Thomas looked out across the field at the two trainers walking out to meet one another at the center of the pitch. The trainer approaching from the challenger side looked to be an older gentleman around his mid-40’s; his hair and neatly trimmed beard were just starting to grey. He was met at centerfield by a girl with bright orange hair who looked to be only a few years older than Thomas.

The roar of the crowd was deafening as the trainers clasped forearms and nodded at one another.

“Hey girlie, any chance you’ll go easy on an old-timer?” The man said through the headset he was wearing. His voice was amplified so that he could be heard over the raucous crowd.

“No chance old man! Where’s the fun in that?” The girl replied, grinning from ear to ear. The two of them separated and started walking to opposite ends of the pitch. Thomas couldn’t believe that he was about to watch his first live match. His heart beat furiously as hundreds of thoughts raced through his mind.

The man was fidgeting with his hands while walking towards the trainer box, his nerves evident for the whole stadium to see. The girl walked with total confidence; she looked as if there was no doubt in her mind that she would win her match today. They took their respective spots in the trainer’s boxes, just outside of the Barrier.

“This is a match between trainer Rachel of Goldenrod Gym and the challenger Daniel from Ecruteak City!” The announcer boomed. “They have agreed to a 2 on 2 Pokémon battle! The match will end when either side has no Pokémon fit for battle or chooses to concede to the other trainer! Both sides are allowed only a single substitution!”

“Challenger Daniel ready?” The announcer called.

“Ready!” He called, trying his best to ignore the crowd and focus on the battle that he desperately wanted to win.

“Trainer Rachel ready?” The announcer yelled again.

“I’m ready!” Rachel replied. She waved to the crowd and was met by the loudest cheer of the day.

Thomas held his breath. He looked over at Tori peering through her fingers at the pitch; she looked torn between watching the fight and hiding her gaze in horror. The blue-haired girl on Tori’s other side betrayed no emotion on her face; she was staring intently down at the field as the combatants readied themselves.

“BEGIN!” The announcer hollered. The crowd roared as two opposing Pokéballs flew through the air into the barrier landing in centerfield. The Pokéballs each exploded in a burst of beautiful flashing light as their inhabitants stretched their limbs and squared up against each other.

“Hitmontop!” Yelled the challenger. “I choose you!”

It was no surprise he called out a Fighting Pokémon; Thomas would have done the same thing. It was well known that most trainers in the Goldenrod gym favored Normal-type Pokémon. They were well-balanced and easy to raise with their only real weakness being Fighting types. Hitmontop seemed like a solid pick.

“Pidgeotto, let’s go! All of you challengers are so predictable!” Rachel teased through her headset, a big smile breaking out across her face. “Good luck old man!”

Daniel winced at the unexpected type disadvantage that he was suddenly thrust into. Clearly he had studied the gym and was expecting a Normal-type Pokémon. His hesitation cost him any momentum he might have had right from the start and Rachel wasted no time in immediately moving in to attack.

“Pidgeotto, use Gust! Then follow behind it with Peck!” Rachel told her Pokémon. Pidgeotto flapped its wings so fast that Thomas couldn’t even see them moving. A small tornado kicked up in the ring and shot forward towards Hitmontop. Pidgeotto followed right behind, her beak glowing white as she streaked across the arena like an arrow.

“Hitmontop, dodge left!” Daniel cried out. Thomas could hear an edge of panic already starting to creep into his voice even though it had barely been 15 seconds since the match started. Hitmontop spun out of the way dodging the Gust as it smashed into the barrier behind him.

“Wow! A great dodge by Hitmontop!” The announcer was yelling through his microphone. “But watch out for Pidgeotto!”

Too late. Dodging Gust had left Hitmontop slightly off balance and unable to dodge the gliding Pidgeotto. Her sharp hard beak slammed directly into Hitmontop’s shoulder, knocking him backward into the wall with incredible force. Hitmontop stood up grimacing in pain and clutching his shoulder. He desperately tried to stem the tide of blood leaking from the giant chunk of his shoulder that was now missing.

“Oh, that had to hurt!” The announcer was saying into his microphone. “A strong peck from Pidgeotto sends Daniel’s Hitmontop packing!”

“Hitmontop, return!” Yelled Daniel. The panic in his voice was completely clear now. “I’m substituting for my second Pokémon.”

“Challenger Daniel is using his substitution,” called the announcer. Thomas saw the blue-haired girl next to him shaking her head out of the corner of his eye.

