“I’ll be cleaning out my boat while you two kids head off to battle the Gym Leader,” Captain Billy said with an unpleasant look on his face.

“Again, I’m really sorry,” I apologized to him. “I’d be glad to help you clean up!”

Captain Billy shook his head. “No, no. You two go on, now. I’ll be here when you’re both done and we’ll continue on to Nimbasa City.”

“Please, sir, allow us to clean up the mess,” June insisted. “We wouldn’t mind you accompanying us to the Gym. We don’t want to leave you here alone, cleaning Gary’s puke.”

I lowered my eyes in shame at June’s words.

Captain Billy waved her offer away. “Oh, no. I don’t enjoy Pokemon battling. I battle the waves, and endure the tests of the wild when they’re thrown at me, but I never engage in actual Pokemon battles and I get no enjoyment from watching them. You kids enjoy yourselves. Clean up, get some rest, and find some food to eat. Battle your little fight in the morning. Might as well be cleaned and refreshed and with a clear head. Maybe I’ll come down and see you two at one of them Pokemon hospital buildings or something.”

I smiled, grateful he was being so patient. “Alright then, Captain Billy. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Take your time!” Captain Billy called after June and I cheerfully as we turned around and walked through the sand, deeper into Cenumerus Island.

A metal signpost in a grassy clearing not far from the sandy beach read: Cenumerus Island. Population: 3,000. Square Miles: 70.

A huge forest surrounded houses and buildings. The buildings were on opposite ends of a single strip of concrete pavement. In between every building, a tree or two sat there, towering high.

The door to a building opened, a chime ringing as a man stepped out carrying two bulging bags. He squinted hard at June and I as we walked towards him, and a smile crossed his face.

I stopped and turned to him, June stopping beside me.

“Hey, there! I don’t recognize you two. Are you tourists?” the man called to us as he got closer.

“Hi. I’m Gary, and this is June. We’re not really tourists. Would you happen to know where the Pokemon Center is?”

The man nodded and turned around. “About two thousand feet from this spot, a good six hundred second walk, is where you’ll find the Pokemon Center, and a Nurse Joy that reaches five feet in height, her pink hair in curls reaching twelve inches in length, with a typical pink nurse’s outfit ending right at her knees, her pink and white size six sandals just at a centimeter thick from the ground to just under her feet.”

I stared at the man, speechless, my eyes wide in surprise.

“Huh?” June stared in confusion.

A strong breeze ruffled the man’s dark blue jacket as he struggled with his heavy bags of groceries.

“Thank you, sir,” I said quickly. “I’m sorry to have held you up. Have a good day.”

“Sure thing,” he said, lifting his arms against the weight of his bags. With a nod and a smile, he walked past us.

“What in the world was that?” I asked June.

“Well, it was very exact, at least. Come on! I need a damn shower! I stink!”

“Me, too. We’re not far.”

We ran quickly, and within only a few minutes, we spotted the red P that hung near the top of a white building and ran inside. We didn’t stop running, jetting past a couple of startled people in the lobby, until we reached the ever so young Nurse Joy, looking at us in surprise, but then smiling warmly.

“Welcome to the Cenumerus Island Pokemon Center,” she greeted us. “You two look like you’ve been running through filth for the past seven days, at least. I can see you also have Pokemon with you. I think I can safely assume that your Pokemon are in need of medical attention, and the both of you are in need of a shower. Eleven feet from where you’re currently standing, you’ll find the back door, beyond which are seven rooms down a hallway that spans forty feet in length, ending at a door that is ten feet in height, and four feet in width. Behind that door is where the rooms are, and none of them are currently occupied as we don’t get many Pokemon Trainers visiting this island very often. The rooms contain four beds with a twin sized mattress, unless otherwise requested, and four dresser drawers with four drawers for each dresser. Their height is four feet, with a width of three feet. A hallway, which extends twenty feet in length, has two doors at the end, one on each side of the hallway, which each one containing one bathroom. They each are eight feet in length and seven feet in width, and contain one shower, sink, toilet, and a plunger. If you need soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush, shampoo, a towel, or a washcloth, one can and will be provided to you.” She smiled and bowed at us.

June and I stared at Nurse Joy with a stunned look.

Is she serious? I asked myself. Why did she just go through all of that?

The back door opened and an Audino stepped out, walking over to Nurse Joy with a large tray atop her hands.

