“Any chance I can convince you to only use two of your Pokémon?” Spencer asked Aubrey as nicely as he could. “One of mine is knocked out already.”

Aubrey cackled nastily. “Don’t tell me that one of those good-for-nothing henchmen actually did something useful for once?”

“No, me and Tommy fought a Vespiquen on our way to your base,” he told her. “She knocked out my Teddiursa.”

“Oh wow, you and Tommy fought that thing?” She sounded genuinely impressed. “No wonder you guys made it all the way to the base then. None of our patrols will go anywhere near there. Bunch of pansies.”

Spencer kept his mouth shut and let her ramble.

“But fine, a gentlemen’s agreement then I suppose,” Aubrey told him. “A two Pokémon match, don’t give any excuses about your Pokémon being tired from Vespiquen when you lose though.”

“And if I win you’ll let me pass?” He asked the volatile girl.

“You won’t win,” Aubrey guaranteed. “So don’t worry about that.”

She unclipped two Pokéballs from her belt and tossed them into the air at the same time. Drillbur appeared from the first, flexing his claws menacingly and from the second Aubrey called out a Bayleef.

Her Chikorita already evolved, Spencer lamented as the verdant dinosaur eyed him warily. I can only hope that it just happened.

He gave the syringe in his hand another once over and looked down at the Pokémon who had brought it to him. “You think it’s real? Is that why you gave it to me?”

Phanpy trumpeted his approval and that was all Spencer needed to hear. He removed the cap exposing the needle and bent down next to his Pokémon. “Just a little sting.”

“Smart man,” Aubrey said as she watched Spencer prick his Pokémon behind the ear with the needle. He plunged the stopper, and the shimmering metallic liquid flowed into the veins of Phanpy. The elephant roared as his tail grew and turned to iron at which point he slammed it into the ground, upturning chunks of tile and stone out of the floor and shaking the entire room.

“Are you sure it wasn’t a mistake to give me this?” Spencer grinned as Phanpy’s tail returned to normal. This time she had no comeback.

Spencer stood and hesitantly called out his Growlithe, the class hadn’t covered double battles before and his only experience commanding multiple Pokémon in a fight boiled down to the battle with Vespiquen earlier that night. The same battle that he had just barely won.

Aubrey pulled out a pair of goggles and placed them over her eyes. “Good luck.” She sneered.

Before Spencer could react, Aubrey called for her Drillbur to use Sandstorm and within a matter of seconds stinging sands whipped all around the room and horribly impeded his vision. He heard Growlithe whine over the sound of the biting sand but at least Phanpy would be unaffected. He opened his mouth to call out his first move and coughed when he inhaled a mouthful of dust and grit. His foolishness cost him and he grimaced when Phanpy was almost knocked into him by a hailstorm of razor sharp leaves. He caught his Pokémon, grunting as the dense elephant knocked him back a few steps, but now that his Pokémon was so close he could issue commands to it.

“Use Rollout Phanpy,” Spencer told him. “Go crazy!”

The brown elephant curled himself into a ball and began to spin, the whirling sands further bolstering the power of his move. Spencer told Growlithe to use Helping Hand and Growlithe slammed into Phanpy to add more force to the giant boulder he had become. He shot forward out into the storm and Spencer lost sight of him. He couldn’t see what was happening, the deafening crashes of Phanpy slamming into walls and shelves were the only indication that his Pokémon was still conscious and running amok.

Spencer took a moment to grab a shirt from his backpack and he quickly tied it around his nose and mouth as a makeshift bandana. The sands were unforgiving and what he had already inhaled was burning and cutting the inside of his throat and nose.

Too bad there’s no barrier like there is in an official match, he bemoaned. He tried to dig around in his bag for anything that could possibly help him see but he came up short. While he was digging through his bag he saw Growlithe was brutally raked by Drillbur. The mole had snuck across the room in the low visibility of the storm and began to slash into Growlithe with her massive claws. Spencer called for Growlithe to Howl and the puppy disengaged to follow his trainer's command. After boosting his attack he charged the mole with Flame Wheel, slamming into Drillbur with powerful force.

