Chapter 18 - Katrina Vs. Brandon Part II

"Charcoal!" I let out my Charmeleon & he didn't even look back or ask any questions when he saw his opponent was Brandon. He only narrowed his eyes & prepared himself. Brandon sent out his Anorith, a fatal mistake. I may not have had a type advantage, but I knew my Charmeleon would win this battle almost instantly. I was very wrong.

"Anorith! Use Water Gun!" I panicked as I heard this command. I had been so stupid I forgot Anorith knew Water Gun. Duhh! I self palmed myself as I saw Charcoal get hit. He tried to hide it, but I saw he was hurt.

"Charcoal! Use Ember!" I cried. He did as he was told & let out an Ember attack. Anorith was also significantly hurt. "Use Scratch Anorith!" Anorith lunged foward faster than I imagined it would have, & I called out for a Smokescreen as Anorith was about to hit Charcoal. Luckily, this stopped the Scratch attack. As the smoke began to clear, I saw Charocoal & Anorith's sillouette.

"Charcoal! Use Dragon Rage!" Things worked out in my favor & Dragon Rage hit Anorith. "Scratch Charcoal!" I commanded again & Scratch landed. It didn't do much, however. "Water Gun!" Damn Brandon. "Dodge it then use Ember!" Again, things went in my favor. Charcoal dodged the Water Gun & landed a pretty intense Ember, knocking out Anorith.

"Round two goes to you," Brandon smiled at me. "I know," I answered cockily, making him smile even more.

Next I sent out Relic. He calmly took his place & faced his opponent, who would be Poliwag. "Jolt!" I heard Jolteon call out to me. He wanted to battle. "Not now, boy. Next time, I promise. If you join this battle it won't be five on five anymore," I pet him softly as he frowned. But he understood, & sat beside me, watching the battle.

"Relic use Mud Shot!" I commanded. Relic shot his move at Poliwag, who was fiercly waiting for Brandon's command. "Use Water Gun!" The two moves hit against each other, & for a few seconds, seemed to be the same in strength. However, Relic's Mud Shot began to overpower Poliwag's move.

"Poliwag, move & use Double Slap!" Poliwag leapt aside quickly, & dove towards Relic. As he was about to use his move, I called for an Absorb, which worked well, considering it was super-effective. "Poliwag, use Body Slam!" I couldn't do anything to stop this move from hitting my Pokemon.

"Harden, Relic." I decided to put up his defenses. "Poliwag, use Water Gun." Water Gun didn't do too much damage. "Mud Shot." "Dodge it!" Unfortunately for Brandon, Poliwag was unable to move quick enough to dodge my Kabuto's attack, sending his tiny little tadpole Pokemon stumbling backwards. I took advantage of my opponent being on the ground & had Relic use Scratch. With a surpisingly fast sort of crawling, he quickly made his way to Poliwag & used his move.

"Absorb!" I was certain Poliwag would be out by this move, & when I saw him get up again, I was a bit disapointed. Not at Relic, but at myself, for underestimating my opponent. While I stared in disbelief that Poliwag was still able to battle, Brandon took advantage of this & had Poliwag use Hypnosis. "Relic!" I knew he wasn't able to dodge it, he wasn't fast enough. He tried his best, but Hypnosis hit, & moments later, Relic was sleeping.

I called him back. He wouldn't wake up in time, & there was no use in putting him in anymore pain, it wouldn't change the outcome.

"& round three is Brandon's," Adriana called, not sounding very excited about it. "Yes," I heard Brandon say victoriously. "Chill, you haven't won yet," I smirked holding Phantom's Pokeball. I had high hopes that he would do great in taking out Brandon's next Pokemon. Brandon was also holding a Pokeball. He looked at me & nodded. At the same tine we threw them up, revealing our opponents.

Phantom hovered over to me, showering me with affection. He was huddling against me. I heard Adriana mutter an "Awwww."

"Phantom, I like hugging you & all, but right now we need to battle okay?" I asked nicely. He glanced up at me, nodded vigorously, & turned to face Brandon's Squirtle. Phantom smirked at him, making Squirtle a little uncomfortable.

"Squirtle, let's try a Water Gun!" It was no use. Phantom avoided it, without me having to say anything. "Bubble!" Again, Phantom dodged it with ease. "Lick." I was calm as I called out my moves. Phantom glided over to Squirtle & licked the side of his face, sending chills down Squirtle's spine. He cowered away, frightened & withdrew into his shell. I felt bad about having to attack him.

"Phantom, don't attack yet. Let Squirtle come out of his shell first," I instructed, feeling bad about attacking the frightened Pokemon. "Squirtle? Are you alright? Do you wanna stop?" Brandon asked softly. Squirtle came back out, & took a look at Phantom. He mustered up all of his courage, stood back on his feet, & shook his head. I smiled,"Alright. Let's do this."

No sooner had Squirtle showed his trainer he was ready, Brandon called out for another attack. "Use Bubble!" "Shadow Ball." Our Shadow Ball easily overpowered Squirtle's Bubble attack, & his bubbles disapeared into thin air.

"Use Bite!" This move did land, & it was super-effective to Phantom. He was hurt, but he smiled at me to show me that he was still in good shape.

