Battling the twin's Pt. 2

Lily went to sit down as Violet got up and went to take Daisy's place as a referee. Daisy took to the trainers box across from Vali and pulled out a pokeball, "Same rules as with my sister?"

"Sure," Vali palmed Celina's pokeball while hoping the battle would go well.

Celina was still getting used to her new name and tended to forget she had a name other than her species one. Vali understood as it had taken her time to get used to being called her actual name rather than 'Girl' or 'Freak' once she first started school. Violet called out, "This is like a battle one on one between Daisy Waterflower of Cerulean and Valkyrie Potter of Pallet Town. Like release your pokemon!"

"Come out and like battle, Shellder!" Daisy called out her pokemon and Vali internally cursed while hoping that Daisy hadn't taught her pokemon any ice-type moves.

"Come out and battle with my, my friend!" Vali released Celina causing the Pidgeotto to appear with a trill as she flew around a bit.

Daisy let out an appreciative murmur, "Now that Pidgeotto is absolutely gorgeous."

Celina practically preened under the compliment earning a smile from Vali. Maybe the triplets weren't so bad after all. Shaking her head lightly, she said, "I pamper my pokemon when they've done especially well or we've just finished traveling to a new city. I pampered them yesterday for putting up with the kids touching them with sticky fingers."

"They like deserved it," Daisy said before shaking her head, "We like have a battle to do. Want to discuss grooming tips later?"

"Maybe another day," Vali said while eyeing the Shellder, "Celina," Celina turned her head towards Vali, "Let's start off with Gust. We need to see what we're dealing with,"

Shellder and their evolved form Cloyster were annoying pokemon to deal with when battling against them. They were generally raised as tanks due to the fact their hard protective shells continually got stronger the more battles they went through. While Vali didn't think Daisy's Shellder had much of a strong shell, she needed to be wary especially if Shellder managed to latch onto Celina. Even weak Shellder could do serious damage to a pokemon's bones, she really didn't want to see what would happen if Shellder managed to get one of Celina's wings. She focused on the battle at hand as Celina kicked up a strong Gust that blew her hair around prompting her to invest in some hair tied and learn how to braid her hair. Shellder closed its shell and did its best to weather the storm allowing Celina to rush forward with Steel Wing. Shellder cried out as the powerful attack slammed into it doing damage despite its protective shell. Daisy frowned as Celina wheeled around for another Steel Wing attack, "Shellder use Supersonic and confuse that Pidgeotto!"

"Celina dodge it with Quick Attack and start up Gust again," Vali had to stop herself from covering her ears as Shellder let out its Supersonic attack.

Celina followed her directions and quickly worked on dodging the attack before send her Gust attack towards Shellder from behind. Shellder closed its shell to weather the storm as best it could which allowed Celina to take another pot shot at it with Steel Wing. Shellder cried out as its shell opened before spitting out a powerful Water Gun at Celina causing the Pidgeotto to screech as she was hit by it. Thankfully, the wing that got hit was the one still covered by Steel Wing meaning that the damage wasn't that bad. Daisy called out, "Icicle Spear!"

"Use Quick Attack to speed up your dodging!" Vali called out as Shellder began spitting out sharp chunks of ice that would really hurt if they hit especially since Celina was a flying-type, "Use Gust to send that ice back at Shellder!"

Vali decided that she was going to work on adding to Celina's move pool. She had a limited one compared to her teammates save for Sandshrew who hasn't even started training yet. She watched as Celina became a blur of speed with her Quick Attack working to dodge the sharp shards of ice before reappearing as Shellder took a deep breath. Just as Shellder released its next volley of Icicle Spear, Celina used Gust. The two attacks battled for a few moments before Celina managed to put more power behind her attack allowing her to over power the Icicle Spear and send it right back towards Shellder. Shellder got hit by its own ice for a few seconds before managing to close its shell. Celina repeated her actions from before while empowering her Steel Wing with Quick attack which was powerful enough to send Shellder flying into the psychic wall Metagross had put up. It slid down the wall into the water and didn't rise up prompting after a few minutes prompting Violet to call out, "Winner Valkyrie Potter and Pidgeotto."