“Audino, collect these Trainers’ Pokemon on your 4’ x 1’ tray and prepare them in the back for a checkup,” Nurse Joy said kindly.

“Audino,” Audino agreed, and walked over to us, holding out her long tray.

June and I exchanged glances and shrugged, looking back at Audino as we took out our Poke Balls and placed them on the tray.

Nurse Joy and Audino both led the way to the back door, where June and I followed and eagerly anticipated our first shower in ages.

*

“Ahh!” I sighed happily, dropping onto my bed.

“This feels great!” June exclaimed, laughing. “I’m finally in an actual bed, ate an actual dinner, and am actually clean! This is the way to live.”

“Yeah. That shower and meal hit the spot. Having a good night’s sleep will be the topping on the cake.”

“This place is really strange, though, huh?” June asked me in a more quiet voice.

I rolled onto my side and turned to face her. “It’s definitely strange. Everyone here seems so…”

“Perfect!” June cried, staring back at me from her bed in her red pajamas.

“Or, exact,” I added. “They know every single thing about this island.”

“Remember what happened when we were served dinner?”

“You mean our three pieces of baked chicken, including one thigh, a leg, and one wing, exactly three scoops of mashed potatoes, and exactly sixteen ounces of our choice of orange juice, milk, or water?”

June smiled nervously. “I’d like to laugh, but it’s kind of scary.”

“Downright creepy.”

“I don’t know if it’s creepier that the people speak this way and don’t sound like robots, or if it’d be weirder if they did!”

“Yeah, I know what you’re saying. And what about what Nurse Joy told us about Dana?”

“She said that Dana is located about, like, five hundred feet, west, from the front of the building, and then, going east, another fifteen hundred, maybe two thousand feet deep into the woods, training her Pokemon. And then she gave us all these details about how much longer she’d be there, and how long it would take Dana to get home! This is really disturbing, Gary. Why do they know this kind of information? What does it mean?”

“It’s probably nothing. Let’s just find her first thing tomorrow morning. We can’t just leave Captain Billy alone like this. By tomorrow afternoon, we should be ready to leave here.”

“Yeah. I feel bad about leaving him out there like that, all alone. But right now, I really can’t get myself to leave the comfort of this bed.” June sighed peacefully.

“He’ll be okay. He told us to get some rest and that he’d stop by if necessary.” I yawned and closed my eyes.

“Goodnight, Gary,” June said tiredly.

I don’t remember replying back before I fell asleep.

*

“A Normal type Gym should be pretty fun.” I looked up at the gloomy morning sky.

“Maybe. Fun, or frustrating.” June looked around. “She doesn’t even have a specific building for battling. Nurse Joy said she should just be out here, training her Pokemon.”

“A battle in the open field would be a nice change. I’m looking forward to it,” I stated happily.

“I’m looking forward to getting off of this island,” June replied uncomfortably. “I don’t like how exact everyone is about everything. Nurse Joy said Dana would be exactly here at this time for this long and all this strange stuff. What is wrong with everyone here?”

“Don’t stress it, June,” I smiled.

“How can I not? Did you hear those two kids in the cafeteria this morning when we were eating breakfast? Talking about exactly how much experience points their Pokemon have accumulated since they’ve raised them? And Nurse Joy telling us exactly how long it took to heal our Pokemon, and how much HP they had when they had arrived, and how much they have now? She even told us the exact stats of our Pokemon! Why does she know that? Why did she tell us? No other Nurse Joy went that deep into researching our Pokemon when they were only supposed to be healing them!”

“June, please, will you relax?” I insisted, stepping over a low bush. “It’s a bit odd, yes. But in the end, we won’t be here long. Different people have different customs all over the world. Seems like some of the people here are a bit-”

A loud cry stopped my words and June and I looked up.

“Come on!” I ran through the woods, towards the noise.

June and I came to a clearing and spotted a young woman with her finger pointed up into the air. “Crush Claw!” the lady demanded.

A huge bird was in the air, flying at another flying creature. One of the two bird’s talons glowed a light blue and collided with the second bird from above, forcing it down.

The woman covered her face as dust rose from the collision.

June and I cried out in shock and lowered our heads against the dirt flying around. When we looked up, the bird that had attacked was in the air, flapping its wings, staring down at its opponent.

Its opponent was knocked out on the ground.

