Some hours earlier...Olivie, Benevolent Beauty Turned Boisterous Brute
versus
Bernard, Calm Heart of Courage
With the sun on the verge of going down and leaving the forest town in murky, eerie night, Bernard and Olivie chose a battlefield quickly. While the day had been a long one, the brunette's heart still pumped wildly for her first real Pokemon battle. But could she back up her indomitable bravado with fighting talent? The doubts tried their best to penetrate her. Conversely, Bernard looked more confident than Olivie had ever seen him before, though the showiness of his pre-scuffle posing had been replaced by a serious sort of serenity. His positive spirit was, it seemed, infectious, and his opponent's concerns about her Pokemons' ability washed away.
Olivie's first instinct to crack her knuckles menacingly proved less than effective, since she'd performed that gesture only a few moments before. Instead, she smacked her right fist into her left palm before announcing with gusto,
”Let's get this show on the road! Gespenst, you're up. Show me whatcha got.” Understandably, none of her Pokemon responded, but while her Bidoof and Karrablast just stood there, her Cacnea looked up, attentively waiting for confirmation. Halfway through donning her fighting gloves, Olivie stopped to point at the expectant grass-type.
”That's you! While I was waiting, I looked in the Pokedex. Turns out, you evolve into something wicked awesome, so you get a wicked awesome name. So get out there, and get ready to win, 'cause the sooner you evolve, the better!” A guttural noise reminiscent of a chuckle escaped her Cacnea as it ambled forward, its arms swung about like spiked clubs.
A wary glance went Olivie's way.
”Er, you're not planning on punching my Pokemon, are you...?”The girl paused just as she was tightening the final strap.
”Uh...” she stalled, her voice unconvincing.
”Nope. Wasn't gonna.””...Right. In that case, have at you!” He removed a Dive Ball from his backpack. In the fading light, its cheery blue looked purple. With a steady hand he tossed the ball, which opened with an aquamarine flash. When the light cleared, a many-tentacled creature floated in the air, its wide, white eyes fixated on Gespenst. Bernard nodded, full of resolve.
”This is Scylla, a friend of mine. She's always eager to study new people and Pokemon.” In response to her name, the Tentacruel dipped with its tentacles splayed like a dress in as close to a curtsy as a Pokemon could get.
”Alright, let's go!”Begin!”Water Pulse!”Scylla's tentacles wound back in a spiral, water appearing from nowhere to rush both down and between them in a vortex. When she released, the spiral of water blasted forward, compressing into a drill of water that flew through the air to strike Gespenst head-on (26/30 EP).
The incoming blast of water, larger than the Pokemon it was aimed at, caused Olivie's heart to skip a beat even if her face remained determined.
”Don't wuss out! Block it!” Cackling, Gespenst threw his arms up, and from his limbs large spikes protruded. The water cannoned into him, but he held firm, the needles both dispersing and absorbing the liquid. When the spray died down, he didn't seem at all worse for wear (2/6 EP). The sight reinvigorated Olivie's spirit, annihilating her worries. In the end, her opponent's amazing attack hadn't done a single thing!
”Sweet! Now it's payback time. Grass Knot!” A profound sense of glee filled the air as Gespenst jammed his arms into the ground, sprouts of plant matter extending form his flesh into the earth (0/6 EP).
The grass beneath Scylla rustled ominously before bursting upward, forming into long, grasping tendrils that whipped her underside. Bernard remained quiet, and his Pokemon main no attempt to block. Despite that, the Tentacruel did not appear bothered. If anything, the attack appeared to have piqued her interest (18/20 HP). Olivie didn't know what to think as Bernard released a small sigh.
”Okay, let's end it. Acid Spray.” Zero hesitated belayed Scylla's action as she immediately began to thrash her tentacles. They bulged with poison, and when she rubbed them together, caustic acid leaked out in bubbles. It was the work of only a moment to burst all the bubbles at once as she lashed her tentacles forward, slinging streams of acid at her opponent (22/30 EP).
Olivie, feeling uneasy all of a sudden, opened her mouth to call a command, but she happened to glance at her Pokemon before a word got out of her mouth. Rather than standing ready to receive his master's order, he was collapsed onto his backside, looking somewhat shriveled and very tired.
”What the hell!?” Olivie yelled.
”You're exhausted already? Noo!” Powerless to interfere, she watched as the acid rained down on Gespenst. Despite his fatigue, he still flopped around like a lunatic when the pain of searing acid consumed him, but it was all over in a moment as he slipped into unconsciousness (0/4 HP). Bernard watched as she bared her teeth in anger whilst retrieving her Cacnea's Pokeball. He didn't hear what she angrily muttered as she returned her Pokemon, but he felt acutely that he'd upset her. Still, he could not help but admire her perseverance as she sent her Karrablast in next, for she must have known that hers was a futile battle at this point. Her voice as hard as her face, Olivie called,
”You better put all your effort into this! Attack now!” The bug took a deep breath, lowered her head, and began to charge. Her horn, aglow with green energy exploded into a larger, pointer shape just as it had done this morning. Bearing this new Megahorn, the Karrablast attacked with nothing held back (0/6 EP).
