“You’re not ready yet Wally! You need to train more!!”

Brendan sat back down in his seat, pushing his plate of nachos away angrily.

“Come on B-Boy buddy! I’m a good enough trainer to take on Roxanne. I’ve already beaten a lot of trainers AND got Whiris to learn a new attack!” he said, trying to find reason, shoving the pokeball proudly into Brendan’s hands.

Brendan sighed and rolled his eyes.
Once again, Wally’s stubbornness was taking advantage of him. And Wally’s parents thought he was a frail weakling! As if. If only they could see him now. His ego was already doubling in size rapidly.

He took the pokeball from Wally’s hands glancing at it nonchalantly before handing it back.

“Wow. Amazing” he said sarcastically, and then narrowing his eyes he said in a serious tone, “It was a TM anyway.”

“So?”
“The old timer gave it to you for free!”
“Well at least now we’ll be able to really defeat Roxanne with Whiris and her new Secret Power technique.”

There was no point in arguing anymore. Wally was as stubborn as a wild Tauros and it was unlikely he would let it go so easily.

“Listen Wally. All I’m saying is that this is all too new for you and you need to learn the rules before running off and battling strangers like Roxanne. She’ll go easy on you, I know, but you’re gonna get creamed with a team made up of only a wimpy Whismur. Sure you two are winning a few battles, but even if she does go soft on you, Roxanne isn’t somebody to underestimate.” Brendan explained.
“Well I’m battling Roxanne this afternoon whether you like it or not B-Boy” Wally replied, rubbing the pokeball on his cheek fondly before putting it back inside his bag, “Me and Whiris will win. I can feel it. She can feel it too. I know we can.”
“Sure whatever. And I’m sure Forest can sing the National anthem” he muttered aloud pulling his lunch towards him.

Wally grinned, missing the obvious sarcasm, as he took another bite out of his burger.

“I can’t believe I’m missing out on my contest for you Wally” he said quietly in the silence, glancing at his watch.
“I heard that” Wally cried out in a sing-song voice as he took another bite from his burger.

At least somebody’s happy, Brendan thought as he glanced out of the window. He caught sight of a mousey-haired Trainer as she tossed a scarlet frisbee through the air for her Swablu to catch. It did so gracefully, swooping down and catching it in it’s beak before returning to it’s trainer. Brendan felt himself grinning at it’s elegance. But the great performance had Brendan remember what he was missing out on, and it hit him like a ton of falling bricks, that this Swablu and it’s Trainer were probably going to enter the Verdanturf Contest too, and it made him sad to know that he wouldn’t be there to compete aswell.

The contest in Verdanturf Town would be starting at precisely 1:30 pm; if he was going, he would have just about an hour and a half to get there. He knew that at any given time if he felt like it, he could just fly there with his sister’s Pidgeot and get there in about half an hour’s time. He had to get there. Get that ribbon. Maybe afterwards he would be able to fit in a battle with Roxanne so that way he would get a badge too. That would be if Forest, his Treecko had enough energy the next day. His dad wouldn’t be able to resist cracking a smile at that. His son, Brendan Norton; child prodigy, pokemon trainer and top Co-Ordinater. His dad would finally have something about him to be proud about.

Brendan sighed again, and at once, a plan began to formulate in his head. His thin lips curved up into a small and rarely seen smile. What if? Just what if, he could slip out of the Gym at a time when Wally would be deeply engrossed in his Gym battle. Yeah, release Pidgeot outside… that’s it… and then fly to Verdanturf. It wouldn’t take long, there’s not that much ground to cover between Rustboro and Verdanturf. He could make the deadline.

His smile widened, but he dropped it carefully and pursed his lips tightly together and frowned. He couldn’t give any hints – even if they were as discreet as they could get. If he did, then it would be that plan thrown headfirst out of the window. His dad wasn’t exactly that fond of the Hoenn Pokemon Contests, he would have to get all of the ribbons without him finding out, the badges too. If he could get all of the ribbons then his dad wouldn’t be able to stop him. If his dad would find out during the Contests, no doubt he would take away his Trainer’s license. He couldn’t let that happen.

