A Late Start

Round 2

"Alright, you know we've got two rounds today right?" Ethan asked as we arrived back at the tournament field.
"Yeah, I know," I said, glancing over at Silas, who was in much better spirits today.
"And then it's on to the finals tomorrow."
"Good thing it was an easy match yesterday, so everyone's still at their best today."
"Except for Ol' Silas there. You sure the new guy's gonna be okay in there?" He said gesturing at my bag.
"Well, this whole thing was his idea, So he can't really complain."
"Hey, I can hear you y'know." Zorua interrupted.
"And you should probably pipe down, Trying to keep a low profile remember?" I chided him quietly.
"Relax 'Lex' only people I want to hear me can hear me." He rolled my name around on his tongue in a borderline mocking manner. I thought it best not to respond, pretending to turn to the bracket on the board at the end of the room.
"Studying up on the competition, Lexi?" Ethan asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah, looks like our next team doesn't have a cute name though."
"Tessi and Alex. Boyfriend and girlfriend you think?"
"No, I think I know Tessi, Young girl. About 12 maybe. It's probably her brother. She asked me for help once. Guess that means she got her gym badge then."
"Good news for us, so you already know what kinda pokemon to expect then?"
"Well, not exactly, Last time I saw her all she had was a Caterpie, not exactly the strongest battler out there. And we don't even know if it's the same girl."
"Caterpie huh? Well, then this'll be an easy round then."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Ethan, If she's here then that means she earned her badge from Cheren, no doubt she's with stronger pokemon by now."
"You're probably right, well let's just make sure we're ready for anything."
Before long we were called out to the arena to undergo the usual formalities. As it turned out, it was the same Tessi I helped out a few months back. She gave me a nervous wave as we all lined up in the middle of the field. We lost the coin flip so we had to send out first, once the announcer had finished introducing the match we all got ready to battle.

