Green supposed she’d gotten quite good at losing. A far cry from the beginning of her journey. Back then, she hadn’t even considered it a possibility. Until Misty humbled her. Not only was she quite capable of losing but she was really bad at it. After a single loss, she’d ended up as a sulking, miserable mess. It was only after Surge showed her how to make the most of a loss that losing slowly became less of a catastrophe and more of an annoyance; a biting bug for her to squash. Green did her best to remind herself of that as she watched Primeape get knocked on his ass, again. The close-combat training bot of Fuchsia Gym, a vaguely humanoid machine made of smooth, white tiles, loomed over a defeated Primeape.

“Keep at it, buddy. Remember, less time in, more time out,” Green said.

Her voice scratched at her tight throat as the suffocating grip of frustration tightened.

Primeape bellowed a nonsensical, berserk, unhinged series of roaring cries as he tantrumed on his back before jumping onto his feet and rushing back into the brawl. Over their month of training, Primeape had reached level 39 on the training bots. Level 39 out of 100. According to the leaderboards, Toxicroak was at level 50.

Primeape threw a slug of a punch. The bot ducked under it and speared a jab at Primeape's rib. Primeape drove his knee into the bot’s chest. It buckled and Primeape brought both fists down on its back. The bot fell, rolled to the side, avoided a stomp from Primeape, shot around Primeape and clocked him in the side of the head. Primeape hit the ground with a near-demonic, frustrated cry.

“Nearly buddy. Let’s shoot for 40!”

Primeape shot Green a look that popped black sparks around his eye before charging the bot again.

Green sighed and looked around the training room. Electabuzz was surrounded by a swarm of drones. Each drone was made of the same white tile as the floor. They were disc-shaped and buzzed like the beating wings of a Yanma. Electabuzz’s arms were spinning, creating two glowing yellow rings on either side of him. He lurched forward and punched with either arm. The punches fired a bolt of yellow lighting each. Again and again, he fired at a nearly incomprehensible speed. Each attack took less than a second to wind up. But not a single one hit its mark. The drones weaved around the bolts, only ever getting grazed, which left them with little more than black streaks.

Graveler was off far away from everyone. In his steel form, he curled into a ball and rolled to the side of a running bot. Its long, white legs prepared to sprint. A buzzer sounded. Graveler burst into silver flames. They both took a break-neck speed across the training room. Graveler was moving faster than anything weighing two tonnes had any right to but still, the bot arrived at the other side of the room before he’d even made it halfway.

Hitmontop was nearby, upside down and focusing intensely. He pushed himself up onto the spike on top of his head and held out his arms straight for balance. For a couple seconds, he held it. Then, with a sudden, jerked motion, he twisted his torso and legs clockwise, spinning himself. He became a blur for a few seconds before wobbling and falling. Although, when he got back on his feet, he seemed quite pleased.

It was a chore to watch. Certainly a far cry from the legendary team Red had managed to put together. Machoke at least gave her some hope. After only being introduced to it a few hours ago, he’d managed to use aura detection. He sat across from her, legs crossed and eyes closed. Orange flames burned across his eyelids. Green picked up a ball by her feet.

“Alright, ready, Machoke?”

“Ma.” Machoke nodded.

“Remember, the ball doesn’t have an aura but I do. Watch for how the ball blocks my aura. Follow the cold spot.”

Green tossed the ball with a gentle, underarm throw. The flames on Machoke’s closed eyes flared and he snatched the ball out of the air. Green cheered.

“Nice!”

Machoke opened his eyes and grinned. Although it was a small victory, Green couldn’t help but appreciate the little twang of delightful, sweet hope it gifted her. She giggled and slumped down beside Machoke. He accepted her with an open arm. Warmth radiating from his bulky body cocooned her like a blanket. As she lay her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat, Green watched her Pokémon try again and again at the same thing, and fail every time. And then, something peculiar yet enlightening struck her.

