Chapter 29

" Vivillon, Gust. " 

With a single flap of her wings, Vivillon left her opponent and his trainer stunned. Gust is a weak version of its much more powerful counterpart Hurricane, one whips up a gust of wind while the other whips up a hurricane that can launch other Pokemon into the air. However, VIvillon has reached a level of proficiency with the move Gust to create a miniature hurricane that lifted Scraggy into the air!

" Protect! " Tobias called out, watching Scraggy flail in the air, but didn't see the hand sign Viola made to Vivillon. Upon hearing his command, Scraggy made a barrier to protect himself but was confused since VIvillon didn't approach him at all. 

She stared from a distance... no, both of them... wait three of them...

Scraggy's eyelids fell, closing shut. The Protect fizzled out and Tobias watched with wide eyes as Scraggy fell to the ground, fast asleep. 

' Sleep Power! When did she... ' Tobias thought. 

" Draining Kiss. " Viola commanded. 

Coming down from the sky, Vivillon landed atop Scraggy and moved her head down to Scraggy's. Vivillon's lips made contact with Scraggy's head and all the aura from Scraggy was absorbed, transferring to Vivillon. With Scraggy fast asleep, Vivillon's sleep power in full effect, he couldn't consciously feel his energy being sapped away and was knocked out.

" Scraggy is unable to battle. Vivillon is the winner. Challenger, send in your final Pokemon. " The referee announced as Tobias recalled Scraggy to his Pokeball. 

" When did you tell Vivillon to use sleep power? " Tobias asked. 

" While you were watching Scraggy in the air. " Viola shrugged. " You didn't pay attention to me, so I gave some signals to command Vivillon to use Sleep Power discreetly, gently sending them in your vicinity using small gusts, Vivillon needs to flap her wings to stay in the air after all. " 

" That... " Tobias said, lost for words. 

" Is a bit new, I admit. Got inspired by a certain trickster I have the displeasure of losing against. " Viola laughed, brushing her hand through her hair. 

" Though it wouldn't have worked if Vivillon wasn't so damn good at what she does. " Viola praised. " You did good girl. " 

VIvillon flew around happily, little sparkles falling off her wings, giving her a look of pazaze as she posed, showing off her beautiful wings. Flying down, she tapped Viola's camera repeatedly. 

" You want to take a photo? Now? " Viola asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Vivillon made a pleading face, begging Viola to take one photo. Viola sighed, but smiled, agreeing to the request. 

" You did well. " Tobias whispered to Scraggy's Pokeball. Placing Scraggy's Pokeball back and grabbing Murkrow's Pokeball, Tobias took a deep breath, his nerves getting to him, but he was going to win. 

" Come out Murkrow. " Tobias said, releasing Murkrow onto the battlefield. Murkrow stared at Vivillon smiling while basking at her beauty, getting her picture taken by Viola and praised in the process, before standing ready for battle. 

" Vivillon vs Murkrow, final round, begin! " The referee states. 

" You can have the first move. " Viola said. 

" Thank you, Taunt. " Tobias said. 

Taunt is a move that if fallen for by the opposing party, forces them to only use attacking moves for a while. Moves such as Swords Dance, Calm Mind, or Leech Seed, basically any non-direct damaging moves are unable to be used by the opponent who's been taunted, they are forced to use attacking moves. So, how does Murkrow make Vivillon fall for the Taunt? 

' Why are you ugly? ' Murkrow asked. 

'...What? ' Vivillon asked with a closed-eyed smile, promising nothing but pain. 

' The colors of your wings... aren't there better colors than the ones you have. ' Murkrow contemplated. ' Honestly, they are... so ugly. ' 

Vivillon's demeanor changed, doing a complete 180. Her malice could be felt by Viola, who stared at Murkrow in shock. 

' What did you say to her?! ' Viola thought, feeling the rage Vivillon wanted to release into the small, witch-hat-wearing crow. ' Well, whatever, I can deal with this. ' 

" Gust. " Viola commanded. 