I sent Erah out to battle first, much to SIlas' objection and Ethan lead with Royce once again. On the other side of the field materialised a Butterfree, a purple butterfly with red eyes and pale blue limbs. The creature was just barely a meter in length with wings extending past the length of its body. Beside it stood a Patrat, both were poised for battle.
"Alright, We'll handle the bug. Think you can take the rat?" Ethan declared from beside me.
"No problem," I said back. "Alright Erah, bullet punch, let's crack 'em open early." Without hesitation, Erah blinked out of sight before connecting his strike on the Patrat across the field.
"Follow up with Metal claw!" Another swift strike landed before Patrat could find its footing, Erah then instinctively disengaged. Leaping back to put a few feet between himself and the patrat. Without either of our noticing a quick Gust of wind struck Erah from the left causing him to flinch momentarily. I glanced across to see Butterfree get struck by a small rock. Right, double battle. Patrat leapt forward next, attempting to catch Erah's arm in its jaws, the attack connected, Illiciting an immediate counter-attack in the form of a punch to the stomach from the Riolu. The impact caused Patrat to release its grip before following up with an off-kilter tackle resulting in both creatures collapsing to the ground. Erah found his feet first, delivering another quick strike with his metal claw, sending Patrat skidding across the dirt field before leaping back, avoiding another gust from above. Royce had been attempting to keep the flying bug busy, but the difference in speed was too great and he couldn't land any significant attacks, while Butterfree was intent on stopping Erah's rush. At that moment I had an idea.
"ERAH," I called out. "Change targets, hit Butterfree with your bullet punch, knock it out of the sky." Ethan seemed to catch my drift as he called out moments later.
"Buy 'em some time Royce, keep Patrat busy."
Both pokemon understood their orders and sprang into action, Royce using magnitude to trap the already downed Patrat in a crater while Erah began blinking in and out of sight, landing punch after punch on Butterfree without it being able to retaliate due to the sheer speed of the attacks. Royce began trading hits with Patrat, his sturdy body soaking most of the normal type's attacks with ease, while the already weakened patrat slowly lost more and more of its strength. Meanwhile, Erah had been landing multiple quick hits on Butterfree with little resistance, while not able to land super-effective or even strong attacks the Riolu's speed proved too much for the Butterfree to contest. Until Erah missed. The excess momentum, meant to bounce off his target resulted in his fist becoming buried in the ground for just a second. Long enough for Butterfree to fire off a counter-attack, the creature's eyes glowed a brilliant white, before a thin beam of purple energy burst forth from each one, Striking Erah in the back before he could return to his fighting stance. The blue pokemon's stance wobbled when the rays subsided and he shook his head vigorously. Butterfree was panting heavily. But Erah didn't look like he had much fight left either. Despite taking relatively few hits it was clear to see he was exhausted. He's using too much energy on his attacks and leaving himself wide open defensively, burning through his energy too quickly. Knowing he probably only had a few more attacks left in him I made another call out.
"Okay Erah, one more Bullet punch, then finish it with a metal claw." The exhausted pokemon steadied itself, returned to its fighting stance and began charging its next attack, a silver gleam coating most of his right arm before he blinked forward, striking Butterfree again, blowing it backwards. He landed quickly and charged into the reeling creature, thin, silver spikes forming out of the palm of his hand before raking them across Butterfree's face. The purple butterfly fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. Succumbing to the same spirals I was growing all too familiar with. Tessi looked disappointed as she recalled her Pokemon, while Erah gave a triumphant fist pump as the creature vanished from the battlefield. I saw Tessi reaching for another ball. I knew Erah didn't have enough energy left for another fight. I smiled a little, unclipping the empty ball from my waist.
"Alright Erah, That's enough for now."
A bright red beam shot across the field, enveloping Erahs body before returning him to the sphere. He hadn't fainted, so he was technically still in the battle but I knew he'd done enough. "Alright bud," I spoke to Silas, still perched on my shoulder. "Get out there and show 'em what you can do." Silas was amped to join the fight, immediately leaping from my shoulder, enveloping himself in white light as he charged toward Royce and Patrat. He leapt over Royce at the last minute, colliding head-on with Patrat and sending it tumbling across the field, meeting the same fate as Butterfree before it. Before Patrat had been Recalled a new pokemon formed at Tessi's side, a Swadloon. The evolved form of Sewaddle, it shared the same colouration as its predecessor while standing 5 inches taller, its body now completely cloaked in leaves and a much rounder shape, the protrusions on its head have grown longer and into a darker colour than its prior form. The creature began immediately, sending a barrage of razor-sharp leaves toward Silas and Royce. Silas was able to avoid them with relative ease, the rock type, however, was not so fortunate, taking the brunt of the attack head-on.
"Silas, Intercept with Quick attack," I called out, knowing I had to take the new pokemon's attention off of Royce as quickly as possible. Before Silas' attack connected a purple shield-like bubble encased Swadloon, causing Silas to bounce right off, leaving the other pokemon unharmed. A flash of light crossed the field as another pokemon materialised in front of Royce. It was a small red creature, about two feet tall with a small bill and round bulbs on its head, resembling hair. Small claws came off of the creature's arms and legs. It was a Magby, a fire type pokemon usually found around Virbank City. Almost immediately after the creature appeared it shot a small blast of fire from its bill, straight at Silas, who was still recovering from bouncing off Swadloon's shield, causing him to take the blast directly to the side. As Silas flinched from the blast a chunk of rock hit the new Pokemon directly in the face before the ground beneath it began to shake. Magby jumped before a small crater opened up beneath it, turning its attention to Royce, sending a cloud of purple smoke straight towards him. Royce retaliated with another thrown rock as Silas regained his footing. Silas charged at swadloon again, faster than last time, landing a clean hit before the bug could get its shield back up he followed immediately with a pivot kick. After a brief flinch Swadloon struck back with another barrage of razor-sharp leaves. Silas flinched as the leaves struck him, causing his next tackle to fumble, barely making contact with the Swadloon. Silas overbalanced after his bungled tackle, causing him to trip and be left open to another strike from Magby, who charged forward cloaked in fire as Swadloon fired another razor leaf at Royce. Royce attempted to retaliate by throwing a rock at Swadloon, who was able to pull up another protective barrier causing the attack to bounce off and land in the dust nearby. As Silas worked on righting himself after stumbling Both of the other pokemon threw attacks toward Royce Simultaneously. One more razor leaf from Swadloon paired with a plume of white smoke completely engulfed the Immobile rock creature. I saw Ethan wince as the sounds of the attacks sparked across the battlefield, culminating in two distinct thuds. As the smoke cleared we could both see Royce, laying in the dirt. Facedown, fainted. Ethan clenched his fist before gripping a Pokeball in each hand. He recalled Royce and sent out
Ester in his place. The Dewott immediately darted forward, a Scalchop shell in each hand, it slashed at Magby once with each sending it reeling backward. Ester followed up immediately with a jet of water, pushing the creature even further back and knocking it off balance, eventually causing it to topple over. Ester then jumped back, narrowly avoiding another razor leaf from Swadloon. By this point, Silas had recovered and struck the Swadloon in the back while it was distracted. The creature toppled forward as the blow landed, barely keeping its footing. It spun around to see Silas had already moved. before another blow landed from its blind spot. A jet of water shot across the field, Connecting perfectly with the already off-balance swadloon, Succeeding in knocking it over onto its back. I glanced across to see that Ester had finished off Magby with relative ease and was now Converging on Swadloon. The two pokemon attacked at the same time, Silas' tackle bouncing off yet another of its protective shields before Esters' razor shell connected cleanly. Sending the creature back about a foot. Ester and Silas exchanged a quick glance before charging at Swadloon once again. Both of their Tackles connected at once, sending Swadloon tumbling back to its owner's feet. The leaves it held around its body fell slack and It stopped moving. Its eyes were in spirals and the battle was over. A bright red light flashed out as Tessi recalled her final pokemon as a look of sadness came across her face. 

We all met In the centre of the field after the referee had officially declared the end of the match. As we shook hands Tessi's partner gave me a short smile.
"Guess that title of yours is earned after all then, Eh Ace?" He said with a slight chuckle.
"Please don't call me that. Nobody calls me that," I replied with a huff.
"Aw, c'mon it's not every day you get to meet with a local celebrity."
"A local Celebrity? So people really are buying into that whole thing then." I shot Ethan a cold look, to which he responded with a light chuckle.
"I wouldn't be surprised if half of Unova knows about you by this point."
"So much for keeping a low profile." I sighed. The stranger turned to Tessi.
"Sorry Tess, guess we won't be taking that prize home after all." He rested a hand on her shoulder as he spoke.
"It's okay bro," she responded quietly. "At least we got to give it a try."
"It was a good battle," Ethan chimed in, "close too." We all exchanged nods before we went our separate ways.