticate.

  How was this fight going to end?

  here!

  Wish me luck!