Daisy to return Shellder with a sigh, "Nice job, Shellder."

Celina flew over to Vali and landed with a soft trill. Vali congratulated her before looking at Daisy, "Your Shellder's pretty good. If you worked on getting his defense up and his stamina up, he could just weather out attacks and strike when his opponent it tired."

"True," Daisy looked at her pokeball in contemplation, "Like thanks for the battle and the advice,"

"No problem," Vali replied as Daisy headed to the stands while Violet took her place and Lily took to the referee position, "Which one of you wants to battle next?"

Pikachu and Celina talked to one another for a few minutes before Celina took to the floating platform in front of Vali. She bent down and held out an arm to Pikachu. He took her unspoken offer and climbed onto her arm before jumping to her shoulder. She stood up as Violet called out, "Same rules as with my sisters, okay?"

"Sure," Vali felt like she had a good enough grasp of water-type pokemon though she would definitely be going out to challenge more people with water types just to keep practicing.

Lily announced, "This is like a one on one battle between Violet Waterflower of Cerulean and Valkyrie Potter of Pallet Town."

"Like come out and battle, Horsea!" Violet called out and Vali looked at the little sea horse-like pokemon with interest.

Horsea didn't often get sent to the lab or come near the coast of Pallet town which meant Vali hadn't seen any before save for in books. They were absolutely adorable and turned into real powerhouses once they finally evolved into their final evolution. While she was going to be a fire-type master, she appreciate water-type pokemon for their ability to live in parts of the world that no other pokemon could. They were a lot like fire-type pokemon in that regard which only helped her appreciate them even more. Looking at the Horsea, she hoped that she'd be able to catch one at some point. Vali looked at Violet and asked, "Where did you get that cutie from?"

"My dad's Kingdra ended up laying an egg and I happened to be the first one he saw when he hatched," Violet explained with a warm smile directed to her pokemon who let out a happy trumpet and danced a bit in the water, "He's a playful little guy,"

"I can tell," Vali felt anticipation spark inside of her and knew that this battle would be diffrent from the others especially since Horsea was firmly based in the water, "This is going to be so interesting,"

Violet grinned at her before calling out, "Like Horsea, start things off with Water Gun!"

"Get up into the air and dodge it!" Vali called out earning a trill from Celina, "Use Gust when you can,"

Vali was going to look into more long range attack for Celina. Celina shrieked as Horsea clipped her left wing causing her to fall slightly though she managed to regain her altitude. She inwardly cursed a bit knowing that they were now on a time-limit. Celina's wings were going to get tired and flying with a damaged wing wasn't a good idea. Celina was still moving well though the pain her wing was causing her would soon change that. Celina released a Gust that caused Horsea to cry out before he ducked into the water which was rough due to the winds buffeting it. Looking at that, she thought about one of the most difficult moves for the Pidgey-line to learn and inwardly grinned as a plan formed in her mind. Even if Celina couldn't learn it fully in time for the gym battle, it would still help though she was definitely going to have to talk to Steven about her plan.

Celina landed on a floating platform to give her wings some rest while eyeing the water carefully. Despite being a first-level water-type, Horsea were powerful little creatures due to the dragon-typing hiding within their cells. Whereas Seel and Shellder weren't as well trained, Horsea clearly had been training hard. Violet's smiling face and the love she bore for Horsea made that quite clear. Violet called out, "Water Gun again, Horsea!"

Vali scanned the water seeing a blur fly towards her side of the pool, "Celina, he's coming behind you!"

Vali had barely gotten those words out by the time Horsea had jumped out of the water and shot a powerful Water Gun towards Celina's back. Celina let out a shriek as she was sent stumbling forward a bit before she shot back into the air. She was shivering both out of pain and due to the water soaking her feathers. Vali eyed her pokemon as Violet called out, "Aurora Beam, Horsea!"