The woman was squinting at us, adjusting her black glasses.

The defeated bird’s eyes opened and it flapped its wings, gaining air as it ascended, and flew away into the sky.

The lady watched as the bird flew off, and then turned to the remaining bird. “That took way too many turns, Braviary. You and Unfezant aren’t even close in stats. That battle should have ended on your second turn, at the most. A four turn battle like that is unacceptable. Return.”

Braviary looked down sadly as it was returned to its Ultra Ball.

The girl turned around to glare at June and I, her eyes softening as she stared at us. “Hello. Might I ask who you two are? You’re certainly not from town.” This girl had blonde hair and black eyes, wearing a pair of loose fitting black jeans and sneakers and a white tank top despite the cold temperature. A black and white jacket was wrapped around her waist by the sleeves.

“My name is Gary. This is June,” I introduced us.

“Hello,” June said with a smile.

“I’m here looking for someone named Dana,” I explained.

The girl nodded. “That’s me. And now that you’ve said your names, I remember you two.”

My eyes widened at first. “You recognize us?” My eyes squinted hard at her, but her nerdy, yet cute, face didn’t trigger any memories in my head.

“That’s right,” Dana nodded again. “You are Gary, who competed in the Kanto Pokemon League competition eight hundred and nineteen days ago and survived the attack Team Solace launched during the final match between Aura Ri and Arnold Rale.”

“How do you know all of this stuff?” I cried frantically, a mix of anger, fear, and disturbance flowing throughout my body as I stared at her uncomfortably, my voice coming out visibly upset.

“You, for one, Gary, have very defining features,” Dana explained. “Your cheekbones are very detailed, solid, strong, with such bright, dark brown eyes, the left eyelid lowered over your eye just slightly, possibly the final remnants of a stye you had there that’s been removed. Your curly, black hair, clearly rarely ever brushed, the size of your head from behind, unnoticeable until you look to the side. Your lips protrude quite a bit from your face. That chin of yours sticks out. Your jaw line is powerfully structured, and your two front teeth have a little gap between them that stretches out exactly-”

My eyes widening as she spoke, emotional pain flowing through my body, I let out a pained cry at her description of me and covered my face, closing my eyes, ashamed of my looks, and I lowered my head, on the verge of tears.

“Gary?” Dana said in surprise.

“What is wrong with you?” June yelled angrily. “Why would you say something like that? Gary is very cute and totally attractive! What is your problem?!”

“Well, he isn’t my type, personally, but I never said he wasn’t attractive,” Dana said. “I was just answering him on how I recognized him. His features are undeniable.”

“Gary is quite the looker,” June argued. “He has a fine sized head, his lips are not large, but are quite nice to look at, and his teeth are just fine. There’s nothing wrong with his chin, or his jaw line! His hair and both of his eyes are wonderful. There is no way you are going to tell me that he isn’t a very handsome guy.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Dana replied. “He’s not the worst looking guy out there, I guess. I didn’t mean to offend your boyfriend, or you. I just don’t-”

“I am not her boyfriend!!” I shouted angrily, my voice cracking, my heart beating from how uncomfortable this conversation was making me feel. “And I did not come here to deal with this stupid conversation!” Hearing Dana describe every single thing I hated about myself already, somehow made them seem much worse to me, making my already self conscious self feel even uglier and embarrassed. My flaws now felt like they had taken center stage, magnified, and were now more exaggerated and visible than ever. She even noticed my left eye, I noted miserably.

I’d had a stye there when I was maybe six, and hot compressions weren’t getting rid of it as I had been told, so I had gone through minor surgery at eight to get rid of it. Although everyone had told me they couldn’t see the difference between my two eyes anymore, I could see it, however miniscule it was, and I always wondered if they could see it, too, but were just lying to make me feel better.

“I’m here for a Pokemon battle, not to compete in a freaking beauty contest!” I snapped. “Now drop the subject on my ugly looks already, will ya?” I glared at Dana, and then at June, and finally, I looked back at Dana again. Rage was on my face and in my voice, but my heart was beating nervously, and a sad pain sat in my heart and behind my eyes as I struggled to hold back embarrassed and hurt tears.

June placed a hand over her mouth and looked down sadly.

Dana adjusted her glasses, staring at me solemnly. “So, you are here looking for a Gym battle from me to obtain the General Badge.”

