Chapter Sixty-Four: Batty for Battle



Gladion's POV



I'm standing outside the entrance to Will's part of the cave, wondering why the hell I'm doing it. Yes, I said terrible things to him. Yes, I'm sorry. But the dude is a prick. I could have dealt with him getting angry at me, but his brand of passive-aggressive merciless teasing is another can of Wurmple entirely.



I've been here for fifteen minutes. It feels like fifteen years, which is longer than I've even been alive. And I still can't bring myself to knock on the door.



And suddenly Will steps out right in front of me. "You gonna stand there and use Ingrain, or you gonna come in?" he asks. "Because I'm not digging you up if you put down roots."



I jump a little. "How long did you know I was there?"



"Oh, I didn't know it was you. I had to guess. Of everyone in this cave, you're the one with the darkest emotions. Can't say I blame you, given the whole ending-one-world-to-save-another thing you've got going on."



My fingers twitch. Apparently the aura disruptors don't work on this guy. "You know about that?"



"Well, you were kind of loud about it back in the other room."



"Were you spying on me?"



Will raises his hands defensively, probably thinking my twitching fingers are a sign I'm about to get violent or initiate a Pokemon battle. "Hey! There was nothing good on TV. Which we don't have down here anyway. But in all seriousness, I was kind of worried that, you know... you might snap at Pinky. You looked like you were about to punch somebody back there."



I bristle, then relax a little. "His name is Ilima. He's my best friend. And I'd punch anyone who tried to punch him. You were worried about his safety?"



"Not just his safety," Will says pointedly. "I don't know if he told you this, but he spent a few moments inside the iron-masked guy's Dark Ball."



This is news to me. "His what now?"



"The thing we think he used to turn Ho-Oh into a murderbird," Will says darkly. "And that same Ho-Oh killed Carl and Sham. I wasn't sure whether your pink fuzzy friend was going to sprout fangs and eat you."



"Ilima would never hurt me," I say firmly. "No matter what kind of a ball he was caught in. No matter what humans could ever do to him. He's my friend. And one of the most powerful psychic Pokemon in existence."



"And it doesn't worry you that the Psychic type can't do anything against Dark-types?"



"Look, I came here to apologize," I snap. "Don't make me do something else I have to apologize for."



Will raises his hands again. "All right, all right, yeesh. Man, you're a hotbed of dark emotions. What happened to you? Bad family situation?"



"Don't even ask about that," I warn.



"Sensitive much?"



"Look, for some odd reason, Ilima thinks you and I should fight a double battle against him and his Smeargle. Which involves, against my better judgment, teamwork. Which means we can't be shooting each other in the foot. You stop annoying me, and I stop insulting you. Is that a deal?"



"Hey, you're the one who started it. I'm just happy it's over."



I take a breath. And another breath. Stay calm, Gladion. Stay calm. "How are you still reading me when we have aura disruptors set up all over the cave?"



"Aura disruptors?" Will asks, surprised. "Was that what the thing was? It was giving me weird headaches, so I turned it off. Was that a bad thing?"



I facepalm. "Those aura disruptors are the only thing keeping the Deoxys and Mewtwo from finding us and blasting down the door. Please tell me you didn't break it."



"Break it? Heck no. I just set it aside for a while. Come in," Will says, motioning for me to do so.



I come in, looking around the cave. Will doesn't have much, just an air mattress and a sleeping bag over it. I guess he probably couldn't go back to get his belongings after Team Rocket took over his old home.



I feel a pang of shame. This guy's had it rough. Attacked by his old master, his base taken over by Rockets, two of his friends murdered. All in the same day. And on top of that, I have to come along and rub salt in the wound.



"Apology accepted," Will says suddenly. "You don't need to say anything. I already know."



I shake my head. "You know, when Ilima reads me, he at least has the decency not to bring up things I haven't said yet."



"Sorry. I figured you were having trouble saying it anyway, so I might as well save you the trouble."



Despite myself, the corners of my mouth turn up into a grin. "Fair enough."



"So. We're fighting a Mew and a Smeargle. Mew is Morph/Psychic, and Smeargle is straight Morph. The Morph type is interesting because it's only weak to Bug-types and Tech-types. Do you have any Pokemon of those types?"



"Do I?" I chuckle under my breath. "My Type: Full can be any type it wants to. I have a series of memory cards that slot into its head that alter its typing. So do we want Bug-type, or Tech-type?"



"I'd go with Bug-type, as Mew is doubly weak to that type. But be careful. Ilima surely has some form of strategy to cover his weaknesses."