" Thunderwave! " Tobias yelled.

Before Vivillon could unleash a powerful gust to blow away the stupid crow off the face of the earth, yellow lightning reached her first. An electric current ran through her body, causing her muscles to spasm, locking up and making her unable to move. 

' Prankster. ' Viola thought.

" Aerial Ace! " Tobias said. 

Flying high into the air, getting close to the ceiling, Murkrow descended from above, flapping his wings, gaining speed, and ramming his body into Vivillon! Vivillon grunted from the pain and was dragged by Murkrow who slammed her into the ground! Dust was thrown into the air, and from the cloud, Murkrow appeared, getting away. 

As the dust cloud settled, Vivillon was seen on the ground, struggling to get up, her body still feeling locked up from the paralysis. Her eyes calmly locked onto Murkrow and Viola smirked. 

" Night Shade. " Tobias said. 

" Protect. " Viola said. 

Vivillon saw Murkrow grow in size, towering over her, but she wasn't fazed and made a barrier that blocked the streams of energy that were going to hit her. 

' She broke out of the taunt. ' Tobias thought. 

" Aromatherapy. " Viola said. 

" Haze. " Tobias called out. 

Murkrow released a black colored mist that covered the entire battlefield, engulfing himself and Vivillon in it. Vivillon released a sweet scent into the air and after taking a sniff, Vivillon felt her body relax, her muscles no longer clenched together so tightly. Her paralysis was removed and so she took to the sky.

Opening her eyes, she could see nothing but darkness. Her senses were on high alert, sensing any disturbances that could lead her to Murkrow. 

" Gust! Blow it all away! " Viola commanded. 

Stretching her wings, ready to unleash a massive gust, Vivvol felt her body freeze upon seeing the ominously glowing red eye floating eye in front of her. As she stared with a chill running down her spine, Vivillon then felt pain from something ramming into her stomach. 

Getting sent flying back, crying in pain, Vivillon felt something strike her from behind, knocking her forward. But another hit came, hitting her on the head and other to the body. Vivillon felt blow after blow on her body, each leaving no time to counter. The pain racked up and Vivillon grits her teeth in defiance. 

Knowing the next attack, Vivillon dodged the attack and unleashed a hurricane-like gust, which blew away the Haze covering the battlefield. 

' She's taken more damage than I thought! ' Viola thought, clicking her tongue when she saw Vivillon breathe in heavily, nearly able to flap her wings to stay in the air. 

' Need to heal with roost, but where is Murkrow? ' Viola thought, looking around the arena. 

" Thunderwave! " Tobias yelled. 

Viola and Vivillon's eyes widen at the command as yellow lightning hits Vivillon from behind, paralyzing her. 

" Aerial ace! " Tobias followed up. 

Viola turned her head to see Murkrow fly out from the tree he was hiding in and ram himself into Vivillon from behind. Vivillon cried out in pain and Murkrow pushed on, going straight towards the ground and slamming Vivillon in the dirt! Murkrow flapped his wings, gaining distance while Vivillon lay on the ground unconscious.

" Vivillon is unable to battle! The winner of the battle is the challenger, Tobias! " The referee announced. 

Tobias felt his blood boil, emotions rose to the surface, his mouth forming into a smile while Viola returned Vivillon to her Pokeball and smiled. 

" Yes!! " Tobias cheered, grinning while clenching his hands. 

They had won. 

Murkrow came down and perched onto his shoulder. Tobias smiled, bringing his hand up to rub Murkrow's head. 

' Our first gym badge... ' Tobias thought, ' 7 left to get. '

" You did well Murkrow! Both you and Scraggy! " Tobias praised. Murkrow tilted his head and cawed in Tobias's face while holding out his wing. Tobias looked at him and laughed, running a hand through his hair. 

" Not here. But there will be treats later. We need to celebrate. " Tobias smiled and Murkrow perked up at the promise of treats. 

