"As for what happened yesterday...Well I'll just leave it at the fact that we were attacked by some weirdo that everyone and their mother claims was part of Team Noble." Rheese said rubbing under his shirt where his ribs were bandaged.
As Rheese watched Sophia and Lan take their places across from each other and he felt a strange bit of anxiety. Unlike most of their group that was present, Rheese was simply told that this Lan guy had single-handedly shut down the guy that had completely wrecked everyone else that had been present. This was the guy that saved their lives while he was unconscious. Obviously he wouldn't see the level of battling that Lan must have displayed given the fact that this battle was for Sophia's first badge. If Lan were to use his full power, he would be completely insurmountable to almost anyone that challenged the gym.
Sophia took her place, shoulders back, head high. She'd given Lan the wrong impression yesterday. Now she'd prove she wasn't the helpless victim she'd seemed to be.
After taking a deep breath, she faced him, her smirk hiding any trace of nervousness.
"Well," she announced, in what she hoped was a bright and clear tone, but her mouth had gone oddly dry.
"It's about time I gave everyone here the show they're waiting for!" She gestured towards the group who watched from the stands.
It would be fine, it would be fine, it would be fine...
Lan stood, the action itself was serene but seemed to carry quite a bit of weight. He looked Sophia directly in the eye with a slight frown subtly communicating that he wasn't buying the act. She had clearly been at this charade for a while, most would certainly fall for the facade.
"Don't handicap yourself by hiding your nervousness, you can't grow as a trainer if you prematurely pretend to be a master." Lan said as though he was disciplining a student. This girl's fake confidence would only confuse her Pokemon, if she kept up her act the battle would be decided before either of them even sent out their first Pokemon.
The referee made her way to the sideline with a flag in each hand for the battlers. A large wood framed screen behind her lit up with the picture from Sophia's trainer card on top and Lan's portrait below it. Three Pokeballs appeared below them both and a "VS" symbol separated them.
"The battle between the gym leader Lan Sohai, and the challenger Sophia Danvers is about to begin! This will be a three versus three battle, only the challenger may switch Pokemon. Are you both ready?" She asked, recieving a nod from Lan.
Putting her hand on her hip, Sophia laughed.
"Nervousness? Please," she replied.
"I came here for a battle, not a lecture."Although she made every attempt to mask it, she couldn't deny to herself that she was nervous. She'd imagined this moment many times, preparing herself, but now here it was, about to happen. Remembering her mother's words two days before - "Make us proud" - she kept her steely, determined gaze on her opponent.
With a nod at the referee's announcement, the young psychic made the three Pokeballs drift around her. Plucking one out of the air and returning the other two to her free hand, she sent out her first Pokemon.
"I'll start out with you, Gothita!"Gothita stared ahead, waiting for the opposing Pokemon to appear.
His unimpressed expression unchanging even as a few individuals in the stands either cheered Sophia or gasped at her psychic display. Lan slowly pulled out a Pokeball.
"Furfrou." He said simply. The white Pokemon made a soft cry upon exiting the ball and looked back and nodded at his trainer. It was clearly younger than the one that had been used the day before, but it still appeared to have quite a bit of experience.
"You have the first move." Lan said politely bowing. It seemed the only way Sophia would learn would have to be through defeat. Clearly the young one had quite a bit to prove, but Lan seriously doubted that alone would be enough to power through his team.
The spectators' cheers gave Sophia a needed confidence boost. She could do this. She sneered as Lan sent out the scruffy dog, clearly younger and lower-level than the Furfrou she'd seen the day before.
"Gothita, hit with Confusion!" she commanded. Gothita stepped forward, hitting with a telekinetic force, sending the Furfrou flying back several paces. It righted itself, seemingly unfazed.
"Clearly you decided to approach this gym too early." Lan said.
"You're not quite ready for this battle as you are." From most others this statement may have been seen as a taunt, but Lan's voice conveyed something closer to an old man teaching one of his grandchildren.
