The Light Of A Flare

Chapter 8 - Why would you do that?

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. That didn't sound good. I began to panic. "Uh, Fennekin, use... Ember?" Pull yourself together, I thought to myself. Be strong for Fennekin. "Yeah, Ember! Let's go!"

Fennekin looked around at me, nodding fiercely. Turning back, Fennekin released its embers as the powder floated across the room. The powder was simply burned up, and the embers continued through, narrowly missing Vivillon.

At this point, I was beginning to gain confidence. "Scratch, keep the pace up!" Fennekin ran at Vivillon, claws extended, as our foe struggled to get out of the way. "Now, Flame Charge!" Again, Vivillon dodged by the narrowest of margins. "Once more! Scratch!"

This time, I was certain it would hit - and I was right. Fennekin slashed at Vivillon, clipping its wing.

Then, Viola called a move.

"Struggle Bug!"

Tendrils of green energy escaped from Vivillon's pink wings, collecting around, and surrounding, my fire-type partner. Fennekin was soon immobilised, before being squeezed into submission. When the tendrils released Fennekin, it was done.

"Fennekin is unable to battle! Vivillon wins!"

I gasped. Just one move, I thought to myself. How can Eevee stand up to that? And she still has one more Pokémon. I steeled myself, ready to send out my last Pokémon and best friend. "Eevee, let's do this!" I threw out my arm dramatically, watching my partner leap jovially onto the battlefield.

"Ready?" Viola asked me, and I nodded in response. "Then Struggle Bug!"

I grimaced. "Eevee, dodge with Quick Attack!"

Eevee began to leave a slipstream, moving so fast it was barely visible. The tendrils of energy fizzled out uselessly, and I called a move.

"Tackle!"

Eevee used the momentum from its dodge to spin toward Vivillon; but the butterfly simply span elegantly out of the way. Then, it got worse.

"Quiver Dance!"

Vivillon's stats rose again. "Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed rise with this move," my Pokédex droned. I winced.

"Quick Attack!"

Eevee again flew toward the butterfly Pokémon at high speed; and again Vivillon span gracefully away. It's too fast, I thought to myself. But can it dodge this?

"Swift!"

Eevee stopped, pivoted and fired a burst of stars at Vivillon in one motion. The infuriating pink bug tried to dodge, but the stars followed it until it simply gave up, bracing itself for the impact and falling slightly out of the air.

"We have to make this count, Eevee," I told my partner. I knew that Viola would try to stop us using Swift again, so we had to get our damage in now. "Use Tackle!"

Eevee again span quickly at Vivillon, who was this time unable to dodge. It was thrown back into the arena wall, and we waited.

But it rose.

Slowly but surely, the butterfly pushed itself up and hovered above the dusty ground. Viola winced.

"Can you battle?" she called out. Receiving a determined cry of "Vivee!", she called her next move.

"Gust!"

The sudden blast of wind knocked Eevee off its feet, and it was unrelenting. Clutching hopelessly at the dust, Eevee was slammed into the wall. And the Gym Leader wasn't done there.