“Since when did Auri know Protect?” I asked.

  “The day before yesterday,” said Darren. “I bought the TM the first day we arrived in Rondo, after we left you with Elaine. Auri did good to learn it in just three days, don’t you think?”

  He crouched down next to his Larvitar, giving her a hug and showing more affection than I’d seen him ever express. Between her trainer and Comfey who was hanging from her horn providing her usual care, Auri was the picture definition of smugly satisfied.

  “Ducky, you came,” said Darren.

  “Of course,” said Ducky. “I’m not about to miss the beginning of the circuit. That said, I did miss the first couple of days. How’s it been so far?”

  “Pretty good, for me. A couple of tough match-ups, but as you can see, Auri’s tough. How are you? How did the job at Popplio Town, was it, go?”

  “That’s a story to share over a stiff drink. Speaking of, have you finished for the day? I’ll invite you all to lunch if you tell me what’s been happening since we last met. I heard there was some sort of a commotion at Crescent Town.”

  “We’ll tell you all about it,” said Sunny. “But first, I don’t suppose you’ve seen a boy with a blue cap and yellow shirt anywhere? He probably has an Espurr on his shoulder.”

  “Doesn’t ring any bells. A friend?”

  “Yes, Joey, we met him in Crescent Town,” said Sunny.

  “Hang on, I’ll check the schedule,” said Darren. “He should have a match today.”

  Ducky found his name on the tournament website first. She tilted her phone to show us the page of today’s matches and their results. Joey’s opponent had won by default. Joey had never turned up.

  The restaurant Ducky took us to was far fancier than anything I’d been in before. I was famished by the time we got there. Once again, that was Joey’s fault. We had tried texting him. Sunny and Darren went as far as calling him. He didn’t reply. Then we went to the Pokémon Centre. His room was empty. Darren said he hadn’t seen him that morning either. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t getting worried, but Sunny was full-out panicking. Her breathing became heavier and her words frantic and less and less coherent. Ducky was the one to calm her down.

  “His name was Joey Young, yes? If it’s the kid I’m thinking of he should be alright. I’m acquainted with his parents. They’re busy people, maybe they just had to take him somewhere all of a sudden.”

  Sunny didn’t seem convinced and she tried to explain that Joey was having issues with his Pokémon. Ducky told her to relax, she’d find him with the help of her Pokémon. I hid behind Darren as she took out her entire team and related Joey’s description to them. Ducky then urged us that it was best to wait with a full stomach and a clear mind. So, we ended up at a posh restaurant with lights shaped like candles and wood panelling varnished to a mahogany finish. We were at a table in an alcove reading from a menu in a language I couldn’t understand.

  The tense mood gradually dispersed as Ducky made every effort to keep the conversation flowing. She told us about the storm in Popplio Town, and how it was so bad that they had resorted to evacuating the residents to Caprice City. It had been an arduous journey, a battle against nature and time. When she finished her story, she asked about our adventures once again. Darren, attempting to emulate her narrative style, told her of everything that had happened in Crescent Town. He told her of our meeting with Joey and the challengers on Meloetta’s Bridge. When he got the part that the Demon was a singular Wishiwashi, Ducky exploded with laughter.

  I talked a little about meeting Elaine after that. Ducky was a good listener. She was genuinely interested in our stories and asked plenty of questions. By the time dinner was over, We were in a much better mood, and Ducky’s insistence that Joey was probably with his parents and we shouldn’t worry about it seemed much more likely. I hoped it was true, because none of her Pokémon had seen him around the city.

  Joey didn’t appear the next day either. I didn’t have the time or the energy to think about him. My match was first thing in the morning, and I’d had the terrifying realisation that out of the over five hundred people to enter the tournament, I’d made it into the last hundred and twenty-eight. It had only been two battles, but the weight of winning them was starting to settle heavily on me. On top of that, the reduction of contestants meant there were more eyes on every match. For the third day, there were only four time slots and sixteen simultaneous battles. Not surprisingly, I had trouble sleeping.

  My opponent, Jade, was another of the favourites Elaine had told me to watch out for. She was a model originating in Silverwind Village with the quirk that she loved bug-type Pokémon with a passion. I wasn’t expecting to win. Jade had three Pokémon and I only had one. There were some trainers that could sweep through a tournament with a single Pokémon, but I wasn’t that trainer, and Flaaffy wasn’t that Pokémon. Despite that, I resolved to give a good battle. It wasn’t only pride. The better I performed here, the higher the chances some company or organisation would bookmark me as a potential future sponsorship candidate. Being apart from my parents was imprinting on me the true value of money and how quickly expenses added up. It had nothing to do with the fact that Darren was already out buying TMs.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  I arrived early and was in the waiting area whispering my worries to Flaaffy’s pokeball ten minutes before the match was due to start. It was a simple wooden frame with plastic curtains to provide some privacy. I was as grateful today as I was the first day for it. The nerves were not getting any better, and as much as I liked my friends, being alone helped me focus. They were outside, along with Ducky, waiting by the barrier.