" That... " Viola said, gaining Tobias's attention. " Was an excellent battle. Congratulations. " 

Viola held out her hand and Tobias slowly raised his hand in response, before gripping Viola's hand in a firm handshake. 

" It was. Thank you for the battle. " Tobias said and Viola smiled. 

" This... belongs to you. " Viola said, taking the badge given by the referee and handing it to Tobias. " The insect badge is yours. "

" Thank you. " Tobias said, taking the badge and keeping it in his case. 

" You've grown quite a lot in a few short days, I look forward to seeing how far you'll go. " Viola said. " But I've got to ask, what was your plan using Haze? "

" I used it as a cover, so you wouldn't see Murkrow come back to me and receive a set of instructions. " Tobias said. " I told him to use Double Team and attack Vivillon using Wing Attack while Murkrow should go hide in a tree. I figured you'd try to remove the Haze, so I waited until that happened before... well you saw what happened. "

" I did and it was brilliant. " Viola praised. 

" Well done. " Viola said. 

" Thank you. " Tobias responded, before turning around to walk out of the gym. 

...

" Why do I need to meet them? " Atsumu asked while getting dragged by Valerie by the wrist. 

" Because you'll be coming here regularly, it'd be better for them to get to know you now instead of later and cause a misunderstanding. " Valerie said. 

" You're saying that as if any one of my Pokemon wouldn't immediately use Confuse Ray to hide me. " Atsumu said. 

" You're saying that as if my Sylveon didn't use Misty Terrain to make me immune to Confuse Ray. " Valerie responded, turning back with a smirk before coming to a halt. " Also, everyone you'll be meeting has been trained by me at some point and use Fairy-Type Pokemon. " 

" Still doesn't equate to them also noticing the Confuse Ray. " Atsumu said. 

" Oh, I think they will. " Valerie said, putting her hand on the door handle. " Now let me introduce you to my employees. "

Valerie opened the door and what greeted the both of them were three faces staring in their direction. Once they saw Atsumu, all three had various expressions. The girl on the left had a surprised face, her brown eyes widened, and her mouth was slightly agape. The girl on the right had a straight face, but her eyes showed she recognized Atsumu. The one in the middle brought her hands up and squealed loudly. 

" OhmyArceus, ohmygArceus, ohmyArceus!!! " She rambled, breathing in heavily before rushing forward. Atsumu took a slight step back when he saw the girl's face twist into one influenced by madness, a large grin with eyes scarily focused on him specifically. 

" Valerie, Valerie, Valerie!! " The girl repeated once she stopped, standing in front of Valerie who moved in front of Atsumu. " Tell me, I need to know! "

" Is he your boyfriend?!! " The girl asked, grabbing Valerie's shoulders and starting to shake her. " Tell me!! " 

" He... isn't... my... boyfriend. " Valerie said, in between being shook. The girl stopped and stared at Valerie, then at Atsumu, then at Valerie, then at Atsumu, and then, back at Valerie. 

" Why??!! " The girl whined. 

" Cause the option of dating is not on the table. " Valerie said, gently removing the girl's hands from her shoulders. 

" Now, my love life aside, gather around and introduce yourself. " Valerie said, waving towards the other girls to come forward, while the hyperactive girl dodged Valerie and went up to Atsumu. 

" Hey, name's Laura... " Laura introduced, giving a tiny wave. " Quick question... "

" Why the hell aren't you dating her?! " Laura asked, grabbing the collar of Atsumu's shirt and pulling him closer, making him get a close-up of her currently deadly frighting look. 

Atsumu calmly stared at her, moving his arms up, and grabbed her hands, gently removing them. Laura simply crossed her arms as Atsumu patted his shirt down before answering, 

" Cause the option of dating is not on the table. " 

" ... So this is what we're dealing with. Well, not to worry, this will be fixed. Real soon. " Laura said menacingly. 

A slap to the back of their head made Laura yelp in pain, her hands going to the back of her head to clutch and massage it. 

" What was that for?! " Laura asked, facing the other girls staring at her. 