I started to relax, grateful that the subject was changing to what I had wanted it to be all along. “Um, a general Badge?” I asked. “I mean, I’m here for your Badge, if that’s what you mean.”

Dana laughed very loudly in a geeky manner, lowering her head. She stood up straight and fixed her glasses, still guffawing. “No, I don’t mean a general Badge. I mean the General Badge! It’s the name of my Badge I hold. See?” She reached in her pocket and held out a square, white object.

“I see,” I nodded.

“Three-on-three, without a time limit. We’re both allowed to switch out our Pokemon. How does that sound?” Dana asked, eyeing me expectantly.

“Um, sure.” I looked around. “Is there a referee?”

Dana smiled at me. “Oh, don’t you worry. We won’t be needing one on Cenumerus Island.”

My heart beat quickly at her words, but I nodded. “Fine. I’m ready.”

Dana walked away, stopping near the edge of the clearing. “This will be our battlefield.”

I smiled and nodded. “You’ve got it, Dana.”

“I’m going to begin this battle with Sawsbuck!” Dana threw a Great Ball.

A creature appeared, but while it resembled the Sawsbuck I had seen a couple of times previously while in Unova, it was very different, as well. This one’s chest had cream colored fur on it. Its limbs were expanded and covered in white fur. Its antlers were white and bare, its tail pointed down.

June gasped as she stared at it. “That’s a Sawsbuck in a different Form!”

“Yes, my Sawsbuck is in winter Form,” Dana said, squinting at us. “It is Winter, after all, now. An unseasonably warm one, but winter, nonetheless.”

A strong breeze blew around me, forcing my eyes closed as they began to tear up against the cold air.

“Well, you’re next, Gary,” Dana called to me as I opened my eyes.

“Okay. A Grass and Normal type like Sawsbuck.” I gripped a Poke Ball tightly and then tossed it. “Pidove, you’re up!”

“Pidoove!” Pidove cried, flapping his wings.

Dana squinted at Pidove and then removed her glasses, clouded them up with her breath, wiped them on her shirt, and put them back on her face before exploding in laughter.

Pidove, June, and I turned to Dana as she leaned against a tree, laughing her heart out.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, confused.

Dana took off her glasses and wiped at her eyes before finally placing them back on and easing up on her laugh. “Y-y-you chose a Pidove!” She laughed loudly again, the sound irritating me at this point.

I scowled at her. “And??”

“And, it’s a Pidove!!” she exclaimed, laughing in a loud, screeching cry, dropping to her knees, holding her stomach.

“Are you making fun of my Pidove?!” I shouted angrily.

Pidove let out a cry and flew off, landing on a tree branch and then looking around at the ground calmly.

“Pidove, get back in the battlefield!” I shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Piii?!” Pidove seemed surprised and flew back near Sawsbuck, staring it in the face.

“Oh, boy,” June murmured, covering her face.

Dana laughed again, falling onto her back. “Not only is Pidove a completely undependable Pokemon with that horrible memory they have, but it’s a Pidove! It isn’t strong by any means! It doesn’t have the stats to compete with me. Are you a new Trainer or something? Like, am I going to be your first Gym match? If so, you should come back after you have some better Pokemon.”

“This is a battle for my third Badge, and my Pidove has more than the stats to beat you!” Dana was finally pushing my last buttons. I’d had enough. “Let’s battle!”

Dana struggled to hold in her laugh as she started to get up, but it came out again, forcing her to the ground. “Third Badge! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my entire life! This is just too much for me!”

“I’ll show you! Pidove, use your Air Cutter!”

Pidove attacked Sawsbuck, flying higher up, and he flapped his wings in an ‘X’ motion, ‘X’ shaped, light blue energy flying off from his wings and smacking around Sawsbuck.

When the attack ended, Sawsbuck glared up at Pidove and stomped one foot angrily at the ground.

“It’s okay!” I gasped.

“Of course Sawsbuck is okay!” Dana giggled, standing up. “That’s only a Pidove, you silly guy. In fact, let me show you a real bird Pokemon.” Dana returned Sawsbuck.

“Hey!” I exclaimed.

Dana winked and threw an Ultra Ball at the ground, its contents revealing her Braviary.

Pidove let out a shocked cry and fluttered his wings in fright as Braviary let out a threatening shout.

“That thing again?” I growled, raising my Pokedex up at it.