"Try Night Shade?" It sounded more like a question than a command, but my Haunter used this move anyway, sending a powerful burst of dark energy towards Squirtle. I thought that Squirtle was done for, but what do you know he was still hanging in there! Just barely.

As I was gonna call for an attack to finish him off, a white light suddenly came over Squirtle. He was evolving! Brandon was smiling & even I couldn't help it. This training was working! "Wartortle," Brandon's Wartortle stood up taller, & with confidence.

"Alright! Great job Wartortle!" Brandon yelled with triumph. I let Brandon attack first. "Bubble!" "Dodge then Shadow Ball." Phantom moved out of the way & hurles a quick Shadow Ball.

Wartortle spun out of the way with speed I couldn't believe... Rapid Spin. "Brandon! Wartortle learned Rapid Spin!" I yelled. "Awsome! Use Bite!" His Wartortle lunged at Phantom, & I saw my chance. "Thunderbolt." Just like that, with one strike of the electric-type move, Wartortle was down. Brandon ran to his Pokemon's side.

I heard him mumble,"Are you okay? You did great. I'm so proud of you," before he returned him to his Pokeball. I was going to return Phantom, but he shook his head at me, & grabbed the Pokeball from my hands. "Hey!" I protested. He looked at me & pouted. A Haunter, pouting? Can you imagine that? Despite how wierd it sounds, I couldn't resist him. He looked so cute. "Fine. You can stay out & watch the final round," I nodded. He gave me his Pokeball back & I took out Cinder's.

This was it. The final round. Whoever won this battle would be victor.

"I know your last Pokemon is Cinder," Brandon spoke. "But do you know mine?" He grinned. I didn't know which Pokemon he had next because he never told me who the new Pokemon was. I ignored him & sent Cinder out. She seemed reluctant to battle Brandon, & it took a bit of convincing for her to battle.

Brandon sent out his new Pokemon & I almost choked at the rare Pokemon in front of me. "H-how did you?" I stammered. "It wasn't easy, but I hit the jackpot & got this baby right here," he smirked.

I frowned. Cinder was at a disadvantage against the snake-like dragon Pokemon in front of us. Dratini.

"Let's start with a Twister!" Dratini sent a twister headed straight towards my poor Vulpix. "Cinder-" I was cut off by her cries of pain being caught in the vortex. She was so light she even got carried into the air. I bit my lip.

"Use Quick Attack to get out & then attack Dratini with it!" Cinder shot out of the vortex with Quick Attack, & successfully landed a hit on Dratini. "Wrap!" Dratini quickly wrapped around my Vulpix & squeezed. "Vulpix! Confuse Ray!" Confuse Ray hit dead on, considering how close the two Pokemon were to each other. "Now use Ember!" Ember didn't do much, fire wasn't very effective to dragon.

"Fire Spin!" I didn't like having to use fire-type moves, but besides Quick Attack & Confuse Ray, it's all Cinder knew. Fire Spin managed to burn Dratini. I high fived Phantom, who was cheering us on. Jolt was cheering, too.

Dratini quickly snapped out of confusion, actually. He began to feel the effects of his burn. The effects of the burn stopped as Dratini used his Shed Skin ability to his advantage. I cursed under my breathe. Brandon laughed, knowing how I felt.

"Try Slam, Dratini." For a small Pokemon, Dratini's Slam did a lot of damage! Poor Cinder was barely able to get up.

"Haunter!"

"Jolteon!"

My two Pokemon beside me cheered along with me for Vulpix to get up. She slowly got up.

"I hate to do this, but... Thunder Wave!" As soon as Vulpix was standing straight, she was overcome by a yellow colored wave & paralyzed right on the spot. That was it. She was done. "Dratini! Use-" "That's enough! Brandon. You win," I nodded at him & kneeled down to examine Cinder. "Are you alright?" I frowned. She didn't move. "Here," I dug into my bag & got a Full Heal. I sprayed it on her.

After a few seconds, she was getting her movement back. "Better?" I asked. She nodded slowly. She looked at me with said eyes, that said, 'I'm sorry'.

"It's alright. You tried your best & you did excellent," I smiled & hugged her tight.

"You battled well," Brandon appeared by my side. "Thanks. You did great," I smiled at him. He kneeled down to see Vulpix, too. "Hey girl, how are you doing?" By this time, Vulpix was able to move more, & she stood up & nodded at Brandon.

"I'm sorry," he pet her gently. "I promise, Katrina & I will never battle again." Dratini came up behind him, & wrapped himself around Cinder. I was worried at first, but then I realised he was sort of, 'hugging her'. Vulpix, although still a little wobbly, walked away from us & began to play with Dratini. Phantom & Jolt were getting acquainted, & they seemed to be getting along well. I released my other Pokemon to heal them. Brandon did the same.

We let our Pokemon roam around in the backyard playing together. Relic & Anorith were like best friends. Wartortle & Charcoal were with Phantom & Jolt. Venus was with Dratini & Poliwag now, & Cinder & Growlithe were together.

Us humans went into the house. "You guys' battle was great," Adriana announced loudly. We talked on & on, drinking wine, until we managed to fall asleep. I was half asleep when I felt someone lay beside me. I assumed it was Phantom, but when a pair of human arms pulled me into a spooning position, I realized it was none other than Brandon who was cuddling with me. I smiled & drifted off to sleep.