“He gave up on his Hitmontop so quickly,” he overheard her mentioning to the woman on her other side. “It’s way too early in the match to substitute. It hasn’t even been 30 seconds yet; this match is probably over already. It’s pretty evident why he’s not sponsored by a gym leader.”

Thomas frowned. Had substituting so early really been a poor call? That’s what he probably would have done if he was in the same situation. Daniel’s Hitmontop was clearly outmatched by the flier and he must have thought that Rachel wouldn’t have two flying Pokémon. Daniel must be trying to save Hitmontop for Rachel’s second Pokémon. He heard Tori whimper next to him.

“Are you okay sis?” He asked, looking over at her. She looked like she hadn’t moved at all so far, her hands still covering the majority of her face.

“This is scary,” she said. “The Pokémon are getting hurt. Why do they have to fight?”

Thomas gave her a small smile. “Don’t worry, Pokémon are strong. They fight in the wild all the time; some of them actually like to fight. Besides, as soon as the match is over Daniel and Rachel will take their Pokémon over to the Pokémon Center and Nurse Joy will fix them right up. As long as they survive the battle, Nurse Joy can heal any injury, no matter how severe.”

“What do you mean ‘as long as they can survive the battle’?” She asked him. Her eyes had started to water a little bit.

I shouldn’t have brought her to the match. This was one of the worst ideas I’ve had in a while, he thought to himself. He gave her a smile and pulled her into a side hug again so she could close her eyes.

“Who will the challenger pick for his second Pokémon?” The announcer was yelling.

“I’ll choose Sneasel!” Daniel threw out his second Pokéball and out came Sneasel.

“Will Rachel substitute her Pokémon?” The announcer asked through his microphone.

“No, we’re ready!” Rachel answered.

“Begin!” called the announcer.

“Pidgeotto, use Sand Attack!” Rachel was yelling, trying to stay on the offensive and maintain her momentum. Pidgeotto started flapping its wings again, this time at the ground, until a large amount of sand and dust was flung in Sneasel’s direction.

“Sneasel, blow it away using Icy Wind!” Daniel said. Sneasel inhaled deeply and brought a huge amount of air into her lungs. She bent down on all fours and blew out a freezing cold wind to disperse the sand. Some of the wind hit Pidgeotto causing small icicles to form on her wings and her feathers to freeze. She screeched out, clearly in pain.

“Pidgeotto!” Thomas could hear the pain in Rachel’s voice. “Quick fly up high and use Double Team!”

Pidgeotto flapped her wings and the icicles shattered. She flew up in the air over the middle of the pitch and started to fly back and forth, quicker and quicker. Soon it looked like there were 10 different Pidgeottos all flying through the sky.

“Use Gust and then fly down with Peck!” Pidgeotto prepared to repeat the same move she had hit Hitmontop with earlier in the match, except now there were 10 of them.

As everything converged towards Sneasel, Daniel said “Use Detect! Then follow up with Ice Shard!”

Sneasel closed her eyes and her claws started to glow blue, jagged shards of ice forming along their edges. As all of the illusions started to rain down on Sneasel, she crossed her blue-clawed arms in front of her head and didn’t move or open her eyes until she felt the wind from the real Gust. All of a sudden Sneasel exploded into motion, deflecting the Gust with a slash of her claws slamming it straight into the ground. She opened her fierce eyes and leapt straight at Pidgeotto, icy blue claws extended. A massive cut that should have disemboweled Pidgeotto was opened from her neck to her pelvis. The only thing preventing any viscera from spilling out was the frost that formed along the cut from Sneasel’s icy claws.

Pidgeotto screeched in agony and smashed to the ground with enough force to impact a small crater. She lay there twitching, bones poking through the skin of her bent and broken wings.

“Pidgeotto, return!” Rachel said. She looked on with a twisted smile on her face as Sneasel let out a victorious and guttural cry, the crowd roaring for the action to continue.

“Pidgeotto is unable to battle, who will Rachel select for her second Pokémon?” The announcer called out.

Rachel looked down and gave a small smile to the Pokéball containing Pidgeotto. Then her eyes refocused and she threw her second Pokéball into the ring.

“Let’s win this Stufful!” Rachel yelled. “We’ll do it for Pidgeotto!” A tiny pink bear materialized in front of Rachel.

“Go, and use Bulk Up!” Stufful began to glow orange and his size started to increase.

Daniel’s eyes grew wide. “Sneasel we can’t let them Bulk Up! Hurry, use Ice Shard!”

Sneasel’s claws started to glow blue again and she dashed forward across the ring.