He forced all of the happiness out of his tone of voice.

“Fine then. You’re battling Roxanne. But I’m not helping you this time, from now on you’re fighting alone” and he let his cold gaze drop as he reached out for his lunch.

Wally nodded slowly, trying to stay calm, but it was obvious he was beyond happy-happy-happy point right now. Brendan kept his face straight, he couldn’t smile. He couldn’t ruin his chance…

“Are you sure you really want to go through with this?”

Brendan had asked this same question many times already, but still there was always that chance that Wally’s confidence would sullen. Now that the time was nearing to when he would put his plan into action, he wasn’t so sure it was going to work now. Besides, what if Wally was to finish his battle early? That was something he hadn’t considered earlier. Or what if his dad would come down and watch?

Nah, impossible, he thought dismissing that thought as realisation hit, Dad never does anything with me, as if he’s gonna come down here to watch Wally’s battle with me. He’ll flip when he finds out I’m not battling today anyway.

“And for the third time B-Boy, I DO want to battle Roxanne. This is my chance to prove to you that I’m not a softy!” Wally explained, his grin widening all the more and his eyes sparkling in enthusiasm.

Brendan sighed. Did everybody, him included, really want to prove themselves? He glanced over at Wally whose grin had turned smug and confident. At least some good was coming out of this all. Right from the start when Wally had gotten his Trainer’s licence, it was like he had had a beneficial boost of confidence. Before, Wally would seldom ever smile that much, only around Brendan of course. That was the only exception. But now it seemed like that idiotic grin would never leave, Brendan was happy for Wally about that, no matter how much it annoyed him.

“Alright then Wally. If you’re really sure...” he sighed, pushing open the Rustboro Gym’s double doors.

The light flooded into the dimly-lit Gym. Wally walked inside, still grinning and holding Whiris’ pokeball, ready to send her out. Brendan followed, allowing his eyes to adjust to the sudden contrast in light. He could feel the bulge of Pidgeot’s pokeball stuffed in his jean’s pocket. He hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

The Gym itself was made completely of rock it appeared. The walls inside were made of rocks with gave Brendan the idea that maybe the entire gym was made out of a now cleared away cliff side. The floor was paved in neat slabs of stone with darker coloured paving stones marking the battling arena in the middle of the Gym. The battle arena itself sloped here and there with the terrain as uneven and bumpy as ever with an arranged cluster of boulders here and there plotted about randomly. They probably gave Roxanne the advantage with the type of battle environment no doubt. Brendan didn’t feel too safe inside, he kept glancing anxiously up at the roof, almost half-expecting the ceiling to come crumbling down on top of them all. The only light came from primitive fire torches which were secured to the side, their flickering light casting ghastly shadows about the entire Gym. If anything it looked more like an abandoned dungeon than a Gym for Pokemon Trainers.

But after a few seconds, Brendan's attention left the building structure of the Gym and his gaze settled upon Gym Leader and pokemon.

But something about the Gym leader caught his eye. He knew her from somewhere. Wait….. Roxanne…. Didn’t sound familiar… But what was that? It looked like a chunky block of shimmering stone in blue with badly carved stubs for arms and legs.

Brendan instinctively pulled out his PokeDex; he had never seen anything like it. It was like a gigantic blue gem, glistening in the firelight. It had a huge ruby-like nose, human like and the short, stubby arms that only went to the side like a plastic doll. It gave Brendan the impression of that it was, in fact a chunk of sapphire with eyes and a nose in most aspects.

Brendan’s PokeDex blinked into life, announcing in it’s mechanical voice:

“Nosepass. The compass pokemon. Nosepass’ magnetic nose consistently faces north. They were believed to hardly ever move, although research has discovered and proven that this pokemon moves a little over 3/8 of an inch every year. It relies on it’s electrical attacks to protect itself from predators.”