Rather sadly, Bernard repeated his earlier command.
”Do it. Water Pulse.” A moment later, another rotating drill of water flew to meet the Karrablast's charge head on, the speed of its spin and the force of its flow more than twice as great as before (12/30 EP).
Torrent and horn met in the very middle of the grassy lot, and water flew in every direction as the Karrablast forged forward. Her huge horn, enveloped in a swarm of green energy, carved through the cascade. Olivie felt proud that her little blue bug was not only withstanding the watery surge, but pushing back against it; at the same time, she was sure that it wouldn't last. Sure enough, the Megahorn began to fracture. The next moment, it was blown into chunks, and Scylla's torrent barreled forward to swamp Olivie's Karrablast completely. Olivie already had her Pokeball out by the time the water washed away to reveal the senseless bug lying on her back.
”...Dammit. Okay, Buck. You give it a shot.” Her Bidoof, visibly apprehensive, nevertheless plodded forward to stand on the moist grass in front of his trainer.
Scylla used Poison Jab! (8/30 EP)
Buck fainted!” (0/4 HP)
Moments later, the battle was over. Bernard visibly flinched at Olivie's expression of pure rage, and he didn't dare speak up as she retrieved her Pokemon and stomped off in the direction of the Pokemon Center. She disappeared inside, and the boy finally released his held breath.
”Yeesh...maybe that wasn't such a great idea. I don't have any unevolved Pokemon with me, though. I hate to make her so mad...maybe she won't travel with me, after all.” Scylla gurgled sympathetically, and Bernard patted her before returning her to her pokeball. At that moment, Painkiller pushed himself away from the tree that he'd been leaning against to watch. When his master glanced his way, Painkiller shook his head and pointed a metal arm toward the Pokemon Center. Bernard frowned.
”You think I should go and talk to her? I was gonna just give her some space to cool off.” He put a hand to his chin.
”Now that I think about it...that's probably the introvert in me talking. Trying to apologize for the curb-stomp would be the right thing to do.”When he entered the Pokemon center, he found Olivie with her arms crossed, her hair tossed irately, and her foot tapping as she stood by the main desk. He approached, suppressing a nervous laugh.
”Uh...sorry about that. All of my Pokemon are pretty strong, I guess. I could find a P.C. and get some of my newer ones, if you like.”Olivie stared at him for a minute, then inhaled sharply to reply.
”Look, dweeb: I'm not someone who can't handle losin'. Win some, lose some, that's the game. Better losing to you than some asshat, anyway. If you really want to make it up to me, why don't you pay for my room tonight? Gettin' late, after all.””Oh.” Bernard scratched the back of his head.
”I guess. Heh, and here I thought in bets the winner gets something from the loser.”Deadpan, Olivie brought up her arm.
”You're right.”Before Bernard could protest, the ticked-off brunette socked him in the stomach. He wheezed, almost doubled over, but tried to compose himself.
”Aaaaaah...fair...point,” he gasped, readjusting his glasses.
”Feel...better?”Olivie nodded, smiling.
”Mhm. If we're gonna be travein' together, lemme tell you two things: first, my buddies are gonna get strong enough to knock yours outta the park. Second, don't just stand there and give in when you're being punched. If you do, that makes you a loser. Punch back.””But you're a girl?”Crossing her arms beneath her bust, Olivie replied,
”What, did my chestbeefers give it away? I'm not some mall-and-makeup sissy, but even if I was, you shouldn't put up with abuse. There's no use for double standards, Barnie. If someone's hittin' you, you gotta hit back. No room for pushovers in the real world!”In all his life, Bernard couldn't fathom a weirder conversation than this. Plus, the girl's mention of her 'chestbeefers' suddenly made it painfully hard to keep looking her in the eyes. Fortunately, remembering something she'd said a moment ago distracted him.
”Wait, you're good with us traveling together?”Olivie laughed.
”Yeah, I just figured it out. Nobody I know who went on a journey went alone. I thought I'd be the super cool, independent type and do it alone, but your Pokemon are so much stronger than mine, it's crazy. Makes me mad at myself, not you. For thinkin' I had it all figured out. So you're stickin' with me, Barnie, until I can kick your ass in in a Pokemon battle. Yeah?”To Bernard, the world seemed like it was spinning out of control. Usually, he wanted to think about his choices a lot, but here was what might be the most important choice in his life staring him in the face. He thought about his job, his relatives in Feyhollow, his family in Central City, and so forth, but more than that he thought about the bizarre, one-of-a-kind girl in front of him. In reality, it wasn't a difficult choice at all.
”Yes! H-hell yes!...I suppose. Thank you! And while you improve yourself as a trainer, I'll try and improve as an adult. 'No room for pushovers'...I understand.”After nodding, Olivie turned to her right. The nurse on duty was leaning forward on the counter, elbows on the wood and hands on her chin, watching the pair with a joyful expression, like someone witnessing a loving couple. Olivie reddened ever so slightly.
”What the hell are you lookin' at? Where's my Pokemon?” Blanching, the nurse scurried away. The brunette turned back to Bernard.
”So about that room.””...What!?!”@Balthazar007 
