Chapter 13: Semi-final

The next morning, Dave woke up feeling great. Yesterday's victory was still fresh in his mind. That was the first time he won an official match. Even better, he and Eevee now seemed to have a mutual understanding of each other.

Eevee was left with Professor Noah for a check up before their next match, so Dave only had breakfast with Mindy that morning. Dave described his feeling after the previous day's fight and bragged about his victory as Mindy listened. Never before had he felt so proud of himself.

"Come on, tell me! Mindy, you saw it all up there. Can you tell me whom I'll be fighting today?"

"Once again, I won't tell you! That's not fair," Mindy told him.

"But everyone already knows what Pokemon I will use," Dave repeated, while nibbling his sandwich. If you tell me about my next opponent, I am back on even ground."

The answer is no, Dave. You might even be disqualified if I tell you."

"But your grandfather isn't here!" Dave said. I want to know, please!"

However, Mindy ignored Dave's plea and asked about something else. "So, how do you feel about today?"

He swallowed his grilled cheese and said, "I'm fine...but tell me... Oh! It's hot!"

Mindy laughed as Dave gulped down ice water in a hurry, trying to cool down his burned tongue.

"Grandpa told me that he was very impressed with your fight yesterday, Dave. And me too," Mindy continued.

"Huh? Are you praising me? That's new." Dave looked at her as if he had just heard the most incredible thing imaginable.

The girl gave him a look that said "don't tease me" and he chuckled softly.

"Thank you for your kind words, Mindy."

"It was your Eevee who did the most work anyway. He deserves the praise," Mindy joked.

Dave quickly put on a mop face. He did well too, okay?

"I'm kidding, you did great too, Dave. By the way, you never told me how you met Eevee. He looked pretty strong yesterday. How long have you been training him?" she asked.

To be honest, Dave did not want other people to know what had happened to his Eevee. He had only explained it to her grandfather in hope that he might understand the mystery surrounding his friend.

"Dave? Are you there?" asked Mindy trying to gain her friend's attention after a few seconds of silence. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing. I'm just nervous about the fight, that's all," Dave lied.

"Okay…" Mindy said, looking suspiciously at her friend. "But you still didn't answer my question…"

"What question?" He pretended he hadn't heard her just now.

"About Eevee, Dave."

A few moments of silence passed once more as Dave thought of what to answer. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her the truth. The less people knew about Eevee the better.

Realising that Dave didn't want to answer her, she spoke angrily. "You know what? Never mind. I thought we were friends, but it seems I was wrong."

Then she got up from the table and bolted out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Great, just what I needed today," he thought, lowering his head.

After waiting a while, Dave got up from the table and went to Professor Noah's lab to collect Eevee.

"Your Eevee is fine and ready to battle Dave. Good luck," Professor Noah told him.

"Thank you, professor," Dave thanked the professor and left the lab with the fully recovered Eevee.

"Come on Eevee, we have another battle to win."

They started walking in the direction of the arena, but without Mindy's help, Dave had trouble locating it. By the time they found the elevator and descended to the basement level, a trainer was already waiting in the ring. They were a little late.

The trainer looked a bit younger than Dave. When he saw Dave enter the ring, disappointment filled his eyes. He was hoping Dave wouldn't show up.

Dave studied his next opponent. In contrast to the previous day, he approached him with more confidence.

"Hello. My name is Dave. I'm from Grene," Dave introduced himself.

"Jake, from Azure City," the trainer answered curtly.

"I wish you good luck," Dave said, smiling and extending his hand to Jake.

"Thanks!" Jake looked at Dave in the eye and squeezed his hand. "You too."

After that, Dave walked to the other side of the arena to prepare himself. A few minutes later, Susan, the referee, walked into the ring.

"Trainers! Please take your position!" she announced.

Dave was feeling a little nervous as he took his position in the ring. He noticed that the arena now seemed a little more crowded and noisier.

He waved to the audience but stopped when he saw Mindy in the special booth with her grandfather. Professor Noah, the host, introduced the competitors as each of them positioned themselves on one side of the ring.

Susan explained the rules one more time, and the semifinals began.

"Go Eevee!"

"I choose you Mankey!"

'A Mankey! Damn! I don't know much about this Pokemon. How I wish I had a Pokedex right now,' Dave thought.

"Eevee, start with a Tackle!" He took the initiative to attack.

"Dodge Mankey!" Jake yelled hurriedly.