"I know he carries Wild Charge as a SE move on Tech-types," I say. "But I've never really asked him how he deals with Bug-types. They're weak to Fire, Flying, and Rock moves, so presumably he has a move to counter them."



"What kinds of TMs can a Mew learn?" Will asks.



"All of them. Literally all of them. No, I don't know why. Something in their genes, I guess. Although Mew existed long before TMs did, so I'm guessing it's an adaptation."



"And they can transform into practically anything..." Will looks deep in thought. "And Smeargle can learn almost any move, including Transform. I guess we have no idea what we'll actually be facing in this battle."



"Not just that, but Ilima can read our minds just by walking past us."



Will grins. "Finally, some ACTUAL challenge!"



"Are you frekking serious? The deck is stacked against us, and don't think I don't know Ilima's going to milk this battle as a teachable moment. If we can't figure out what Ilima's going to hit us with, we're going to lose." I pause. "Actually, I'm thinking we're just going to lose. Period."



"Well, the battle's a test for our raid on the Team Rocket base, isn't it?" Will points out. "That should narrow things down. Doesn't Team Rocket have a certain lineup of Pokemon they give to their grunts? Lots of Poison-types, right?"



"It's not that simple. Team Rocket's stepped up their game, and they've created hybrid mutants, zombies, and who knows what else. I'm guessing Ilima will try to throw something we wouldn't predict at us -- and since he can read our minds, he'll know what we have to bring against him."



"So basically we need to prepare for any eventuality," Will says. "And be prepared for hard counters to whatever we've brought."



"I don't think he'd be unfair to us -- he's not that kind of person. But he'd certainly give us a run for our money."



"How many Pokemon do you have?"



"Just two, right now," I admit. "Bartok and Silvally. Bartok on his own isn't going to do much, so I should probably train him up to higher levels."



"Bartok? Who's Bartok?"



"My Zubat. Named after a character in a PokeStar Studios movie my mother liked to watch."



"A Zubat." Will does not sound enthused. "I mean, Crobat is cool, but you haven't even trained it up to be a Golbat?"



"He's new to the team. I got him in Orre from some sleazy breeder. I figured he'd be happier on my team than with whoever would be fool enough to pay that much for him."



"So you bought him?"



"Oh, I didn't say that."



"Ah." Will gives me a conspiratorial look. With the mask, it's honestly kind of creepy. "Pokemon liberation? Plasma much?"



"Not so much 'humans are evil oppressors' as every Pokemon deserves to be given a chance. And Zubat don't really get much of a chance. There's far more of them than anybody wants, and in some areas they're killed as pests. Even Pokemon conservation societies don't care much for Zubat because they can be invasive species."



"Hmm." Will considers this. "Well, I specialize in Psychic-types, so training against my Pokemon could be a little rough. Not to mention, my power levels are so high compared to a Zubat, it would practically be murder. No, we need to find ourselves an entry-level trainer to fight against. But where can we find one inside this cave?"



"Entry-level trainer..."



It only takes me a moment to remember.



"We need Terra."





Terra's POV



"You need WHAT?"



Gladion shifts his balance from leg to leg. "We need to train my Zubat against your Pokemon. Nobody else here is at a low enough level to balance it out."



I eye him warily. "I'm not in the mood for a Pokemon battle right now. Find someone else."



"There is no one else!" Gladion gives me a hard stare. "Is this about what happened to Benga in that battle with Erika? You don't need to use Benga in this battle. You've got plenty of other Pokemon! Ali, Yoshi, the Unown..."



"Why don't you ask Shu?" I ask. "He's got that Weepinduo or whatever it was that he caught recently. It's part Grass type, so it should be easy for a Zubat to defeat."



"You don't get strong by picking easy battles," Gladion says. "Not physically, and not morally."



One of my Poke Balls starts to shake. I look down at it. It's Yoshi, looking up at me curiously. "Saur?"



I feel a buzz come over me, and the Unown translate the cries. "I'll be glad to battle Bartok," Yoshi says to me. "We could both use the experience."



"Are you sure you'll be okay?" I ask.



"He's a tiny little Zubat," Yoshi says. "I think I'll be fine."



Gladion looks down at his belt in surprise. "Hey, Bartok, you're acting pretty feisty all of a sudden. Eager for battle?"



He heard what Yoshi said, Kappa translates to me and Gladion. He's offended. Zubat tend to get offended easily when people put them down.



"I'm guessing that happens a lot," Gladion says. "Don't worry, Bartok. You can do this."