" Excuse her, she's... extremely obsessive over making sure her favorite ships sail. " The girl with the surprised expression said, pulling Laura's ear. As Laura flinched from her ear getting pulled, the girl introduced herself, 

" My name's Sophia. " She said, raising her hand. " Nice to meet you. "

Atsumu grasped her hand and shook it, as Sophia continued, " I need to know though, why did you and Valerie do that stunt in Ambretee Town? "

" We were bored. " Atsumu said. 

"... That's it? " Sophia asked. 

" Yep. " Valerie confirmed. 

" Huh, was not expecting that. " Sophia muttered. She then got lightly elbowed by the girl who had a stoic expression that made her let go of Laura who sighed in relief and massaged her ear. 

" Atsumu, this is Ellie. She says hi. " Sophia introduced and Ellie gave a small nod at Sophia's words. 

" Nice to meet you. " Atsumu responded. 

" Alright! " Valerie cheered. " That's one thing done today, now for the other thing. Girls get ready, I have an idea of what we're going to make for the fashion show. " 

" Eh? You do? " Laura questioned. " You were having trouble 2 days ago, did you really get inspired this quickly to make a new, going to be an absolute hit, clothing lineup? "

" ... How about you look at my design first before jumping to conclusions? " Valerie said with a closed-eyed smile, that made Laura flinch and back away from Valerie. 

" Atsumu, hand them over. " Valerie said, holding out her hand. 

 Atsumu stared at her hand and Valerie stared back at him. She opened and closed her hand multiple times, Atsumu saw this but chose not to respond. 

" Why aren't you summoning them from the shadows? We practiced this. " Valerie said in a hushed tone. 

"I never agreed to do this. " Atsumu said. 

" Oh come on, I was going for a bring reveal with pazazz, why did you have to ruin it? " Valerie whined. 

" Couldn't you have done it your way? Why did you want me to do it? " Atsumu asked.

" Because pulling stuff from the shadow is so much cooler than what I can plan. " Valerie said. 

" Why do you need to do this anyway? You're just showing off designs, they'll be impressed regardless. " Atsumu said. 

" Yes, fair point. Counterpoint, Presentation! " Valerie exclaimed. 

" She has a point. " Sophia chimed in, agreeing with Valerie. " That said, can you really pull stuff out from your own shadow? Because, if you can please show us. That sounds so cool. " 

" I'm still frustrated about the entire ' You two aren't dating ' situation but I can put it on hold. Now, show us. " Laura said, with Ellie agreeing behind her. 

" ... Fine. " Atsumu sighed. His shadow on the floor became darker, black ooze seeping out, rising to Atsumu's waist level, and popping out Valerie's designs. Bringing his left hand up, Atsumu grabbed the plans Valerie had rolled up and took from the black ooze as it went back into his shadow. 

" Here. " Atsumu said, handing over the designs to Valerie.

" That was totally wicked!! " Laura yelled. as Valerie took the designs. 

" Cool. " Ellie said, enthralled. 

" Man, if you brought that kind of energy on stage, you could be one heck of a performer. " Sophia said. 

" ...Thanks. " Atsumu responded. 

" You girls coming to see the designs or not? " Valerie asked as she rolled her designs out on the table. 

" We want to see them! " Laura said, skipping over to Valerie, followed by Sophia and Ellie. 

" Woah!! " Laura gushed, staring at the designs. 

" Woah indeed. " Sophia smiled. " If we can make these right, they'll be a hit. " 

" Crunch time. " Ellie said. 

" ... Guess you have things covered, " Atsumu smiled. " I'll see you in the evening. Bye Val. "

" See ya later. " Valerie smiled, waving Atsumu off as he exited the room. 

" So... Val huh? " Laura smirked. 

" Hush. " Valerie smiled, placing her finger on Laura's mouth. " Let me handle my love life myself and you watch from the sidelines, K? "

" ... " Laura slowly nodded her head in response. 

" Great. " Valerie responded. " Now, let's get to work! " 

_________________________________________________

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