Brendan frowned. Sure the lack of speed would be a huge advantage to Wally, but electrical typed moves? Would one little Whismur be able to handle such a variety in attack techniques? Brendan glanced over at Wally who was taking deep breaths in and out and clutching his side. All of the colour escaped his already pale face and he looked all the more frail with his lack of height and body mass. His sickness had come back again. Poor Wally. Brendan wasn’t sure what to do. Roxanne didn’t seem to notice. She was petting her Nosepass which stood facing her leg. So that was north huh?

“I’ve come to challenge you Roxanne” he said boldly at long last, the colour flushing back to his cheeks immediately.

Roxanne turned, looked Wally up and down and tutted, waggling her finger in disappointment, saying, “Every Trainer must have an ounce of politeness and proper decorum. We first introduce ourselves and our battling pokemon before the Trainer requests a battle with the respective Gym Leader of the Gym.”

Brendan remembered Roxanne perfectly now. The way she talked, stood, looked – it was enough for him to remember perfectly who she really was. She was his old head teacher from the Royal Rustboro Academy, the proclaimed school of Hoenn and the starting place for all talented Trainers. He had rarely ever seen her at school, only a glimpse here and there helping out with somebody or something. Weird, he couldn’t recognise her by first name at all, but the moment he heard her stern tone, the memory was so sharp that the name ‘Ms. Slate’ hit him like a ton of bricks. Maybe it was also because her hairstyle and clothes– her usual navy blue dress and her pink tights – were distinctive enough. Ms. Slate was said to have been – and still be – the strictest but fairest teacher in the entire school; it was the ‘strict’ part which had had Brendan behaving for all of those years, he never really had much of a reason to become acquainted with her much because of that. But Roxanne didn’t seem all that scary now. Sure she trained rock types, and had the entire place made from rocks too show her passion about the subject, but she was a softy. That was what his brother, Bryan, had called her anyway. One big softy. But then again, there had been those few moments when Bryan would be wrong. Like the time Bryan had promised Brendan that when catching a pokemon, you just throw a rock and then a pokeball and it would be caught in less than five seconds. The end result was painful, but the memory alone made him smile. How much he had changed since then, he wasn’t nearly as trusting and gullible as he was six years ago. Bryan had changed too. Because of what had happened that is. Everybody changed after that. That was why he had just left one day. And Brianna became a referee, even though she hates it. Brendan’s smile vanished and he felt an uncomfortable lump form in his throat.

“Ah my two best students, Wallace Umbridge and Brendan Norton, Norman’s kid.”

Brendan forced a little smile and nodded his head. Did everybody have to identify him by that name? ‘Norman’s Kid’ had a name after all.

“I’m guessing you boys want to battle right?” Roxanne carried on, approaching them both whilst her Nosepass followed slowly, tottering along leisurely “You’ll have to battle one after the other, two pokemon each okay?”

Weird. It does move after all.

“Oh no, he’s the one who wants to battle. I’m just watching you two” Brendan said, taking a step to the side and gesturing over to Wally who’s grin had just became even bigger with pride, “But Wally doesn’t have two pokemon. Only one Miss.”

It just didn’t feel all that right calling her Roxanne after years of her being Miss.

“Alright then,” she took two pokeballs from the badly made shelf beside the doors. She handed one to Wally, keeping the other for herself.

Well there was no denying that now it was going to be a sure two-on-two Gym battle.

“So are we battling then?” Roxanne asked, taking up her position from her side of the arena, Nosepass standing beside her.

Maybe she would go easy on Wally, let him have the advantage. She had just given him one of her pokeballs so she would go soft, especially when she’s fighting against her own pokemon right?

“Alright then! I’m Wally!!” Wally cried, with newfound confidence, “And this is Whiris!” and he held the pokeball in the air as if it were as valuable as a trophy of gold.

Brendan felt an ounce of embarrassment. Roxanne simply smiled. At what? At Wally’s cockiness? He placed a hand in his pocket and when he felt the cold touch of the pokeball he too smiled.

“It will be Pokemon Gym battle. Two pokemon each, one at a time. You cannot switch to a third pokemon. The last pokemon standing will be announced the winner. The time limit does not apply, any pokemon can be used but once again, cannot be changed” barked the referee.

Brendan turned to watch the starting match.
He might as well pretend he was there to support Wally, even if it was going to be for only a few minutes.