The first round had already essentially been decided once what Lan could only assume was Gothita's primary attack had hardly affected Furfrou. While it would be much simpler to go on the offensive at this point, Lan took the safe approach with a status move.
"Furfrou, use toxic." Lan said calmly. The white Pokemon spewed a jet of poison directly at Gothita.
The self-assured look on Sophia's face faltered for a moment.
"Oh yeah?" she replied.
"I'll just have to prove you wrong, won't I?" It was strange. There had been nothing rude about what Lan had said, but that made it harder to ignore.
"Keep at it, Gothita!" she called.
"Use Confusion again!"Gothita, shuddering slightly from the poison attack, nonetheless stood up straight and repeated the Psychic-type move.
"Prove me wrong if you can, child. I'll commend you if you manage to turn this around." Lan said with a sigh. The affect from the psychic type attack was slightly more apparent this time around as it was beginning to wear Furfrou down slightly. Lan's composure softened from a battling stance to something more akin to a teacher.
"Furfrou, cotton guard." Lan said. His Pokemon complied, slightly confused as to why it would need to buff its physical defense against an opponent that was clearly about special attacks. It seemed like he was either giving Sophia a chance or showing her how futile the battle was.
Sophia chuckled.
"Cotton Guard? Like that'll work against a psychic attack." This gym leader was going easy on her! How insulting! She'd show him what a bad idea holding back was.
"Keep using Confusion!" she commanded to Gothita. This time, after being thrown back, Furfrou struggled to get back on his feet.
"Looks like this is turning around already!" Sophia commented, a proud grin spreading over her face.
Lan smiled slightly. For just a moment, Sophia's confidence was well founded as she had managed to stay on the offensive the entire battle up to this point. Perhaps it was time to flip things.
"Secret power." Lan said, figuring he had given Sophia enough of a chance to do damage. Despite Furfrou's low level, the blast of energy crashing into Gothita was impressive as it cracked the ground beneath the two of them.
"Ah!" Sophia's eyes widened as she watched the energy attack slam into Gothita. The Psychic-type jumped back up, but wobbled as the poison took its toll on her.
"Another Confusion!" Sophia called.
"That could be enough to take it out!" Gothita complied, flinging the Furfrou back. As it turned out, it wasn't enough. This Furfrou was tougher than the new trainer had thought.
"Telling your pokemon that it could be enough to take something out creates uncertainty. If they don't think you believe they can pull it off, they won't be able to put everything they have into it." Lan said. Perhaps Sophia wouldn't listen to his words, but she wasn't the only one that could hear them.
"Close the distance and hit it with another secret power." Lan said calmly as though he were simply conversing with his Pokemon. Furfrou dashed forward immediately and fired another secret power, this time at point blank range. Dust exploded in every direction from the impact.
Sophia gasped as Gothita tried to stand up, only to collapse.
"Gothita, come back!" she said, recalling the fainted Pokemon to her Pokeball.
"Your turn, Staryu!" The star-shaped Pokemon appeared in front of the weakened Furfrou.
"That Furfrou's almost down! Hit it with a Water Gun!" Despite the growing worry, Sophia put all the effort she could into keeping her facade in place. If it slipped again, that wouldn't do her Pokemon's morale any good.
With a "Hyah!", Staryu shot a blast of water at the Furfrou, sending it flying. Sophia resisted the urge to bite her lip in anxiety. It had to work, it had to work...
This time, Furfrou seemed be down for the count. Though it didn't last long as it quickly got up and regained its fighting stance once more.
"Going into this battle using only brute force was your first mistake. You clearly haven't developed any strategy with your Pokemon and seem to prefer trying to just blast through any obstacle in front of you. Now, Furfrou fire back with Secret power." Lan said. It may not have been fair of Lan to say such things as at the current level they were battling, there weren't many other strategies available. Even so, a trainer worth their salt would at least attempt something once their current approach didn't bear fruit.
With a battle cry, Furfrou fired another powerful blast directly at Staryu. Enduring hits was certainly something Furfrou could do, but a pokemon like Staryu would certainly feel the impact.