Braviary. The Valiant Pokemon and Rufflet’s evolved form. Their strength is stunning, being able to lift automobiles with their talons.

“Why is she sending out Braviary?” June questioned. “She was just in a fight with that other Pokemon, and she looks a bit tired out. You have the advantage here, Gary.”

June was right. Braviary was in the air, looking powerful, but she was breathing hard, a tired look on her face. That bird wasn’t at full health.

Dana snickered. “Based on what I see so far, I won’t be needing much more than my trustworthy Braviary here. Our opponent is nothing more than a Pidove.”

“Pidove, go at that thing with Quick Attack, right now!” I screamed furiously.

Pidove let out an angry call and flew like a lightning bolt into Braviary.

Braviary was hit in the face, her neck forced back hard.

“Now, use your Air Cutter again!”

Pidove attacked Braviary with Air Cutter, hitting her from behind while he was high in the air.

Braviary let out a pained groan and dropped to the ground.

Dana crossed her arms and stared silently at her Pokemon.

Braviary shook her head and swiftly got back up, turning around to face Pidove.

Both fowls were growling at each other.

Dana didn’t give any orders.

“Pidove, we’ve got this thing beat! Another Air Cutter, right now!”

Pidove used Air Cutter again, his attack cutting into Braviary’s face, wings, and abdomen.

Braviary stumbled back on her talons and crouched down in pain.

Yes! I thought happily. Just one more. “Quick Attack!”

Pidove flew at Braviary quickly, slamming into her chest.

Braviary held her ground, her eyes closed tight, Pidove desperately trying to force her back. With a strong caw, Braviary puffed out her chest and stood tall, Pidove being flung back through the air, skidding on the ground on his back.

“Well, I think playtime is over now,” Dana said coolly, fixing her glasses. “Crush Claw.”

Braviary flew fast into the air, high into the sky until she was a tiny dot.

Pidove shook his head and hopped up, watching after Braviary.

The tiny dot got bigger as Braviary dove down, and within seconds, I could see her talons glowing light blue.

“Pidove, dodge that!” I urged.

In the next moment, Braviary had landed, slamming into my Pidove, covering them both in dust from the crash. She flew above the dust cloud a second later, crying victoriously.

When the dust cloud faded away, Pidove was on his stomach in a tiny hole in the ground, not moving.

“And just like that, Pidove is defeated,” Dana smiled. “Hopefully, you have a second Pokemon with better stats than a Pidove.”

I returned Pidove to his Poke Ball, glaring at Dana with rage. “You did really good, Pidove,” I said, swallowing hard. “We’ll win this. You did just fine.” I grabbed the Poke Ball holding my second choice and threw it angrily towards Braviary. “Elgyem, go!”

“Elgyem!” Elgyem spoke up.

Dana smiled at Elgyem and tossed her head back, laughing. “Well, at least this is better than a Pidove. But, seriously, you have three Badges and you don’t have anything better to face me with than an Elgyem??”

I growled, my fingers hurting my palms as I made a tight fist. “Use your Psybeam!!”

“Elgy! Em!” Elgyem raised a hand, the dots on it blinking for a second before a multicolored beam fired at Braviary.

“Dodge, now!” Dana said strongly.

Braviary flew past the attack, Elgyem continuing to try to catch her, but she was too fast.

“Elgyem are known to be slow Pokemon,” Dana smirked, shaking her head. “You can’t seriously think you’re going to catch a far faster Pokemon like my Braviary. It’s time to close out this battle with Rock Slide.”

Braviary screamed at the skies.

White circles appeared in the air, and enormous rocks deposited from them, landing around Elgyem.

“El? Gyem? El?” Elgyem soared around them, desperate not to get hit.

“Elgyem, keep it up! You can do it! Dodge those boulders! Don’t stop!”

“El! Gyem! El! El!” Elgyem backed away from another rock that landed right in front of him, and backed up right into another rock, and a third rock fell from right above him.

“ELGYEM!” I shouted desperately.

“ELGYEM!” Elgyem raised his hands and his eyes glowed blue.

The rock above him floated in the air, outlined in blue.

Dana’s eyes widened in shock. “What?” she gasped.

“It must be Psychic attack!” June explained excitedly.

“Elgyem!!” Elgyem floated into the air, the rock floating above him, and he turned to Braviary. “Elgyeeeeem!” Elgyem waved his arms at Braviary, and the enormous boulder flew at her, smashing her right in the face, knocking her to the ground.