---



With Will agreeing to oversee the battle as the umpire, Gladion and I take opposite sides of the battlefield. Yoshi is pumped up and raring to go, and judging by the speed of Bartok's wingbeats, he is as well.



"This battle will be one versus one," Will announces, "and will end when one side is unable to battle. Pokemon, get ready! Get set! ...Go!"



"Bartok, use Bite!" Gladion orders.



"Yoshi, keep him away with Barrage!"



As Bartok lunges forward, Yoshi summons a barrage of eggs and hurls them at Bartok. As they splatter on the Zubat's face, the bat is thrown back a bit and has to circle around, giving Yoshi time to dodge.



"Bartok, confuse him with Supersonic!" Gladion shouts.



"Yoshi, use Sing!"



Both Pokemon fire off their audio attacks. To my surprise, neither one seems fully effective. Two Sound-type moves used at once appear to cancel each other out, leaving both Pokemon a bit perturbed at the racket they helped to create.



Gladion swears. "Damn, that's good strategy. All right, then, use Taunt!"



"Yoshi, aim another Barrage!"



Bartok squeaks something that my Unown translate, although I didn't really want to hear it and I don't dare repeat it. Upon hearing it, Yoshi goes ballistic, firing more Barrages at Bartok at rapid speed.



I realize why Gladion's chosen this strategy -- he wants to fire off another Supersonic. Well, two can play at this game. "Yoshi, use Disarming Voice! Cancel out his Supersonic!"



"Bartok, use -- aw shit! She's on to us! Use Wing Attack!"



Bartok dashes forward, but Yoshi's Disarming Voice seems to affect his ability to judge where the Bulbasaur is. Yoshi dodges easily, firing another Barrage in the Zubat's face. Now raw egg is running down Bartok's face and into his ears, making it difficult for his sonar to work.



"Bartok, you're close to it now! Use Bite!" Gladion orders.



"Yoshi, Disarming Voice!"



My Bulbasaur calls out, but with Bartok's ears full of egg, it doesn't seem quite as effective as it used to be. Bartok chomps down hard on Yoshi's foreleg, causing him to squeal loudly and try to shake the Zubat off.



Then both Pokemon begin to glow.



None of us are prepared for it, but it happens regardless. Yoshi grows larger, stockier, and his egg grows with him. Bartok's wings grow longer, his eyes open, and his mouth gets incredibly large.



"Wow!" Will exclaims. "You guys got a double evolution here!"



"Bartok, now use Torment!" Gladion yells. His newly evolved Golbat complies, shouting insults at Yoshi that I wouldn't dare print here.



"Yoshi, use Take Down!" I shout back. "Leap into the air and bring that Golbat down to earth!"



Yoshi takes the plunge, sending Bartok plummeting to the ground with a crash and a cloud of dust. It takes a while to settle, but when we can finally see again...



"Holy crap," Gladion says flatly. "Two evolutions, and we get THAT?"



"Both Pokemon are unable to battle," Will announces. "The result is a draw!"



Gladion gapes at me. "Did you know that would happen, or was that dumb luck?"



I shrug. "When you used Torment, I figured you guessed that would make Yoshi alternate between Disarming Voice and Barrage. So I thought the best way to throw you off was in using a different move."



"But you weren't paying enough attention to your Pokemon to know that the recoil would wear it down," Gladion says coldly. "And you call yourself a trainer?"



"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Will says suddenly. "You had her in a corner there. The best she could do was a draw. That's not so bad, is it?"



"You could have accepted defeat graciously, but no. You had to take both our Pokemon down," Gladion growls. "Your Pokemon depend on you for guidance. Don't take that responsibility lightly."



I freeze, unable to respond. I remember the feeling of using Burst with Benga, that horrible sense of kill-or-be-killed that sent my beloved pet into a fiery panic.



"Hey, leave her alone, Edgy McEdgelord!" Will says. "Pokemon faint in battles. It's a natural part of the competition! It's not like they're seriously hurt!"



Gladion's fingers twitch, and he glares at Will without saying anything. A moment passes. Two moments. Several moments.



Then Gladion turns away, recalling Bartok to his Poke Ball. "You did good, Bartok. Take a nice, long rest," he says. "Will, meet me in my bunk to discuss our strategy against Ilima. And leave the snark at the door."



He walks away curtly. "And Terra? I know you're not from this world. But if you don't learn how to think like your Pokemon, you'll never know how to train them. You keep that in mind."



I stare after him, wondering just what happened to him to make him like this.