"Eevee started with a Tackle first, which Mankey easily avoided. However, Jake didn't command any follow up attacks. He seemed a little nervous," the professor said over the speakers.

Seeing that Eevee couldn't hit the opponent at that speed, Dave decided to increase the pace. "Quick attack, now!"

"Looks like Dave's decided to pick up speed. Let's see if Mankey can handle this one," the professor commented.

Eevee came to a stop in mid-charge, turned to face its prey, and accelerated.

At this time, Jake managed to calm down. As Eevee drew nearer to his Mankey, he ordered the first thing that came to mind in a moment of desperation.

"Mankey! Low Kick!"

Mankey ducked out of the way of Eevee's charge at the last second, and it immediately retaliated with a well-placed kick. Dave's Pokemon, Eevee, was struck directly in the face by the blow, which sent it into the air.

"What an impressive turn! Mankey manages to escape at the last minute and lands a straight kick!"

"Eevee! Are you okay?" Dave asked, now worried. Fortunately, Eevee got up quickly. Apparently the blow hadn't been strong enough.

"Impressive! Dave's Eevee gets up and dusts himself off. Looks like Jake will have to do better than that."

"Alright, Eevee. Now, try to use Quick Attack one more time," Dave ordered.

Dave's Eevee once again charged at Mankey at high speed, but Jake had grown more confident after the previous attack, so when he saw the same attack, he had no worries.

"Mankey, use Low Kick again!"

For the second time, Mankey dodged Eevee's attack and set up for another kick.

"Get out of the way, Eevee!" Dave shouted.

Eevee did as it was told and jumped out of the way of Mankek's strike.

"Keep going Mankey! Do not stop!" Jake pressed on.

"Wow, looks like Jake is in charge now as his Mankey fires attack after attack against Eevee. How long will Dave's Pokemon be able to dodge Mankey's attacks?" Professor Noah yelled excitedly, much to the audience's excitement.

Dave, meanwhile, was starting to get nervous.

Eevee was having a hard time dodging the assault from Jake's seemingly restless Pokemon. He darted from side to side as quickly as he could, always managing to avoid getting hit.

As both Pokemon moved around the court, Mankey eventually managed to trap Eevee in one of the corners.

"There is nowhere to run now!" Jake glanced quickly at Dave with a look of confidence. "Finish it, Mankey!"

'What should I do?' Dave was desperate as he watched Mankey start his jump. 'Aha! I know!'

"Eevee, use Quick Attack to dodge!" Dave yelled.

Eevee slipped underneath Mankey as it dropped down. Mankey's kick hit the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

"Great!" Dave let out a shout of joy, followed by cheers from the audience.

Jake looked shocked that Eevee managed to dodge Mankey's attack.

"Incredible! Eevee used the speed of his Quick Attack as a defensive strategy to escape what looked like the end of the line. Great move by Dave," said the professor.

"It's fine, Mankey. We missed this one, but we won't miss the next one," Jake said to his Pokemon after recovering from his surprise.

"I won't fall for the same tactic twice," Dave murmured. "Use Sand Attack, Eevee!"

As Mankey approached Eevee for the attack, Eevee turned around and kicked a large amount of sand in the opponent's face, obstructing its sight for a few seconds.

Seeing that, Dave hurriedly said, "Go Eevee! Iron Tail!"

Eevee charged at Mankey as his tail began to glow white. Then, he swung his tail in the opponent's face hard. Mankey was knocked away and fell to the ground with swirly eyes.

"Mankey is no longer able to battle. The winner is Eevee!" Susan announced and the audience erupted in applause.

However, Jake looked at his downed Pokemon in disbelief. He couldn't believe that he had lost.

"Unbelievable. This is the first time I've seen such an attack in this tournament. Looks like Dave has a lot of cards up his sleeve. COngratulations to Dave for advancing to the finals!" Professor Noah spoke through his mic.

Dave ran into the ring and hugged his Eevee. "You did great buddy. It was an incredible battle."

"Eevee!" Eevee replied, smiling at his trainer.

Following the victory, Dave and Jake shook hands.

Dave took one last look at the excited audience before leaving the arena, but when he reached the professor's booth, he found Mindy nowhere to be found.

Mindy had seen Eevee's strength and knew they were going to win, so she decided to leave early. This was not known to Dave, however.

'She didn't stick around to watch the fight?' Dave thought.

A strange sense of loneliness mixed with his joy from winning the battle accompanied him as he walked slowly from the arena.