“Braviary!” Dana gasped in shock.

Braviary groaned and stumbled about in a daze, finally dropping to the ground in exhaustion.

“Ha! Now, Braviary is out!” June pointed at Dana.

Dana kept her eyes on Braviary before looking up at June, adjusting her glasses. “Yes, yes. I know. I can see. Come on back, Braviary.” She returned her Pokemon and immediately grabbed another Ultra Ball. “You’re just lucky. Braviary would have easily beaten that thing. It was already weakened, ha ha.” She threw her Ultra Ball in her hand. “Cinccino, you’re up next!”

“Cinccino!” A very fancy, attractive Pokemon arrived and looked up at Elgyem. In its hand was a blue rock.

“Wow! That looks cool!” I said with a smile as I scanned it in my Pokedex.

Cinccino. The Scarf Pokemon. The evolved form of Minccino. Cincinno’s fur is coated in a special oil that keeps it clean at all times, and can also be used to defend against certain kinds of attacks.

“That’s certainly interesting,” I muttered.

“What is she holding?” June asked, pointing at Cinccino.

“That’s called a Damp Rock,” Dana said proudly. “It boosts the duration of a move called Rain Dance.”

“A Hold Item!” I gasped, staring at the rock in shock.

“That’s right. A Hold Item,” Dana said smugly. “One of many very rare sets of items that can be found all throughout the planet. Very few people have them, and I’m one of them.”

Cinccino must know Rain Dance, then, I realized. I wonder what good that will do. Maybe she knows Thunder attack. Thunder is strong, but can be avoided. But when it’s raining, Thunder becomes impossible to avoid. “Elgyem, let’s start this off with Psybeam attack!”

Elgyem shot a Psybeam at Cincinno.

“Ha! Get out of the way of that,” Dana chuckled.

Cincinno dodged with ease, moving around the ground quickly, seemingly without any effort.

“Now, use your Thief attack.”

Cinccino flew at Elgyem and swiped at him with a dark, glowing fist.

Elgyem fell back, a pained cry escaping him until he hit the ground.

“Elgyem, get up!” I called out to him.

Elgyem’s eyes opened immediately as he looked towards me. He turned to Cinccino and pushed himself up to his feet.

“You alright?” I asked him.

Elgyem turned to me and waved his hands high, the dots blinking repeatedly.

“Fling attack!” Dana ordered, pointing at Elgyem.

“Ciiiiinccinooo!” Cincinno pulled her paw back, holding the Damp Rock, and then threw it with full force at Elgyem.

The Damp Rock was outlined in black as it smacked Elgyem in the back of the head as he was still looking at me, waving his blinking hands.

I gasped, staring at Elgyem as he dropped to the ground, whining out in shock and pain.

“Elgyem!” I ran to him immediately and bent down to gently touch his large head.

Elgyem’s eyes opened slowly at my touch, his body sideways on the ground, but he didn’t turn to look up at me. His eyes closed quickly, and he didn’t move.

“And that’s two down, Gary!” Dana said, an annoying smirk on her face. “Your last Pokemon better be a good one.”

“Elgyem, don’t worry about it. You really did a good job. You deserve this rest.” I returned him to his Poke Ball and stood up. “Dana, I’m definitely going to defeat you with my last Pokemon without a doubt. You’ve talked down about my Pokemon enough, and it’s time for us to win.” All we have to do is beat that Cinccino, and we have this match won for sure, I assured myself. With this last Pokemon, we can beat Sawsbuck, no doubt. “Darumaka, you’re up next!”

Darumaka appeared and ran around in frantic circles, grunting.

Dana’s cheeks puffed out for a few seconds as she covered her face before she started laughing again. “Is everything in your team unevolved?” She turned around and hugged a tree as she laughed at my Pokemon, raising an arm to slam a fist at the trunk repeatedly. “A whole team of low stat, unevolved Pokemon! This has to be the most pathetic Trainer I’ve fought in a long time! This is just embarrassing!”

“You shut up!!” I bellowed, taking a threatening step towards her.

Still laughing, Dana turned around and leaned against the tree, sliding to the ground.

I’d had just about enough of Dana. I was just about ready to wring her by the neck if she didn’t stop laughing in the next two seconds.