Horsea had to have the Swift Swim ability if he was this fast in the water. Vali tried to figure out a way to counter it as she shouted, "Quick Attack as many times and as fast as you can. Don't give them a clear target!" She would need to see if any of Steven's pokemon knew Double Team and see if they could teach her pokemon it since it would make situations like this easier, "Steel Wing if he leave the water!"

Celina disappeared into a blur that darted around the room as Horsea lept out of the water and shot off a beam of multicolored light. Thanks to Celina's swift movements, she managed to get out of the way of the beam and followed Vali's orders to slam into Horsea with a Quick Attack powered Steel Wing. They were so going to figure out a name for the trick and make good use of it. Horsea let out a surprised pained cry as him was slammed into by the metallic colored blur and sent flying into the psychic wall. Horsea slid into the water though quickly rose up with a glare aimed towards Celina as Violet called out, "Horsea, are you okay?" Horsea let out a determined trumpet, "Good. Now let's play some hit and run!"

Horsea disappeared into the water and Vali realized that he was going to be playing sniper with Celina as his target. Note to self: Pikachu should be in charge of any battles against water-type pokemon that used such tactics. Vali called out, "Keep up the same tactic as before, Celina."

Celina looked at her in confusion for a few moments before realizing that Vali was speaking about her. That confusion cost Celina and she was sent flying via Water Gun to her side by Horsea, she let out a shriek of pain, but managed to keep herself from plummeting into the water. She shook herself before returning to her normal height and began using Quick Attack. Horsea continued to take pot-shots at Celina with a mixture of Water Guns and Aurora Beam. Eventually, it proved too much for the Pidgeotto and she ended up fainting when a Water Gun slammed into her stomach. Returning Celina before she could hit the water or one of the floating platforms, Vali listened as Lily called out, "Winner Violet Waterflower and Horsea."

As Violet and Horsea celebrated, Vali felt a bit numb though she shook it off as she murmured, "You did your best, Celina. This isn't the end and we're going to get better, I promise."

Pikachu nuzzled her looking a bit disappointed. Vali headed towards the stands along with Violet and Lily as Misty looked at her in shock, "Y-you lost?"

"It happens from time to time, but it doesn't mean we're going to give up," Vali told the orange haired child as Balto raced over to her and began to sniff at the fingers holding Celina's pokeball with a whine, "It means we've got a lot of work to do. Celina's move pool is too small and that's what bit our butts this time. It doesn't help that she's still getting used to her new limits as she has recently evolved," Vali put Celina's pokeball back in its place on her belt and began to pet Balto, "There's also the fact that we weren't prepared for an opponent like Horsea, but there's always next time,"

"So you're not mad about losing?" Misty asked earning a small smile.

"I am a bit mad, but not at Violet, Horsea, or Celina. I'm mad at myself for getting a bit cocky and not thinking about the problems that ended up being shown to me during the battle," Vali looked at Violet and nodded, "I need to thank you for your help. We still have a lot of work to do before Steven and I's gym battle,"

Violet smiled at her and held out a hand which Vali took, "Like no problem, Vali. You showed us all that we need to train harder especially since we're inheriting the gym in two years. Horsea and I may have won that one, but that doesn't mean anything in the long run."

They shook hands and Misty looked confused, "Why are you shaking hands?"

"It's to show that the battle was good and to make sure there aren't any hard feelings," Violet answered looking at her little sister, "It's common courtesy,"

Vali smiled at Misty and asked, "Did you enjoy watching the battles?"

"Mhmm," Misty nodded with a bright grin, "They looked so cool, but how come you didn't just have Pikachu zap them all?"

"Type advantage doesn't always mean you'll win a battle," Vali answered earning a confused look, "It all comes down to strategy and the fact that Pikachu isn't the strongest pokemon out there. He's strong, but he's still young which means he has some growing to do. Your parents probably have tons of strategies to counter electric types like Pikachu which means we have to keep training as hard as possible before the gym battle,"

Lily spoke up, "How about we head to the pokemon center and get our pokemon checked out?"

With that said, they headed to the pokemon center where Nurse Joy took their pokemon back to be checked out.