She was doing the same.

For a month, she’d been throwing her team at Janine, losing, training them in the gym and then repeating it all over and over again. She was no better than Primeape as he got back up, ran to the bot and threw the same slugging punch he always threw. Green got up and picked up her backpack.

“Buddy, I think we need a change in scenery.”

“Ma?” Machoke sat up straight.

“Yeah. We’re- I’m missing something here. Something about my perspective is off.”

Machoke stood too but still seemed confused. A whirlwind of ideas began to spiral around Green’s mind but quickly, she centred herself and focused on what Janine had taught her this morning. To find her pokémon’s weaknesses and work on strengthening them. That is what she had been doing. But perhaps, it wasn’t her method, but her scope that was the issue. She’d been focusing on her team’s general weaknesses. But perhaps, she needed to focus on their weaknesses in terms of her opponents' strengths.

***

The sand of the secret out-cove of Fuchsia Beach glistened like a bank of gold under the afternoon sun. Its salty ocean breeze flooded Green’s sinuses with an invigorating energy that helped distract her from the summer heat. Heat only made worse by her lack of a swimsuit. The hot air became trapped beneath her jeans and shirt. Even after taking off her jacket and untucking her tank top, the heat wormed its way beneath her clothes and sapped her strength like an insensate parasite. But she didn’t have time to feel sorry for herself, daylight was burning and Hitmontop wouldn’t get stronger on his own.

Hitmontop stood before her on the tip of his cone-shaped head. He was leaning against his hand and panting heavy, gasping breaths. Green wiped her sweaty brow.

“Come on, buddy. Again. You’re making progress.”

Hitmontop groaned but began to bend his elbow all the same. With a push of his arm and a kick from his legs, he spun himself on the tip of his head.

“Channel!” Green yelled.

Orange flames engulfed his feet and the speed of his spin increased. He reached a steady, blitzing pace that blurred his features. His feet became a glowing orange ring. Sand spat in all directions. Green shielded her face as she spoke gently to him. It had taken an hour but Hitmontop finally had the balance the get on with the real training.

“Steady, steady. Calm deep breaths. In through the mouth and nose, and down into your chest. Feel the energy churn in your soul. Let it flow through your eyes.”

Orange flames ignited in the lower half of Hitmontop’s blurred, spinning body where his eyes ought to be. Green picked up a pebble and tossed it at Hitmontop. He bounced off the ground and struck the pebble. It exploded into dust and Hitmontop landed a few feet closer to Green. Immediately upon touching down, however, Hitmontop wobbled and fell over. His momentum sent him tumbling. He lay on the sand, dazed and confused. Green sighed and kneaded her temples.

“Nice try, buddy… almost got it.”

“Top…” Hitmontop groaned.

Green sat down beside him in the sand and stroked his head.

“Maybe jumping was over-ambitious. Let’s try just moving while spinning, okay? You reckon you can go to the end of the beach and back?”

Hitmontop lifted his head and furrowed his brow before smiling and nodding.

“Cool, give it a shot.”

They both got up. Hitmontop flipped onto his head and spun back up. He activated aura detection to keep himself stable. Without it, Green assumed, the world was nothing but an incomprehensible blur to him while spinning.

Hitmontop leaned slightly as he spun and immediately shot down the length of the beach. He leaned further and further. The steeper the angle the faster he moved until he was at the end of the beach. He swung back around in a wide, swing of a turn and shot back to Green in a matter of seconds. He stopped his spin and flip-spun back onto his feet. It took a second for him to regain his senses. A little twinge of hope sparked in Green’s chest.

“Ay, good work. First, try.”

“Top! Hitmontop!” Hitmontop agreed.

He grinned and stood a little taller.

“How about you try a zig-zag pattern now? You up to that?”

“Top! Top!” Hitmontop exclaimed.