“Now use Bite!” Spencer called trying to capitalize on his momentum. Aubrey apparently couldn’t see very well through the storm either, even with her goggles, because Drillbur looked lost and was subsequently brutalized by Growlithe’s powerful jaws. The mole squeaked in overwhelming agony over the sound of the storm as the puppy bit hard and drew blood and to Spencer’s immense relief that was the cue for the storm to die down.

The howling wind calmed and the sands came to rest on the ground turning the battlefield into a sandy beach. Spencer quickly splashed water into his eyes to try to clear them of dust and began to cry in pain.

Once they had been cleared he could see that Phanpy was retreating back to his own side of the field. Bayleef had a few bruises on her body but apparently had dished out as much damage as she dealt; when Phanpy reached Spencer the elephant was bleeding from more cuts than he could count.

“Synthesis!” Aubrey called out, to which Bayleef began to heal herself. The bruising and discoloration faded away and the dinosaur looked almost as fresh as she had been when she was first called out to fight. Spencer wasn’t idle while Bayleef was healing herself. Growlithe used Leer, lowering the defense of both of his foes and Phanpy used Defense Curl to raise his own.

The battle lapsed into uncomfortable silence as both he and Aubrey momentarily paused the fight to regard one another. She clearly had the upper hand now as her Bayleef was fully healed while both of his Pokémon were damaged. He frantically tried to calculate his next move as Aubrey hesitated; he came up short though and decided to wing it as Aubrey sent both of her Pokémon out to centerfield. Spencer sent his own Pokémon out to meet hers and all four Pokémon clashed in a melee of teeth, claws, and hooves.

“Flame Wheel!” Spencer called out. Growlithe burst into flame and threw himself at Bayleef, Aubrey waiting until the last moment to use Reflect and erect a barrier in between her Pokémon and Spencer’s. Growlithe passed through the barrier and his flames were all but extinguished as he hurled himself into Bayleef. She roared in pain as the flames that were still there burned the vegetation growing from her head and neck but as her defenses had been raised she was able to weather the strength of the move.

Growlithe was now overextended and Drillbur used Mud Slap, flinging sand and dirt into Growlithe’s face and blinding him. Bayleef slammed into him with Tackle and Growlithe flew backward and crumpled unconscious into the sands.

“Shit,” Spencer swore as he recalled Growlithe to his Pokéball.

“Acid Armor!” Tommy shouted as Rhyhorn charged across the field to Tackle Solosis. Tommy’s Pokémon boosted his defenses considerably and bounced harmlessly to the side as Rhyhorn knocked him into the air. Solosis grinned ferociously as he took next to no damage thanks to his heightened defenses.

“Now use Confusion!” Tommy told his Pokémon. Solosis assaulted Rhyhorn’s mind with an onslaught of Psychic power and the stone Pokémon bellowed in unintelligible rage and pain. Tommy grinned maniacally until Darius used the same move that Spencer used to turn the tide in the Vespiquen fight earlier that evening.

“Use Payback, Rhyhorn!” Darius called to his Pokémon. Rhyhorn’s horn turned to black and he slammed into Solosis with enough force to rival a city bus. Tommy watched in horror as his Pokémon was flung across the entire room and slammed into the wall almost knocking him unconscious in one hit. Tommy knew immediately that the only reason Solosis hadn’t been knocked out was due to Acid Armor earlier.

“Hurry and Recover,” Tommy begged his Pokémon. Solosis healed himself but Darius was right back on the offensive as Rhyhorn charged in with Horn Attack. Solosis dodged at the last second and scampered away across the battlefield, trying his best to put some distance between himself and the aggressive stone giant he was facing.

“Confusion, again!” Tommy said as Rhyhorn readied himself for yet another charge. The Pokémon howled in pain again, changing his Horn Attack into a Payback and charging Solosis once more.

Solosis was ready this time though and Protected himself as Rhyhorn bore down on him. The blue barrier that appeared deflected the stone Pokémon harmlessly to the side and Tommy breathed a sigh of relief as he dodged what would have certainly been a knockout hit.

“Bulldoze!” Darius told his Pokémon. Rhyhorn reared back on his hind legs and slammed down into the ground with enough force to send Tommy to the ground. Cracks formed in the floor and pieces of tile and rock were flung into the face of Tommy’s Pokémon. Solosis cried out in pain under the power of Rhyhorn’s strength.

