let's go on a JOURNEY! (POKEMON ORAS)

7. STRUGGLE

"Lombre! Use Bubble Beam! And Marshtomp, use Mud Bomb!"

The two pokémon gave affirmative cries, and each fired off their respectful attacks. The long stream of bubbles that came from Lombre's mouth all collided and burst with force against a nearby rock. Meanwhile, Marshtomp's attack went hurdling into the ground. It was enough to break the earth and send dirt flying in various sorts of directions.

"Great job, Lombre! But Marshtomp, that was a little shaky," May said. "Please aim for the rock next time."

"Marsh," the amphibious pokémon frowned. He crossed his arms and turned away to pout.

"All right! Now, Taillow, use Double Team! And Numel, use Ember and try to hit him!"

Taillow perched upon the rock. He flapped his wings, and his image split into multiples upon multiples. The blurred, constantly rotating illusion spun around and around. The tiny bird pokémon was now nothing but streaks of navy and white.

May's freshly captured Numel was unsure how to react to this. She was a timid creature, for sure, but for the most part she did all right in battle. She took a few uneasy steps forward, and she cast forth a feeble stream of flames. They didn't even touch the illusion... Or come close, for that matter.

"That's not going to work," May groaned. "Use more force!"

Numel inched closer and exhaled some more dense flames. However, they just barely grazed Taillow. The spinning visage was still going strong. With her ears laying flat against her head, Numel backed away from Taillow. She felt too embarrassed to try again.

"Good grief, we're a mess," May sighed. She sat down on the ground and buried her head in her hands. "I can't go against my dad like this..."

The upcoming gym battle between her and her own father had her stressed beyond belief. Up to this point, she did all right with her gym battles. Wattson was a struggle, and Flannery was more difficult than expected. But she still won, and that's all that mattered to her.

Her biggest fear was letting her parents down. If she lost to her dad, she was afraid he would be disappointed in her. She could lose to any other gym leader in Hoenn and it wouldn't scathe her one bit. But her dad... If she lost to him, she couldn't handle it. If she lost to him, she could never face him again.

Something breathed coal-hot embers against her arm. May yelped and leaped up on her feet. Numel stood there, looking as meek as ever. "Numel, what did you do that for?" she scolded in a harsh tone.

"Marshtomp tomp!" Marshtomp butted in, walking over to May and crossing his arms once more.

"I need to get it together...? Is that what you're saying?" she asked, easing up her voice. Her pokémon all gathered around and nodded in agreement. With a smile, she laughed and said, "Hey, I'm the one who's calling the shots here! C'mon, let's get back to it!"