After flying back from the blast, Staryu leapt up and spun in a blur to face its opponent again. Its limbs drooped slightly, but it remained standing.
"As if that Furfrou can take much more!" Sophia shouted. Surely, in this case, brute force would be enough. It had to be. What other options did she have, anyway?
"Use another Water Gun!" Another jet of water slammed into the Furfrou, who seemed ready to topple.
"Furfrou is much more resilient than you seem to believe. Perhaps once you gain some more experience as a trainer, you will be able to pick up on such things." Lan said as Furfrou righted itself again. He couldn't take a whole lot more, but there was almost no doubt that he could finish this battle.
"Furfrou can still take plenty of punishment, your Staryu, on the other hand...secret power." He commanded once more.
Firing again, the bright flash of Furfrou's secret power collided with Staryu once more. Furfrou seemed to be nearing its limit, but Lan would still have two other Pokemon that were just as powerful.
"Let's see about that!" Sophia said.
"Staryu, Water Gun again! ...Ah!" She looked on in shock as, instead of attacking, Staryu flopped to the ground, its core blinking.
Clenching her jaw, she returned Staryu.
"You can do this, Purrloin!" she shouted, sending out the last member of her team who could still fight.
"Scratch!" One more hit would probably take out the Furfrou, and if that was Lan's strongest Pokemon, maybe Purrloin would be able to beat the others on her own...
Pouncing forward, Purrloin lashed with sharp claws at the Furfrou.
Suddenly Lan's earlier 'mercy' resurfaced as Purrloin's scratch did next to nothing. The buffed defense from when Furfrou used Cotton Guard before allowed Furfrou to effortlessly take the attack. Instead, the cat Pokemon's claw seemed to get hung in the dense layer of fluff that was Furfrou's fur.
"Perhaps if you had prepared before attempting this battle it would have gone differently. Secret Power." He said with a sigh. While a single shot wouldn't be enough to take Purrloin out, at this point even someone like Sophia would likely see what was coming.
With Purrloin still in contact with Furfrou from the previous attack, it was impossible to miss. The explosion striking Purrloin even singed Furfrou's fur slightly.
Purrloin flipped through the air, landing with a thud that made Sophia wince. Staggering back up, the cat hissed at Furfrou, even though there was nothing she could do to truly seem like a threat. Her fur smouldered, and she swayed in place, about to fall at any moment.
Sophia stared at the one-sided battle, struggling to think what to do. Was there any way she could turn the tables? Any way not to get Purrloin pointlessly hurt, and lose anyway?
The old man was right, she realised, a wave of shame washing over her. She could almost feel the spectators' gazes burning into her, judging her for her weakness. So much for setting an example.
"Purrloin..." Sophia said, her voice wavering, her self-assured mask cracking. The cat Pokemon weakly turned her head, awaiting the command to attack.
Taking a deep breath, Sophia made her decision. It was through gritted teeth that she gave the order to her Pokemon.
"Purrloin, come on back." Once Purrloin had vanished into the Pokeball, Sophia's grip tightened around the capsule. Her hand shook. After what she'd let happen with Alexis the previous day, she refused to have her Pokemon get further, needlessly injured.
As the referee announced Lan Sohai as the winner of the battle, a cheer rose up from the crowd. Sophia couldn't look at Lan, at the spectators, at anyone. How would she be able to face them again, after this?
She took a step back. Then another. Then, without a word, turned and ran from the gym.
Though to many Sophia's running away may have seemed cowardly to Lan it was a step in the right direction. Swallowing her pride and returning her Pokemon instead of allowing it to be hurt was admirable, even if Sophia seemed emotionally damaged in doing so. She would certainly return at some point, those like her almost always did. Not only to reclaim their pride, but to discover what they needed to progress.
After returning Furfrou to his Pokeball, he handed it to one of his students to get the Pokemon healed. Lan looked up to the stands, if any of the other trainers wanted to challenge him this would be a good opportunity.