“U-u-u-use R-R-Rock Bla-ha-ha-ha-ha-hast!” Dana was laughing herself into tears as the white fur around Cinccino’s gray fur glowed orange and a set of silver, spinning waves of energy flew at Darumaka.

Darumaka leaped over one of them, but the others came and smacked him repeatedly, tossing him back, and he dropped hard.

Darumaka leaped up eagerly, breathing hard, visibly in pain, but ran towards Cinccino.

“Alright! Keep up the energy, Darumaka! I’m counting on you to hang in there! Now use your Flare Blitz!” I shouted.

Dana was no longer laughing as she stood up and looked down at Darumaka with an impressed glance.

Darumaka charged towards Cinccino and flew at her, a flying fireball.

Cinccino grabbed her white fur and raised it in front of her.

Darumaka collided with the white fur and… bounced right off!! With a shocked cry, the flames surrounding Darumaka faded the instant he made contact with the fur on Cinccino and he was forced back, rolling on the ground, and he sprawled out on his back. He sat up and looked at Cinccino in disbelief.

I was lost for words myself, my chest in pain as my heart beat against it rapidly in a panic, gaping in confusion and shock at Darumaka and Cinccino.

“Didn’t you listen to your Pokedex? The oil on Cincinno’s fur can repel attacks,” Dana said with a sly grin. “Rock Blast, again!”

“No!” I whispered, mortified, my body frozen in fear at what had just happened.

A pair of silver, spinning slivers of energy flew from Cinccino and smacked Darumaka around helplessly.

Darumaka pushed himself up to his feet, and then dropped again, groaning in pain.

“I’m surprised it survived that first Rock Blast,” Dana commented as she returned her Cinccino. “Gary, I have deduced that it is quite frankly impossible for you to defeat me.”

“What?” I cried out angrily.

“Do you not have anything that is evolved?” Dana asked me.

“I own a Tympole, a Cottonee, and a Drilbur, too! And they’re all great battlers!” I defended my Pokemon. “They all have helped me to win battles and earn Badges! You have no right to judge them!”

Dana shook her head. “You know, some Gym Leaders can be far too kind.” She gave me a serious glare. “I’m not one of them. My Pokemon are all about stats. That’s what counts in every match. How hard you can hit, and knowing how to strike. Your Pokemon can never compete with mine because they aren’t evolved, where as mine all are. They have the stats to win. My Pokemon all go through a special training to specifically increase their stats to the highest possible value.”

“Is that even possible?” I questioned, my eyes widening. “How can you train to raise a Pokemon’s stats?”

“A long story short, it involves the use of vitamins, special kinds of Hold Items, and battling specific kinds of Pokemon, although there are other, far more complex methods used in certain cases,” Dana explained. “It requires a lot of effort and dedication, but the end results allow your Pokemon’s stats to be at their maximum, making your Pokemon the strongest they can possibly be. You’ve never even heard of this kind of training. You hold no chance to defeat me.”

“Stats don’t make a Pokemon perfect, Dana!” I said, taking a step towards her.

“Oh, but they do,” Dana said, fixing her glasses, glaring at me. “This is exactly why you’ll never beat me with those Pokemon you own. I mean, Pidove evolves into Unfezant, and Unfezant isn’t even top three of the birds you can choose to raise. In fact, it holds one of the weakest stats. Braviary, Staraptor, Mandibuzz, can all destroy an Unfezant. If I were using a Pidgeot, or a Noctowl, or a Skarmory, or a Swellow, then maybe an Unfezant could win, but you have nothing but a Pidove. My Pokemon are all specifically raised to improve their already naturally strong stats. For example, Braviary was raised to ensure its Attack was at the maximum potential, because naturally, Braviary are best at using Attack moves. I also made sure the Braviary I caught had Sheer Force Ability.”

“What’s that do?” I asked her slowly.

She snickered. “If the move the Pokemon with that Ability uses has a secondary effect on the opponent, like Paralysis, or Flinching, or anything like that, those effects no longer have a chance of occurring, but the damage of the move is increased by thirty percent. Your little Pidove was helpless, and so was Elgyem, had we hit it. Of course, even without Sheer Force, you were a goner with those two.”

My fists at my sides began to shake with anger. She was really asking for it now.

“Cinccino is also an Attacker, so its Attack is maxed out, too,” Dana continued. “However, in its case, it has the Ability Technician. I’ll assume that you don’t know what that does, either.”