He was back on his head and spinning in an instant. Hitmontop zig-zagged down the length of the beach. With each zig and each zag, he leaned at a sharp angle to change his direction. A jagged pattern, like the teeth of a saw blade, was left behind in the sand. When Hitmontop returned Green offered him a high five which he eagerly accepted.

“Nice movement, buddy. Now, let’s get to the real training.”

“Top?”

Hitmontop cocked his head and his short, stubby tail began swaying back and forth.

“Yeah I mean it, come on.”

Green walked over to the boulders that lined the outcove and waved Hitmontop over. Once he was by her side, she knelt and placed her hands on the boulder. Hitmontop copied her.

“Channel fighting energy into your hands.”

Orange flames engulfed Hitmontop’s hands. The rocks glistened orange all around them.

“Close your eyes.”

Hitmontop closed his eyes.

“Feel the energy in the rocks. Not the fighting energy. But the energy that flows from deep inside the rock. An old energy. Older than you and older than me.”

Immediately, brown sparks popped off of Hitmontop’s hands. He furrowed his brow and the orange flames turned brown. A layer of rock rapidly consumed his hands, spread up his forearms and to his shoulders. Green’s stomach dropped.

“Whoa. You got that quickly…”

“Top! Top!”

Hitmontop grinned and waved his rock-covered arms around.

“Alright, smart guy. Do it again but this time feel the energy that the minerals in the rock give off. A far more faint energy that-”

Hitmontop placed his hands on the rock. Brown flames engulfed his arms. The Flames turned silver in an instant. Steel replaced the rock along his arms. All Green could do was stare in utter disbelief. She’d read that Hitmontop’s had a knack for crosstyping but she’d never expected it to such a degree.

Hitmontop waved his steel arms around, grinning.

“Can you move the steel to your legs?” Green asked.

Hitmontop furrowed his brown, then nodded. Silver flames engulfed his steel arms and the steel evaporated away. He tensed his body and more silver flames engulfed his legs. He flipped onto his head and steel spread across his legs.

“Okay… wow. Here’s a real challenge. Mould your legs into long blades.”

Hitmontop shut his eyes and tensed. The sliver flames flared and brightened, nearly becoming white as the steel began to morph as if made of butter. Each leg became a long, steel blade. Like the blades of a helicopter.

“Now, spin!”

“Top!”

Orange flames erupted Hitmontop’s closed eyes. But, to Green’s great surprise, the silver flames didn’t die out. They burned together as Hitmontop kicked off his spin. He became a blur. His blazing legs became a disc of glowing silver light. The blades whirred through the air, blowing air that kicked up a small sandstorm. Green staggered back, shielding her eyes while grinning ear to ear.

“Up and down the beach! Zig zag!”

Hitmontop took off down the beach, zig-zagging back and forth at such speed that he became a silver and orange streak. Waves of sand were flung around with each zigzag. A rush of uncontrollable laughter washed over Green as ecstatic hope surged through her. It was starting to come together; a strategy with real potential.

***

The plains east of Fuchsia City were an endless stretch of rolling hills carpeted in tall grass. Green stood on the thin, winding path that cut through the grass with Electabuzz by her side. Out in the grass, somewhere, was Graveler. The tips of his brown flames licked the top of the grass.

“Ready, buddy?” Green shouted.

“Grav!” Graveler called out, affirmatively.

Electabuzz hopped from foot to foot and rolled his shoulders and neck erratically as if shaking something off of him. His eyes focused intently on the grass and the brown flames. A deathly quiet lingered around him. He’d been like that ever since their first loss against Janine. For the first time, Green reckoned, he had something to prove. Still, it hadn’t helped him improve. Of all her Pokémon, Electabuzz was the only one to never land a hit on Toxicroak. He’d hit Weezing, but never Toxicroak. No matter how quick he got at charging his attacks.

“As fast as you can, okay?” Green said. “Try and hit every one of them before they hit the ground.”

