Squaring off for the second time, Purrloin stared down Audino. Audino was standing there haughtily, not even bothering to put up any sort of guard. Smirking, Audino gave Purrloin a thumbs down. The provocation was successful! Purrloin grew enraged and charged Audino. In a flurry of claw swipes, the same scene from the earlier battle played out once more. Audino utilized her longer reach to bat away Purrloin’s claws, adding gentle slaps intermittently that only served to enrage Purrloin further.

With a furious yowl, Purrloin forcefully pushed through the redirection and released a tight swipe at Audino’s midsection. Hastily correcting her rhythm, Audino took two small steps backwards and one to the side to avoid the follow up slice. However, on the fourth step, Audino paused and keeled over as three red lines appeared and dripped blood onto the dirt.

Sensing weakness, Purrloin charged in for another attack, but after its injury Audino was done playing around. Expecting the same strategy, Audino preemptively ducked inside Purrloin’s attack and swiped upwards, knocking the cat Pokémon’s head back with a resounding crack. The attack sent Purrloin reeling backwards, allowing Audino to capitalize on the moment of weakness. As she wound up for another snap, Purrloin’s eyes sharpened suddenly and she jumped and twisted nimbly avoiding Audino’s paw and landing behind the surprised Pokemon.

Before Audino could react and turn around, Purrloin unleashed a flurry of glowing claw-strikes, laying open Audino’s back with jagged scratches. Audino hissed, jumping forward to escape. Quickly darting several meters away, she turned back and glared at the cat, heaving for breath. The two had swapped places, but otherwise seemed to have suffered similar amounts of damage. Audino was still bleeding from her stomach and back, but the flow had slowed significantly. Purrloin looked slightly better, but was wobbling side to side slightly, the uppercut that landed earlier clearly having rattled her.

Throughout this entire exchange, which had taken no more than two minutes, Adriano and Edward, along with all the spectating Pokemon, were watching silently. Edward was still a little stunned by the power Audino had shown in the previous match, so much that he had forgotten to give any orders to his newest team member. Adriano, along with his Pokemon, were simply admiring the impressive displays of speed and acrobatics shown by both sides. Deciding it was time to end it, Adriano stepped forward.

“Alright, good job both of you! We’ll call this one a tie. Go and get some healing. Ella?”

Perking up a bit at being called on, the Lilligant slid down Tor’s flipper and ran out into the ring, already pulling various creams and ointments from a few grass satchels concealed under the outermost layer of leaves. Starting with Audino, the empathetic Pokemon pouted for a moment before grudgingly allowing Ella to daub away at the scratches. Once she was satisfied, Ella moved on to the Purrloin, but she yowled and hissed, preventing Ella from getting close. Circling around, Purrloin kept her eyes on the Lilligant until she had reached Edward.

“Hey there Niki, let’s get you fixed up.”

Petting and comforting the agitated Pokemon, Edward sprayed her down with a potion. Audino had returned to the stands in a huff, ignoring the questioning glance from Adriano. Following along behind, Ella caught his eye and gave him a shrug.

As Edward finished up with Purrloin, Adriano walked over to congratulate them.

“Well, looks like luck is going your way. Purrloin should be strong enough to carry you for a while.”

Edward looked up and nodded before turning his attention back to petting his Pokemon.

“Niki is strong, I can’t wait to challenge the first gym with her! Should be a breeze!”

Adriano flashed him a smile and clapped Edward on the back.

“And I can’t wait to get there! But make sure you don’t forget about Oshawott. It takes more than one Pokemon to make a team.”

Edward matched his grin and put Niki back in her pokeball, stretching up from his crouched position and cracking his back. Stowing away his balls in his pocket, Edward picked up his pack and bent down, assuming a sprinter’s stance to Adriano’s puzzlement.

“Well, if you can’t wait and I can’t wait, let’s go!”

With a burst of speed, the kid was off, disappearing from the clearing in seconds. In the distance, Adriano could hear shouts and thuds as all the trainers lying in wait were pushed out of the way by force. Chuckling to himself, Adriano packed up leisurely before striding deeper into the forest, directly opposite the road. ‘Too impatient. If only he’d stuck around, I would’ve shown him the shortcut. Whatever. His face when he sees me there before him will be priceless.’ Whistling a jaunty tune, the trainer disappeared under the dark boughs of the pine trees with a rustle.

-

Adriano had been lounging around outside Striaton City for a few hours when Edward finally showed up, gasping and out of breath. Glancing up from his comfortable seat against a tree located just outside the city limits, Adriano greeted the irate youth with a grin.

“Well done! You got here faster than I thought.”

Edward was angry, but his red face and lack of oxygen prevented him from retaliating. Verbally or physically. Standing up, Adriano brushed himself off before addressing Edward.

“You’re welcome to go find a hotel in town, but I’ll be sleeping out here tonight. We’ll meet in front of the Pokemon center tomorrow morning to give your dad a call. Just to let him know we got here safely.”

“Hold. Up.”

Edward spoke up laboriously from his bent over position.

“Why… Gasp. Are you, leaving?”

Adriano shifted uncomfortably from side to side before responding.

“Well… I’m kinda blacklisted from Striaton City as a whole. I could theoretically get my gym badge but I’m likely to get arrested in the process.”

“Ha. Ha. Haaaaah. Serves you, right.”

Adriano shrugged and turned away.

“Maybe so. Either way, get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”