Her condescending tone was making it harder and harder to hold myself back from giving her what she was asking for.

“Technician Ability makes moves of weaker damage, starting at around the, scientifically speaking, estimated strength level of sixty, and anything below that, increase in damage by half. So, a move with sixty damage would do ninety.”

I hated math and didn’t care to check her math myself, so I just trusted what she said.

“This made the lower damage move, Thief, a move with a strength level, scientifically speaking, of forty damage, do sixty. And thanks to it being Super Effective, since it was a Dark move on your Psychic type, the damage was doubled to one hundred and twenty. Fling attack is a move that does damage based on the item which is flung. Damp Rock is one of the items that does, scientifically speaking, sixty damage when used by Fling to attack. So, sixty damage from a Dark type move like Fling, boosted to ninety by Technician Ability, and then Super Effective damage which doubles the hit, making it one hundred and eighty. Furthermore, Rock Blast, a mere twenty five damage move, was boosted to-”

“Okay! I get it!” I grumbled angrily, my head throbbing now from all of her stupid numbers and calculations. “Darumaka, return.” I returned my Darumaka to his Poke Ball and sighed.

“You won’t be able to win with such weak Pokemon on your team, Gary,” Dana said gently.

I looked up and stormed over to her.

Dana’s eyes widened as she adjusted her glasses.

I stopped a couple of feet away and raised a hand, pointing my finger at her face. “Stats don’t decide a win,” I growled in a low voice. “I don’t give a damn what kind of training you did. Stats are good for a battle, but Pokemon have Abilities, too. They have heart. They have spirit. They have a wide variety of moves to get around powerful Pokemon. I’ll prove to you that you can’t win with raw power, Dana! I’ll damn well prove it to you!”

Dana burst out laughing and fell back against the tree, her arms wrapped around her stomach.

“Come on, Gary,” I heard June whisper, and her hand grabbed my arm, gently pulling at me to follow her.

I yanked my arm back, glaring at Dana’s laughing face, her geeky, loud laughter hurting my ears, making me desire so badly to just toss a quick fist in her direction. When June grabbed me again, I let her pull me back, not wanting to actually lose my cool and hit Dana. Struggling to keep my shimmering eyes from watering, her laughter echoed in my ears as June pulled me through the forest, even after Dana was out of view.

*

Captain Billy sighed. “Well, it was mighty kind of you to come visit me. I wish I knew what to say that could help you, but I haven’t a Japanese ghost’s clue.”

June and I stared at him in confusion.

“Perhaps you’re just better off leaving this island if it’s too tough. Why put your partners at such trouble over a battle?” he suggested.

“No!” I shouted, standing up swiftly.

Captain Billy calmly looked up at me.

June stared at me, a worried look in her eyes.

“She can’t go around thinking she can just sweep anybody just because her Pokemon are specially trained in stats. Stats don’t decide a match! It’s not that simple! It’s a team effort of a Trainer and Pokemon bond. It’s skill, strategy, effort, encouragement, and love! It’s not just some kind of stupid boxing match or demolition derby or something! I have to get through to her, somehow. But I won’t be able to if I can’t even prove my point. I have to beat Dana!”

“I wish you good luck,” Captain Billy nodded firmly.

June looked away, her eyes to the ground, not saying a word, concern on her face.

June and I had gone to the Pokemon Center after leaving Dana laughing in the woods, and we left our Pokemon there, leaving right after to see Captain Billy by the water.

His boat was looking clean again. It may have even looked better than when we had met him.

June and I joined him in his boat and I had told him about what happened during my battle with Dana.

Captain Billy didn’t seem sad or upset, but just listened quietly. He wasn’t into Pokemon battles, so his interest only went but so far, and he wasn’t able to give any advice.

I sat down again and looked away from June and Captain Billy, out at the water.

“Dana’s just like the townspeople,” June spoke softly.

“Huh?” I said, not turning around, but listening to her.

“Dana’s so exact, like everyone else on Cenumerus Island,” June said. “So mathematical and… Perfect! All the way down to how she even raises her Pokemon. The whole town is like that. It’s so disturbing.”

I turned to June and she looked back at me. “She isn’t perfect. I’ll prove it, no matter how long it takes.”

June didn’t answer, but instead, turned away from me and looked out to the widespread sea.