Electabuzz tensed, shot her an intense side glance, nodded and began spinning his arms. In a fraction of a second, they were up to full speed and became glowing rings of yellow light.

“Graveler! Shoot!”

The brown flames flared above the grass and a hail of small boulders launched into the air. Rapidly, Electabuzz began firing bolts at them. Each bolt warped the air, the way a hot flame would, and cracked like a mini burst of thunder. Green covered her ears and watched Electabuzz closely. She didn’t need to watch the boulders. She knew he would miss them all. Electabuzz watched the boulders closely, never blinked and never looked away. The rings of yellow light jostled with each bolt. As did his feet. Back and forth, up and down and side to side. But only slightly. Each bolt came out at a different angle. Some flew straight and into the swarm of boulders. Some flew too low and hit the ground. And some pierced the clouds. But they all flew from roughly the same place, the front side of the ring. But never exactly in the same spot.

Eventually, all the boulders hit the ground and Electabuzz stopped. He huffed and stomped his foot, which made it explode with sparks. He scowled into blank space. Green craned her neck to make eye contact, but he avoided it.

“I think…” Green gently took Electabuzz’s hand. “We’ve been focusing on the wrong thing, buddy. And that’s my bad. Your speed isn’t the issue. Actually, you need to slow down. It’s your aim, it’s awful. And it’s awful cause you’re more concerned with getting the bolt into the air quickly than making sure it goes straight.

Electabuzz’s eyes flared, his scowl worsened and he turned from her. Green took his other hand and forced him to face her. He grumbled but didn’t resist. She moved his hands to either side of him.

“Aiming is about centring yourself. Which means equal space across your body. You move when you shoot. All the momentum from your arms tugs and pushes on your body. We need to scale back your speed for accuracy’s sake.”

Electabuzz, after a moment of consideration, looked her in the eyes and spread his feet out an equal distance. His scowl softened ever so slightly.

“Let’s try again, okay?” Green looked at the grass. “Graveler, again!”

Green got out of the line of fire as Graveler sent out a hail of boulders. Electabuzz wound his arms up and Green thought she should tell him to crouch, to lower his centre of gravity, but as Electabuzz began to fire, the jostling disappeared. It was then, that Green realised Electabuzz’s short legs and long arms already gave him a lowered centre of mass. The bolts fired with a consistent, patient rhythm; fast but not blindingly so. Nearly half of the boulders were struck by bolts and exploded into shards and dust. And as the other half hit the ground, Electabuzz cheered and pumped his fists. He looked to Green with a big, delightfully stupid grin.

“Nice work, buddy!” Green ruffled the fur on his back which gave her hand a slight zap.

Electabuzz grinned and puffed his chest out.

“How about we try just one target now?”

Electabuzz smirked and nodded.

“Graveler, make one big one!”

“Grav!”

The brown flames flared above the grass and a moment later, a large boulder hovered in the air.

“Weave it back and forth. Try to dodge the bolts.”

“Grav!” Graveler shouted affirmatively.

The boulder began to weave back and forth in an erratic, figure-eight pattern. Electabuzz’s eyes moved with the boulder as he began to wind up his arms again.

“Feet wide, buddy,” Green said.

Electabuzz nodded and spread his stance.

“Think about the pattern of its movements. Try to predict where it’ll be once you fire, and place your bolt there.”

Electabuzz nodded and narrowed his eyes as his arms whirled beside him as glowing yellow rings. A moment of stillness lingered. Electabuzz’s arms whirled and Graveler’s boulder weaved. Then, suddenly, Electabuzz stepped forward and a bolt cracked like thunder from his fist. It nailed the boulder directly in the middle but left only a small crater and a scorch mark. Electabuzz celebrated but Green grimaced. It wasn’t nearly enough, she knew. An attack like that wouldn’t as much make Toxicroak flinch let alone knock him out, or any other Pokémon on Janine’s team. It was progress but they’d taken two steps backwards to make that step forwards. And Green wasn’t sure if she could take another month of training to get Electabuzz to attack with any real power.

