A Blond Ray of Sunshine

Chapter 18

While Fireball continued to look off in the direction that Antoshi had gone, Serenity unexpectedly appeared beside him.

"Hello again, Fireball," she said, warmly.

Fireball jumped in surprise, looking at her in disbelief. 'Whoa,' he thought, 'where the heck did she come from?'

Serenity gazed off into the distance. "Looks like the two of them are getting ready to square off again. It's hard to see anything from here, though. Would you like to move somewhere else to watch?" Fireball nodded with enthusiasm. Serenity smiled and held out a hand to him. "In that case, grab on."

Fireball hesitantly placed a claw in her hand. She took hold of him, and the two slowly ascended together. The larger Typhlosion flailed momentarily in a panic while she guided him through the air.

'She can fly too?!' he thought. Serenity brought him up to the roof of a nearby building. They were in a direct line of sight of where the two boys faced off.

"I think is much better, don't you?" she asked. Fireball nodded to her, his eyes wide with surprise. She gently laughed in response.

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"So," Latoshi continued, "I can see you're not here to take me up on the offer I left you. You're not going to score any bonus points trying to look tough in front of me or your Typhlosion pet. Where is he, anyway? Trying to get the jump on me or something? ... Come on out, Fireball!" Latoshi looked around with a smirk.

"He's not here," Antoshi replied, bringing Latoshi's focus back to him. "I'm giving you the chance to make peace. Latoshi, I promise that I'll accept you as my brother, as long as you agree to stop this insanity."

Latoshi was thoroughly surprised. "Wait, you'd ... actually do that?"

'I wonder what it would've been like,' Latoshi suddenly recalled his thoughts from over a week ago, 'if I ... had actually gotten to know Antoshi instead of fighting him. Maybe the two of us could be talking about Pokémon stuff right now. That would be pretty normal. Kind of like ... a family.'

Latoshi looked away. 'What was that? Is Antoshi messing with my head with some new power? Or was that a m— a memory? ...' The sable-haired boy shook it off, turning to his rival with a bitter glare.

"Tell me, Latoshi, what are we fighting for? We've got to end this war!"

Latoshi scoffed. "Don't start thinking that sentimental crap will work. It might work on your pet, but, not on me."

"I already know about Lazarus," Antoshi said. Latoshi tilted his head curiously. "I know that Lazarus is controlling you. He's manipulating you. This isn't who you really are. Fight against it, Latoshi! Listen to me, and get Lazarus' influence out of your head!"

"Oh, man, whoa!" Latoshi replied, sarcastically, pretending to stumble around. "You—you got me, Antoshi! I—I can feel myself coming back to normal! You saved me! Oh, you saved me!" Latoshi made a bursting motion with his hands next to his head, and an exploding noise with his mouth. Antoshi scowled, unimpressed, while Latoshi laughed at him. "Gee, you sure have everything neatly figured out, huh?" he asked, amused. "But, there you go, again, trying to be the moral authority, thinking you know what's best for me. What kind of epiphany did you have to figure me out so perfectly?"

"I have a new ally now. She told me all about Lazarus and who—err, what it is."

Latoshi scoffed. "Some girl? You're following the words of someone you don't even know? Someone you can't even trust?"