“Snufful brace yourself!”

Sneasel slammed into Stufful who was able to hold his ground thanks to his now considerable bulk.

“Hit her with Force Palm!” Rachel yelled. A slap so loud that it sounded like a small explosion connected with Sneasel square in the jaw. She flew the entire length of the pitch back towards Daniel and slammed into the wall. When she stood up she was twitching with every step she tried to take.

Paralysis. Thomas gulped, that Stufful hits like a truck.

“Sneasel looks to be suffering from Paralysis!” The announcer said, echoing Thomas’ thoughts. “Can Daniel still pull off the win?”

“Stufful, finish her off with Hammer Arm!” Rachel screamed. Stufful leaped into the air and his arm started to glow red. The illusion of the head of a massive war hammer over a meter in length winked into existence from the end of his arm.

He started to fall towards the earth again, gravity helping him gather velocity. Sneasel had collapsed onto the ground, overcome by the paralysis; she just lay there twitching.

“Sneasel, return!” Daniel called out. She was enveloped by a beam of red light and returned to her Pokéball moments before Snufful collided with the ground and destroyed half of the pitch. Dirt and debris showered like rain into the barrier and the cloud of dust settled from the giant bear’s impact as he shrunk back down to his original size.

“The challenger has no substitutions left! Sneasel is declared a K.O. and unable to battle!” The announcer said. “Our last fight will be Hitmontop vs. Stufful!”

Daniel shook his head. “I concede. Hitmontop is hurt and can’t beat Stufful. I don’t want to put him in any more danger.”

“Challenger Daniel has conceded! The match is won by… RACHEL OF GOLDENROD GYM!” The announcer yelled, pumping his arms excitedly and punching the air. Rachel smiled and returned Stufful to his Pokéball.

“Give a huge round of applause to our victor Rachel!” The announcer continued. “Now give another round of applause to the challenger! He put up an amazing fight, especially his Sneasel!”

The crowd was cheering and roaring so loud Tommy thought his eardrums might burst.

“Fighters meet at the ring to clasp arms and congratulate each other!” The announcer called.

Rachel and Daniel met in the middle of the pitch and clasped forearms one last time.

“Thank you for a great last battle,” Daniel said. Regret filled his voice. “I was hoping to end my career on a win but it was still a good match.”

“Come challenge me again next week,” Rachel smiled. “I’ll go easy on you like you asked so you can go out with a win!”

Daniel smiled at her and they parted ways. He walked towards the challenger door while Rachel walked back through the gym door.

“What an amazing battle!” the announcer was yelling. “Let’s give them one more round of applause while we reset the pitch for our last undercard match! It will be the challenger Noel against the gym trainer Austin! After the conclusion of that fight we’ll have our main card! Challenger Agatha vs. Gym Leader Penelope! Make sure you stick around!”

Thomas had been so engrossed by the fight he felt like he had been holding his breath that entire time. He let out a big exhale and looked down at his watch; it said 3:15. Those 15 minutes felt like the longest he had ever experienced. As he was reorienting himself to his surroundings he felt Tori shaking in his arms.

“What’s wrong sis? He asked, alarm in his voice. “What happened?”

“Can we leave?” she whispered, so quiet he could barely hear her over the crowd. “I don’t want to be here anymore, I’m scared.”

Thomas swallowed the lump in his throat. I’m an idiot. What was I thinking, bringing her here?

He was going to miss the fight with Agatha. Oh well, he could always watch the recording when he got back to the ranch; the gym would hopefully have it uploaded to the net by tomorrow.

“Yeah, let’s go sis,” he told her. “Are you ready to go home?”

She nodded into his chest. As they got up to leave, the blue-haired girl sitting next to them spoke up. “Are you leaving already?”

Thomas looked back at her before beginning his descent down the stairs. “Yeah. Sorry, my sister said that she’s starting to feel a little sick. Thank you for being so nice to her by the way.”

She smiled at him, flashing those perfect teeth and making his heartbeat accelerate again. “It was nice to meet you both. I’ll see you both really soon.”

“Uh, yeah... right,” he said. “Nice to meet you too. Goodbye.”

He turned away from the girl and he and his sister started walking down the stairs. As they came back out into the lobby, Thomas was able to get a good look around since everyone was watching the battle and the two of them weren’t rushing to get anywhere. He looked to his right, past the reception desk, and saw a door on the far wall with a big sign above it.

It said Challenger.

He and Tori left through the front door and didn’t look back.