Green sat down on the path and held her head in her hands. Her palms covered her eyes and blocked out the world. She delved deep into her mind to look for a solution, a plan, a strategy, anything that could keep a balance between Electabuzz’s power and accuracy. Oddly enough, Green didn’t find herself pondering type theory, fighting techniques, battle strategies or macro plans but instead, she found herself thinking about physics. The reason Electabuzz struggled to aim in the first place was the jostling of his arms. Jostling which was caused by the circular motion of his arms rotating. But that wasn’t the only reason, Green realised. His body had been jostling too, side to side. The motion was omnidirectional, not just two-dimensional. His arms were creating a force that pulled his body side to side. A force that was coming from the push and pull of his arms moving independently of one another. But if she could somehow stop those forces entirely, Electabuzz could spin his arms with the speed to get the power he needed.

Suddenly, Green lifted her head. Electabuzz was staring at her with a deathly serious, determined and insecure stare.

“Buddy, you can fire bolts with only one arm, right?”

“Buzz.” He nodded.

“Show me.”

Electabuzz spread his feet and began to spin his right arm. However, the moment he got up to speed he stumbled to the side as if an invisible hand had pulled him. Green’s eyes widened.

“Bend your knees and lower your arm as low as you can while spinning, even if it means angling the rotation. And rotate it underarm instead of overarm.”

Electabuzz cocked his head but did as she said. But still, he wobbled.

“Lean away from your arm, against the force pulling you over.”

Electabuzz leaned and suddenly, he was stable. Green jumped to her feet.

“Spin faster, as much power as you can!”

Yellow flames began swirling around the glowing ring and spurting from Electabuzz’s eyes. A high-pitched, whining sound filled the air.

“Graveler, the boulder! Quick!”

“Grav!”

The boulder flew into the air and began doing its figure eights. Green ducked out of the line of fire and watched Electabuzz take aim with bated breath. He fired. And as he fired, he sprung forward with a leaping, underarm throw. A huge, thick, sparking bolt of lightning erupted from his arm with a wave of hot air that washed over Green like the opening of an oven. It hit Graveler’s boulder and shattered it like glass.

“Yes!” Green shouted.

“Buzz!”

“That’s it, buddy! That’s your finishing move! Use the smaller, faster bolts to whittle down opponents so you can finish them off with that when they’re weak!”

“Buzz! Buzz!”

Electabuzz hopped from foot to foot, pumping his fists but Green stopped him with a hug. As they hugged, Electabuzz grinned ear to ear.

***

After an hour’s walk into the forest of Route 18 Green found the perfect spot. A small glade, walled off by a ring of tight-knit trees. Darkness peeked through the gaps between the trunks; a pitch-black void. Little dots of sunlight speckled the brown undergrowth; the only light the thick canopy allowed. The wind didn’t whistle. The salty ocean air didn’t linger. Nor did its salty taste. Instead, a stale, odourless stench occupied the air and silence permeated everything.

Green released Primeape. He looked around, inhaled deeply through his nose and twitched his ears. Not being able to see his mouth beneath his fur made it difficult to tell, but Green swore a little bit of glee crossed Primeape’s face. He looked at her expectantly while ogling her.

“We’re here to train, buddy.”

Primeape huffed and crossed his arms. Green ignored him and released Graveler and Electabuzz. Graveler frowned and shuffled his feet in the carpet of dead leaves while Electabuzz looked around vacantly.

“Listen up, you two. Primeape’s gonna stand in the middle of the glade. I want you two to attack him from beyond the tree line.”

Electabuzz pepped up and grinned, while Graveler looked at Primeape with wide eyes. Primeape leered at them and slammed his fist into his palm, making Graveler flinch. Green stepped in between them and placed a hand on Primeape’s arm.

“No, you’re not attacking back.”