Roxanne stepped forward, flicking her long black hair out of her face and winking to Brendan. She produced her chosen pokeball, throwing it forward so it landed near the centre of the arena. Wally did the same, running one hand through his green hair before taking a confident step forward and throwing out Whiris’ pokeball.

Obviously his new ‘style’ Brendan thought, sighing exasperated. Roxanne seemed amused at this. What he hated more than life itself was an overly-confident and extremely cocky trainer.

Both pokemon emerged from their pokeballs, Roxanne’s first, and then Wally’s. The bulky Geodude showing off it’s rocky muscles the moment it was released, and Whiris letting out a hearty battle cry before taking up it’s battle stance, it’s ears twitching.

“Cute little trooper you got there Wallace, let’s hope you taught it something useful… Geodude start this up with Tackle!!” Roxanne ordered, taking another step forward and pointing at the lone Whismur.
“Whiris Screech!”
“Geeeeoo!”

Whiris didn’t hesitate. She inhaled and suddenly the silence was filled with the sound equivalent of chalk screeching across a black-board.

The sudden outburst of noise had Geodude stop in it’s tracks immediately. Roxanne gritted her teeth in displeasure. Brendan couldn’t help but cry out at the unbearable noise, clutching his ears as if he wanted to just rip them off right there and then just to make the noise stop. The only person not affected by this was Wally who stood triumphantly with one hand in a fist, not forgetting Whiris who carried out the attack as if she couldn’t hear a thing. But that was a daft thing to say, she was half deaf anyway. The referee gritted his teeth too, obviously in agony, but still watching the battle for any foul play.

“Wally!!!! Use Secret Power!!” Brendan roared over the noise, picking up a small pebble and aiming it at Wally’s arm. It hit him on target and Wally immediately turned to see his partner, still trying to cover his ears from the noise.

Roxanne had gathered her wits and was already calling out another attack.
“Geodude let’s see some more energy!” she urged on, stepping forward to show her determination to win, “Come on! You can take this!”
“Keep it up Whiris, switch to Supersonic!” Wally cried out, grinning ecstatically.

The Whismur, on command, stopped and there was sweet silence, for a second at least, before Screech started up on an even higher and ear-piercing note than before.

Brendan felt like insulting Wally right now. Especially since Wally hadn’t even taken his advice into consideration. Geodude is known for it’s hardiness, and eventually it’s brawl is going to overcome the noise and Whiris would have a painful defeat. Had Wally ever paid attention back at school?

“Good work Geodude” Roxanne cheered as her pokemon let out a cheerful battle cry, “You know Wallace, you remind me of my previous opponent. Davina, Professor Birch’s girl. Her and her Combusken had a near perfect battling style. Kind of like you.”

Wally grinned bashfully, Brendan took the chance and instead decided now was a good time to show his support too, despite Wally’s confidence to do things his stubborn and aimless way.

“Keep it up Wally” Brendan cheered on, retreating to the wall and clutching Pidgeot’s pokeball in his hand firmly.

Wally grinned at Brendan and did a thumbs-up signal to his companion.
“Whiris let’s try Double Team!”

The Whismur nodded to it’s trainer before forcing it’s eyes into tight slits and concentrating it’s energy. It let out it’s battle cry again and immediately became two, four, eight.

Brendan knew the effects of Double Team, the user would duplicate itself by obviously, doubling. First doubling itself into two and then four and so on. It was something he had learnt during his time at the Academy. Soon there were a total of sixteen Whiris’ forming a loose circle around the Geodude. Roxanne didn’t seem the least daunted by this attack; she simply smiled and flicked a strand of pitch black hair out of her eyes before winking again at Brendan.

“Geodude how ‘bout a good ol’ Rock Throw to find out which are the copies and where our little battler is hiding?”
“Geoo dude!”

Brendan froze.
Rock Throw! Whiris wouldn’t be safe for long now.

“Whiris stop Geodude with your Secret Power” Wally commanded, a hint of worry coming over his tone.