  Finally, I was called out and I walked onto the pitch. From the opposite end, Jade strolled out with all the stage presence I lacked. She waved at the crowd raising a cheer. She had long black hair and tanned skin, marking her as a native from the north of the region. Most strikingly, however, was that she wore a frilly bikini that suggested far more than it showed. While it was a nice day for the time of year, there was still an autumn chill in the wind that the sun in the clear blue sky was not powerful enough to ease. It probably had something to do with her work, I guessed. It was an assumption backed by the barrage of photographs taken with every one of her steps. Her relaxed and assured attitude only made me far too aware of my tense shoulders and stiff knees.

  The whistle blew and I released Flaaffy. Jade flung a pokeball that materialised into a Forretress. If before she was elegant and calm, as soon as her Pokémon appeared, excitement gleamed in her eyes and her grin took on a feral tilt.

  “Light Screen, Reflect, and Curse!” she yelled.

  Barely visible psychic films winked into existence around Forretress. With a grunt, a shadow crossed over him, turning his movements sluggish and his stare more frightening. Flaaffy hit him with Cotton Spore and Thunder Wave while using Charge and Agility on herself. I didn’t know much about Forretress, and it wasn’t the Pokémon I was expecting to face. According to Elaine, her ace was a Ninjask, and that was also the Pokémon she had used in her last two matches. What I did know about Forretress was that they were slow, even slower than Flaaffy. If she could out-speed him to the point where he couldn’t hit her, it didn’t matter how tough he was, we could wear him down.

  Jade didn’t seem phased and called to use Spikes. Forretress spun, morphing the sand around him into spikes which scattered about the pitch. Flaaffy fired a Thunder Shock which practically glanced off the Forretress.

  “Go, Gyro Ball!” said Jade. I sucked in a breath and told Flaaffy to keep her distance and keep attacking with Thunder Shock. The Forretress advanced slowly, though his rotation picked up speed until he was nothing more than a blur. Thunder Shock didn’t seem to be doing anything and Flaaffy backed away from her opponent. The battle continued at a deadlock for a couple of minutes. Then Flaaffy made a mistake. She stepped on a spike as she retreated and stumbled. She fell on other, surrounding spikes causing her greater injury, but more importantly, preventing her from moving fast enough. A sudden pressure squeezed the back of my neck as I understood too late that Jade and her Forretress had manoeuvred Flaaffy into that spot intentionally without either of us noticing.

  Desperately, I called for Flaaffy to use Thunder Shock again. She sparked, but instead of immediately releasing the ray of electricity, she gathered it into a sphere between her arms. It spun faster and faster until it was shining like a lightbulb. She threw it at the Forretress moments before he slammed into her. He cried out in pain but kept moving forwards and ripped into Flaaffy. She was thrown backwards, rolling with all the angular momentum the Forretress had transferred to her. When she stopped, she was out cold.

  “Flaaffy is unable to battle. The round goes to Jade and her Forretress,” said the arbiter. “Calla, please choose your second Pokémon. I returned Flaaffy and cleared my throat.

  “I forfeit,” I said. I could barely hear my voice. The arbiter announced the result of the match and the crowd cheered. Jade jumped onto the pitch and gave her Forretress a tight hug. I looked at Flaafy’s pokeball, willing myself to stay standing and not to collapse on the spot.

  “It was a good battle,” said Jade, startling me. She stretched out a hand. I shook it automatically.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Your Forretress is very strong.”

  “He is,” said Jade. “And so is your Flaaffy. That Electro Ball caught me off guard at the end. Don’t believe his aloof expression, that move nearly knocked him out. Isn’t that right, Ephi?”

  Her Forretress, Ephi, huffed, though whether in protest or in affirmation I couldn’t tell.

  “I look forwards to seeing you in the future,” said Jade.

  “Thanks, me too.”

  We left the pitch and before I knew it, I was wrapped in Sunny’s arms.

  “Sunny, is that you?” I heard Jade ask.

  “You remember me?” said Sunny, still patting my back.

  “Of course. Gosh, how long since I last saw you?”

  “Miss Jade you have to get ready for-” a male voice began saying.

  “Alright, alright. Listen, I’ve got to go. But we might catch up later, yeah? Bye!”

  She left, and the majority of the crowd left along with her.

  “Are you okay, Calla?” said Sunny. I nodded. Darren cleared his throat.

  “I need to go prepare for my battle. Calla, it was a good battle. You gave a good fight.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I think I need to go back to our Pokémon Centre. I hope you don’t mind if I miss your battle.”

  “No, that’s okay. Sunny can go with you too.”

  Sunny and I walked back to the city. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop my eyes from tearing up. I had to wipe them away every few steps. My fists clenched and unclenched all the way there. At the Pokémon Centre, I handed Flaaffy over to the Nurse Joy. The nurse said she wasn’t too badly injured, and she would be in full health the next day. At the door to our room, I asked Sunny if she could wait outside for a few minutes. Alone in the room, I snarled, jumped on my bed and buried my fist into the bunched-up blankets. Over and over again. Even Comfey, startled from her perch, couldn’t calm me down until I’d spent all my energy.

  The door opened and Sunny came in. She gave me another hug and I began crying in earnest. Sunny was a good friend. She held me until I ran out of tears.