“Ape!” Primeape protested.

“You’ll stay here. I want you to dodge and counter.” Green looked to Graveler and Electabuzz. “Electabuzz, attack with thunderbolts. Weak ones, enough to sting but not injure. And Graveler, attacked with empowered rocks roughly the size of my head. Got it?”

Electabuzz and Graveler nodded before hurrying off into the dark void beyond the trees. Primeape scrunched his snout but stayed where he was. Green prodded his forehead.

“Use aura detection to follow their movements. Pay attention to how their aura fluctuates when they attack. Dodge Electabuzz’s thunderbolts and counter Graveler’s boulders.”

Primeape nodded. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, orange flames ignited over his eyelids. Green clambered up a tree and sat on a sturdy middle branch to observe from above. The branch was a similar height to that of the podiums in Janine’s gym.

“Alright, guys! Go for it!”

“Buzz!”

“Grav!”

Flashes of yellow and brown light flared from the dark void beyond the trees. A yellow bolt attacked Primeape from the front and a boulder engulfed in brown flames attacked from behind. The orange flames on Primeape’s eyes and legs flared. He near blinked out of the way of the bolt then whirred around and slammed a blazing fist into the boulder, shattering it. Again and again, bolts and boulders shot at Primeape and again and again, Primeape dodged and countered, roaring all the while

“Nice work, Primeape! Kick it up a gear guys!”

“Buzz!”

“Grav!”

Swarms of bolts and boulders hailed upon Primeape. He became a blur of orange flame as he dodged and countered. His roaring grew into howls; savage and manic. Among the orange flames, whisps of black swirled. Then, like a solar flare, a whip of black flame erupted and swirled around Primeape’s head. A bolt exploded on Primeape’s back and in a heartbeat all orange flames became black. He screamed and howled and raged, stomping his feet and beating his fists against his chest as bolts and boulders exploded upon him. He swiped at nothing, charged forward and headbutted a tree.

“Stop! Enough you two!”

The hail of bolts and boulders stopped but Primeape continued his rampage around the glade, running from tree to tree and wailing into them with savage strikes. Green leapt from her tree and approached him, hands slightly.

“Whoa, buddy, whoa. It’s alright. Clam down.”

Primeape’s gaze of black flame snapped to her. He threw back his head, howled and poised to charge. Before she could even think, Green’s hand flashed to her belt and pressed the button of Machoke’s ball. He materialised between her and Primeape, just as Primeape launched forward with an explosion of black energy. Machoke, bewildered, caught Primeape. The impact made him slide back a few feet, but he did not fall as orange flames engulfed his arms and legs. Green sighed.

“Pin him…”

The muscles of Machoke’s arms and chest bulged, and the orange flames flared as he pushed back against Primeape. The black flames retreated away from the orange flames. Machoke forced him onto his back, sat on his chest and held his arms against the ground. Primeape’s legs flailed uselessly. Cautiously, Green knelt at Primeape’s head and stroked his fur.

“Shhhhh. It’s okay,” Green cooed.

With each stroke of his fur and each gentle whisper, Primeape’s writhing died down little by little until the black flames extinguished and Primeape lay still. Green gave Machoke a nod and he gingerly let go. Primeape stood and dodged both Green’s and Machoke’s eye contact. Instead, he glared at Graveler and Electabuzz as they peered out from behind the tree line. Graveler retreated and Electabuzz leered. Primeape clenched his fists but relaxed as Green touched his arm.

“You’re getting too angry, buddy. It’s blinding you. You need your mind, clear and calm to fight properly.”

Primeape pulled away from her.

“Ape!” He protested.

“I know you know. But when you get into the heat of things, you forget. Machoke knows it. Graveler and Electabuzz know it. Toxicroak knows it. You can never hope to compete with such a weakness.”

Primeape’s shoulders slumped and his eyes dropped to his feet. Green pulled a potion from her belt’s pouch and sprayed him down.