Secret Power… Brendan could just barely remember…

*Flashback*

*End Of Flashback*

Whiris had already launched it’s attack… or the Whiris’. Secret Power had taken the form of something closely resembling a Hyper or Solar Beam, Brendan wasn’t sure. But sixteen beams were shot at the anxious Geodude who was caught in the middle of the ring of Whiris’ anyway.

“Geodude Defence Curl! Forget about Rock Throw! Use Defence Curl!!” Roxanne screamed.

Just in time Geodude curled itself into a hovering boulder as the beams hit it and dust and smoke engulfed the battlers and their Trainers.

“Whiris!!”
“Geodude!!”

The muffled shouts of worried Trainers sounded. Coughs from all directions and the cries of pokemon echoed off the rocky walls as the dust and smoke engulfed everyone and everything nearby.

Here was his chance. All he had to do was walk to the over-sized double doors, pull them open, walk out and he would be free. But what about Wally? What if maybe the Gym was falling down?

Brendan spared a glance at the ceiling uncertainly and was glad to see it was still intact, as was the rest of the building.

“Whiris!!” came the delighted cry of Wally.

There was no questioning it now. Both Wally and Whiris were safe, though Brendan couldn’t be too sure about Geodude after seeing that hit.

He had to get to Verdanturf. He just had to. Here was his big chance, embracing him like a pair of open arms.

He looked down at Pidgeot’s pokeball in his hand. Tightening his grip around the handle, he pushed as gently as possible as not to attract any unneeded attention.

“Whiris use Supersonic to find Geodude!”
“Come on Geodude. Get up. You can take this little Whismur!”

Maybe Wally would win without him after all. Little Whiris was doing pretty good in holding out to this Geodude.

“Geodude Focus Punch!”

Take it back then, Brendan thought as he pictured a huge rocky fist thrust through the air into Whiris’ side. There would be no way Whiris would be able to survive now.

Brendan shook his head angrily, he had to go. Wally would have fight this battle alone, without him suggesting every attack he should use. It’s not as if Wally would listen anyway. They had both been to school, Wally would just have to use his head for once. Figure it out on his own. He slipped through the open door, unnoticed and held Pidgeot’s pokeball out in front of him.

“Pidgeot, fly me to Verdanturf” he whispered, hurling the pokeball up into the sky.

The pokeball split and Pidgeot took form, stretching it’s wings and cawing out before landing next to him. Brendan climbed onto it’s feathered back, whispering his thanks as the Pidgeot beat it’s wings against the air.

Nothing was stopping him now.

“Welcome all to the fifth Annual Pokemon Contest Festival!!” announced the hostess, as she grabbed hold of the mic in front of her and raised a hand to the cheering audience. The noise died down immediately as the hostess flicked her blonde hair over one shoulder and continued, “As you all should know, this is the Verdanturf Normal Ranking Contest where our Pokemon Co-Ordinaters will take their first step on that long, winding stairway to being a talented individual and this year’s winner of Top Pokemon Co-Ordinater!!!”

There was another outburst of applause as two Charmeleons entered the stage from the side, one Charmeleon holding an envelope which it handed to the hostess before leaving with it’s partner.

“Well look here” said the hostess in fake amusement, winking at the audience as the camera did a massive zoom in on her face. She opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of card inside.

“First of all I would like to give a huge hand to our sponsors, Devon Corporation and Woodland Trust!” she cried into the mic. She then announced, motioning to one side of the stage, “Now can I please remind you all, that we are honoured to have Last Year’s Second Place, Grand Festival Winner compete again in this years Contest! Give a big hand to Rick from Lavender Town!!”

Brendan stood amongst all twenty-eight of them all, fifth from the back with Forest the Treecko standing beside him. He still couldn’t believe it all. Here he was! In an actual contest!! His excitement was so strong that all of his nervousness and anxiety had disappeared. Nothing could go wrong now. Not even Last Year’s Second Place Winner could bring him down.

“And here’s Rick now with Caesar his dazzling Butterfree. Look at those wings!” cried the hostess, “Well come on then Rick. Show us what you’re Caesar can do!”

