Swanna Girl and Braivary Man 3: The Rogue Hero

Chapter 9: Blair's Battle

"I accept your challenge," I said, surprising everyone in the room, including myself. 

Blair's smirk slowly diminished as I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and walked towards her. I didn't even have to look back to know Rena was giving me a disapproving look, but I had to do this. Something inside of me said I had to prove that I was good. If this battle was all I had to do to prove to someone I was good, then I'd do it.

But a battle with a Pokémon I've hardly battled with? I wasn't sure if this was a smart idea. No matter what, Blair was going to keep her mouth shut. What was at stake was how much help Rena could give me. Surely, she could visit me after hours, but after opening her own business and inventing as many things as she could to help out the people in this world, Rena hardly had any free time. She had more important things to worry about than me.

"W-wait, really?" Blair asked as I stood a few feet away from her, keeping an open area for our Pokémon to battle.

"Sylvia, don't you dare do this," Rena warned. "Blair, you're—"

"She's right," I interrupted, looking back at Rena. "Look, I know people aren't going to trust me anymore. If a battle is all it's going to take to earn some sort of trust, then I'll give her a battle. Blair doesn't need to be fired or anything because I understand where she's coming from." I turned to look back at my opponent. "If we battle, it will be on my terms. One-on-one. No holding back. No substitutions or use of any items. Understood?"

Blair nodded her head. "Understood. Zoe, I choose you!"

I watched as Blair threw her Poké Ball into the air. A flash of light escaped the capsule as a Pokémon emerged, landing on the ground with her four legs. The Pokémon let out a mighty roar, despite being a small electric-type with some white stripes accenting her black fur. Her blue and yellow eyes stared at me, before the Pokémon took one of her hooves and brushed it on the ground, signaling she was ready for battle.

My lips pressed together. Braviary may have an advantage as he could fly in the air, but a Blitzle wasn't the kind of Pokémon to be easily beat. Even if she still had room to grow and evolve, Blitzle—or Zoe, as Blair nicknamed her—still had the type advantage. She was also a very fast kind of Pokémon.

There was no way I could do this without a plan. If things had gone my way, I would've sent out Audino or Mienshao, who were really good at battling tough opponents. But I couldn't do that when they were hurting right now. I was just lucky enough to have one Pokémon with me who could battle.

I just wish things would've ended a bit differently so that Rena's reputation wasn't on the line. My hand grabbed his Poké Ball and tossed it in the air. Instead of looking at Braviary, I looked back at Rena.

She looked angry as her face grew red and she glared at both Blair and me, but she didn't say a word.

"I'll take the first move," Blair announced. "Zoe, start out with Quick Attack!"

My head snapped back over towards the battle, finding Zoe zipping towards Braviary. The Blitzle didn't seem to have a second to lose. Seeing how fast she was moving, I don't think there was much time that Braviary could dodged it.

"Braviary, use your Aerial Ace attack," I yelled.

Instead of Braviary's body being wrapped in a white light like a normal Aerial Ace would, his body turned white, right before he dove towards Zoe. The light changed into a blue, a sign that he wasn't using Aerial Ace at all, but rather, he was using Brave Bird.

That move would recoil, causing damage. Knowing his and Zoe's attack would hit head on, we couldn't afford having an attack like that. This wasn't a practice battle where there wouldn't be consequences. Like every battle I seem to fight in, there was something at risk.