“Use Confusion,” Tommy desperately told his Pokémon. There was no way that Rhyhorn could take that many more hits and Tommy was desperate to put the Pokémon down as almost every single move Rhyhorn had was strong enough to knock Solosis out now.

Rhyhorn howled in pain for a third time and wobbled unsteadily on his feet. Darius called for his Pokémon to use Payback once more and Tommy got ready to counter. To his relief though, Rhyhorn appeared to be confused and the stone Pokémon ran in the complete opposite direction.

Tommy felt the tension leave his body until he saw where Rhyhorn was headed.

The aquarium.

Darius’ Pokémon slammed his head into the base of the glass tank and Tommy’s eyes widened in sheer terror as cracks began to spiderweb out from the point of impact.

“This way!” Darius screamed at Tommy as he recalled his Rhyhorn to its Pokéball and Tommy wasted no time following his old friend’s instructions. He recalled Solosis and ran as hard as he could to the door as the cracks in the aquarium raced up towards the ceiling.

He never broke his stride as he passed Darius at the threshold continuing his sprint down the hallway. He heard Darius frantically smashing a button that would close the door and beyond that the shattering of glass.

“Take a left!” Tommy heard Darius call as he reached a fork in the corridor.

He hesitated only a moment before trusting in his one time friend and hanging a left.

“Defense Curl! Hang in there bud!” Spencer called out to his Phanpy. The elephant had been struggling for a while now, his maxed out defense was the only thing that was keeping him conscious. Despite that, Spencer knew it was only a matter of time until he lost the fight unless something changed; Aubrey knew it too by the way she was grinning.

“Tackle and Fury Swipes!” She told her two Pokémon. Drilbur and Bayleef rushed in to try and close out the fight and put Phanpy down.

Spencer waited until the last minute to make his move. Aubrey had been playing safe so far, but now that she saw the end she went in for the kill. Spencer had been waiting patiently all this time for both of his opponents to be within striking range at the same time.

“Use Bulldoze!” He told his Pokémon. Phanpy trumpeted and slammed himself into the ground, rattling the entire room and showering both of Aubrey’s Pokémon in sand and dirt. The elephant followed up his devastating double hit with a Rollout straight into Drilbur’s chest. The mole wailed in pain and fainted.

“Fuck,” Aubrey swore as she recalled her Pokémon to its ball. Darius breathed a sigh of relief but quickly brought his focus back. He was still in a dire situation, Bayleef had the type advantage over Phanpy and his Pokémon was only one or two more hits from fainting.

“Are you sure you want to continue?” Spencer taunted his opponent. He was desperate to stall or force her to draw.

“I can just heal with Synthesis again,” Aubrey told him.

Spencer shrugged casually trying to put on an air of confidence. “You could but that would leave you vulnerable. I still haven’t used Iron Tail yet, or my finishing move.”

“You’re bluffing,” Aubrey said. She hadn’t used Synthesis yet despite her statement though.

“Do you really want to take that chance though?” Spencer pressed. “If you lose a two on one battle your ego would never recover, would it?”

“Don’t pretend like you know me!” Aubrey shouted. “I couldn’t give a shit what happens here!”

“Where did the confidence go?” Spencer smiled cruelly. “You were so certain you wouldn’t lose before we started. Not so sure of yourself anymore are you?”

She sneered in fury but before she made up her mind one way or another a dark skinned boy the same age as Spencer raced into the room and whispered in Aubrey’s ear. Her eyes widened in surprise and she turned on her heel to follow him.

“I didn’t lose!” She shouted at Spencer as she left the room. “And if you take one step down this pathway it will be the last thing you ever do!”

Spencer collapsed to the ground exhausted and Phanpy came rushing over to his side. The Pokémon was fiercely hurt but despite his injuries he still came over to comfort his trainer. Spencer pulled him into a big hug. “We’re still alive…”

He pulled off his backpack and began to rummage through it until he remembered that Tommy had the Honey. Spencer felt like collapsing right then and there.

“It looks like the little hero needs a hand, Sam,” Spencer heard a woman speak from behind him.