Rick smirked, running a hand through his blonde hair confidently in a way that reminded Brendan of Wally, throwing his pokeball out onto the stage.

“Caesar Sleep Powder!” he commanded, snapping his fingers and smiling smugly.
“Freee” it cried as it flapped it’s wings and glittering, blue dust was scattered all around.

Whispers of awe sounded and Rick simply smirked again.

“Silver Wind Caesar!”
“Brefreeeeeee” it cried out in a melodic way as it conjured up a gust of wind that swept the settled Sleep Powder back off the floor.

Brendan breathed in, his eyes opening with astonishment. The Butterfree had transformed one Silver Wind into a beautifully controlled tornado, decorated with the glimmering, blue, toxic dust from Sleep Powder.

“Oh my! The Judges must be impressed!” exclaimed the hostess, motioning for the camera to film the Judges table as they whispered amongst themselves, nodding to each other and smiling.

Rick didn’t look like he was aware of other people watching him now; it was as if he was in his own little world with Caesar, calling out simple orders and commands that the Butterfree carried out with loyalty. Brendan envied him. The crowd had already begun to chant out ‘Rick! Rick! Rick!’

“Caesar!! Catch this!” and he threw a small green tennis ball up into the air, then another and another.

The Silver Wind trapped the three green tennis balls inside as if they were prisoners, twirling and spinning them round and round. Rick was standing proudly, nodding his Butterfree on in encouragement, Caesar panting with the effort of it all. The crowd cheered them on, dog-whistling in anticipation.

“Confusion Caesar! Just like always!” Rick cried out determined as ever.

Despite tiredness and nearing exhaustion, Caesar froze the Silver Wind with Confusion and the audience breathed in before erupting in applause. It looked like a silvery tornado set free to destroy, was frozen in time. The hostess grinned and the judges seemed impressed as they too exchanged looks of amazement and whispered to one another. The noise died down almost as quickly as it had started up.

“Let it go Caesar” Rick said quietly in a hushed and barely audible whisper as silence filled the air.

Caesar did so, releasing the Silver Wind twister and letting it fall slowly as the Sleep Powder settled like shimmering blue glitter, falling from the sky as gently as snow. The three tennis balls fell as if nothing had happened, rolling off the stage this way and that whilst the Sleep Powder leisurely came down as if everything except the three tennis balls were travelling in slow motion. A strange and unnatural stillness swept over the audience and the contestants watching from backstage breathed in, eyes glued to the beautiful sight in front of them.

Brendan had lifted Forest onto his shoulder some time ago so that his pokemon companion could get a closer look at the competition that lay ahead, and he was glad to see that the sly Treecko was as dazzled by the display as he was. The pure magnificence and elegance of Silver Wind, how it was twisted and turned till it took the form of a controlled tornado. The ghastly silence made his body shiver, but he strangely enough didn’t want it to stop…

It felt like hours until the last of Sleep Powder lay dead on the floor did Caesar only then gratefully perch itself on Rick’s outstretched arm. The moment Caesar landed was the spell broken and the crowd burst out in applause.

“My my! How beautiful was that? Let’s see what our wonderful judges think!" she cried into the mic, gesturing to the Judge’s table.

Brendan didn’t listen to the score they had given him. But guessing from the proud Rick who strode back, with Caesar perched half-asleep on his arm, it was a safe thing to say that he had obviously gotten a satisfying score. Maybe even a 25.

“Well that was Rick with a near perfect score of 28.9!!!” said the hostess.

28.9!!
That was close to the highest score anybody could ever get out of 30!!

“Enter our next contestant! Here comes Hunter of Blackthorn City” the hostess continued.

Brendan didn’t listen to the rest of the introduction; he had his eyes only on Rick and Caesar. Those wings… those glorious wings. Such strength in just one pokemon like a Butterfree would be hard to find. Bug types weren’t known for this kind of strength, yet Caesar was so strong. But he did exhaust easily, there was that to keep in mind…

He glanced up at his Treecko, which was more interested in watching a Machamp place a small trampoline in the middle of the stage. The crowd exploded in an outburst of excitement, cheering louder than ever.