“Try this, okay? Enter each battle considerate of what your enemy is thinking. Try to put yourself in their place. And as the battle starts keep thinking. And as the battle heats up, keep thinking. And when you’re reaching the end, keep thinking. Keep your mind active. If you feel it slipping, fight it. Your anger is your ultimate opponent, don’t let it win.”

As his wounds healed, Primeape met her gaze. His eyes filled with a curious look. He gave a nod and a grin instantly spread across Green’s face.

“Great! Let’s try again.”

Green returned Machoke and retook her branch seat. Graveler and Electabuzz disappeared back behind the trees. Primeape stood in the middle of the glade. Orange flames engulfed his arms, legs and closed eyes. He took a long, deep breath and as he released it all tension in his body faded.

“Start!”

Yellow and brown light flashed beyond the trees. Bolts and blazing boulders shot at Primeape from different directions. With smooth, fluid motions like that of a ribbon dancer, Primeape weaved around the bolts to strike at the boulders. His orange flames flared with each movement and trailed around him like orange blazing ribbons.

“Kick it up!”

The bolts and boulders hailed. The foliage beyond the trees ruffled as Electabuzz and Graveler moved around the ring. Their attacks came from all directions. Primeape's weaving picked up to match their pace. However, it wasn’t enough. A bolt exploded upon his back and he flinched. The flinch stopped his counter and a boulder exploded upon his forehead. Although, no black sparks popped. Again and again, he was struck and Green felt a tight grip on her stomach; a coiling, constricting force.

Primeape was calm, yes, but utterly lacking in performance; unusually so. Attacks like this shouldn’t have been an issue for him. Normally he’d be weaving and countering with such speed that he’d be a blur.

“What’s wrong? …” Green muttered, tapping her finger insistently on her thigh.

Obviously, Green knew, it was his lack of anger. But why? His anger clouded his judgement but without it, he was pitifully weak? It just didn’t make sense. Suddenly, with a cocky grin, Electabuzz leapt from the tree line, whirred both arms and bombarded Primeape with a flurry of bolts. Each one landed, even as Primeape tried to dodge, although they did far less damage than his slower bolts. It was then, that something clicked in Green’s mind and everything fell into place.

“Primeape! Forget fighting your anger! It’s a part of you! Accept it! Don’t dominate it! Instead, control it! Let it seep back into your mind, like slowly opening a faucet! Only dominate it when you feel an imbalance between the clarity of your mind and the power of your rage!”

Primeape opened his eyes. They were wide, wild and manic. But not a crazed mania. It was an excited mania. He howled, and beat on his chest, all while being bombarded by explosions and whipped up into a blurred ball of whipping flames. The hail of bolts passed through the ball of whipping flames. And the boulders were turned into clouds of shards and dust.

“Kick it up again! As fast as you can!”

“Buuuuuzz!”

“Graaaaaaav!”

Both pokémon screamed as they unleashed a torrent of bolts and boulders. But, the orange flames only whipped harder and burned brighter as neither a boulder nor a bolt hit their mark. It went on for what felt like nearly an hour. Electabuzz had slowed considerably. Graveler’s boulders had halved in size. Both were panting hard. While Primeape was moving as fast as ever. Only when Electabuzz fell to his knees and stopped firing did Green stop them and return Electabuzz and Graveler. Primeape came to a stop, glared up at her with wide manic eyes and beat on his chest. He howled and howled and howled despite his countless wounds, despite his shaking arms and despite his shaking legs. Only when Green joined him on the ground and hugged him, did he finally collapse into her arms.

***

Fuchsia Bridge connected Fuchsia City to the cliffs of Route 16 and the rest of Central Kanto. It was one long, daunting slope; a looming hill a precarious slide. Green stood at the exit of Route 16, looking down the incline of the bridge. Graveler stood beside her in his steel form, wringing his hands. Out on the bridge, Primeape was making faces at members of the bike gang that loitered on the bridge.