“Treecko tree” cried Forest, nudging his trainer impatiently.

Brendan’s attention snapped back to the second contestant, Hunter. He would have to watch carefully to learn of his new opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. He didn’t look as proud and head-strong as Rick, more modest-looking. Brendan guessed his age to be about sixteen, older than Brendan by two years. He had blue jeans that were frayed at the trim and a red shirt. Where his leather belt should be was a Trainer’s belt, with three pokeballs clinging onto it. Hunter pushed his glasses further up his nose before unclipping the first pokeball.

He nodded to the Judges before closing his eyes and releasing a Grovyle. There was total silence, apart from a few gasps and mumbles about the dinky trampoline. And then, as if he had just awoken from a deep sleep Hunter cried out two simple words only a pokemon, like Grovyle, would understand.

“Iron Tail!”

Without a second to lose Grovyle swung it’s tail round and… Wham! It slammed it’s tail onto the centre of the trampoline and was propelled backwards in one fluid motion.

“Again!” Hunter cried.

Grovyle didn’t need to be told. The moment it landed perfectly poised had it already sped forward, swinging it’s tail round and Wham! Once again propelled backwards.

“Wow” Brendan muttered, wincing as Grovyle performed another Iron Tail on the trampoline and was propelled backwards once again.
“Tree” Forest replied, and Brendan was sure it meant something along the lines of ‘wow’ too.

Wham!
Another Iron Tail.

“Leaf Blade!” Hunter ordered, tossing an expensive-looking plate into the air.

With one swipe Grovyle sliced the plate cleanly into half. The plate hit the floor with a crash, shattering into several pieces. The crowd flinched although they had not been hit by the flying fragments. Only Hunter and Grovyle remained oblivious to the amount of noise they were causing.

“Fury Cutter!”

Hunter tossed the second plate into the air. Grovyle sped forward yet again, swinging it’s tail and slamming it onto the trampoline, soaring backwards through the air and using Fury Cutter to slice the plate into quarters.

“Amazing! A clean cut! The Judges must be amazed!” the hostess cried into the mic.

“Sorry. Excuse me, sorry! That’s my big brother out there. Excuse me. Sorry”
“Hey!” Brendan complained as he felt a small, pointed elbow poke him in the thigh.
He looked down to see a small girl, about half his size pushing her way to the front. When she got there she stood waving one hand in the air to Hunter.

“Yeah! You rock big bro!” she cheered on.
“Min nun!” the Minun in her arms squealed.

She looked tomboyish, her blonde hair held back in messy pigtails, dressed in a frayed T-shirt that had seen better days and a pink denim skirt with the colour fading away. Her trainers were caked in mud mixed in with grass. But around her neck she wore a chain with what looked like a fang hanging like a pendant. Brendan wasn’t sure if it was a fake or real since the crash of plates brought his attention back to Grovyle’s performance before he had a chance to think about it twice.

“Finish this off with Leaf Blade!” and Hunter tossed two plates at once into the air.

Once again, Grovyle performed a perfect Leaf Blade, slicing both plates in half, one after the other landing with the skill and grace of a ninja. And on either side the evolved grass starter, the plates came crashing down.

“Grovyle return” said Hunter, clipping the now occupied pokeball back onto his belt.

The audience burst out in applause once again and Hunter blushed shyly, twiddling his thumb with his forefinger, unsure of what to do next.

“Wasn’t my brother really amazing?”
“Well that was truly shocking! But let’s see what the professionals think!” announced the hostess.
“Hey. I’m talking to you!”

Brendan was surprised to look down to see the little girl staring straight back up at him in frustration.

“Sorry, I’m kinda trying to lis-”
“I said my brother was amazing. Wasn’t he?” the girl demanded, placing a hand on her hip and glaring angrily at him.

It made Brendan smile to see what looked like a seven year old be so cocky and rude to a stranger.

“Yeah your brother was great” Brendan mumbled, straining to hear the score they had given Hunter.
“That’s what I thought” she said happily, turning away to watch her brother some more.

“And the Judges’ final score is 25.6!” announced the hostess cheerily.