At first, Green was afraid to even make eye contact with the bikers and asking them to give her half the bridge had made her feel like she was going to vomit. Nerves she hadn’t felt in a long time. But, not only did they oblige her, they greeted her with smiles and spoke to her in gentle, calm voices. They moved to the other half of the bridge and lined up to watch her train. They were nice, Green supposed. Even if they were loud and rowdy, and unapologetic about ogling her.

Green put them out of her mind and crouched beside Graveler.

“Keep it basic for now. Just roll down the hill. Keep a good distance from him and use your walls to trip him up.”

“G-Grav!”

Graveler clenched his fists and nodded. Green cupped her mouth his both hands.

“Primeape! Get ready! Remember, tag him, don’t hit him! We don’t have time to wait for healing!”

Primeape leered at Graveler and engulfed his legs and arms in orange flames. The bikers began shouting amongst themselves as they rushed to collect bets. With heavy, waddling steps, Graveler approached the incline of the bridge and tucked into a sphere. Green rubbed his shiny, smooth, chromed surface.

“Do your best, buddy. Make defence into your offence.”

Green sat on a tall boulder on the shoulder of Route 16’s path. The height gave her a clear, almost birds-eye view of the bridge. The square, steel panels of the bride’s path gained a silver glow as Graveler rolled onto them. He burst into silver flames. The flames spread across the panel underneath him. Then suddenly, the panel launched Graveler like a catapult down the bridge. He sped past a bewildered Primeape as a blurred streak of silver flames. Primeape roared. The orange flames around his legs flared as he took after him with an explosion of orange energy. The bikers hooted and hollered as they followed them on their bikes. Although, they couldn’t have hoped to keep pace with them.

Despite the wind-breaking speeds of Graveler’s launch, Primeape closed in quickly. Graveler’s silver flames flared and a sliver of the bridge morphed, like putty, into a knee-high wall. Primeape kicked the wall with a blazing foot. It shattered and Primeape shot past it unimpeded without losing even an ounce of tempo. Again and again, Graveler grew walls but each of them was barged through as if they weren’t even there. And, as was inevitable, Primeape caught up. Primeape touched him with both hands and they instantly began to slow. Their flames died out as they stopped just shy of the bottom of the hill.

Primeape bellowed and beat on his chest, while Graveler sulked. The bikers arrived shortly after, half cheered while the other half complained. As they sorted out their bets, Primeape and Graveler climbed the hill and returned to Green. Green hopped off the boulder to greet them.

“Alright, let’s try direct offence, Graveler. Use pinball tactics.”

Graveler’s eyes lit up and he gave a nod. Primeape approached Green, loomed over her and blew hot air into her face.

“Yeah yeah, here. Good job for not hitting him.”

Green tossed Primeape an orange wafer. Primeape’s eyes lit up as he stuffed the wafer into his mouth.

Green remounted the boulder. A wisp of gnawing doubt lingered in the back of her mind. Graveler could launch himself nearly too fast to process and still, it wasn’t enough. Primeape was faster. And if Primeape was faster, Toxicroak was even more so. If he couldn’t outpace Toxicroak, perhaps he could dish out an injury, Green thought. A good slam at high speed in his steel form could break Toxicroak’s bones easily.

Graveler and Primeape took their positions at the top of the incline just as the bikers returned. A few of them waved to Green with those same unapologetic stares. Green gave them a polite wave and smile before putting all her focus on Graveler and Primeape.

“Use those spikes you created this morning, buddy. We need to draw every bit of offence out of you as possible.”

Graveler nodded and clenched. Sliver sparks popped off of him as short, stubby spikes grew from his body. He tucked into a spiky sphere, like the ball of a morning star, and catapulted past Primeape. Primeape gave chase and the two became two streaks of silver and orange again. A section of the bride burst into silver flames ahead of them and a slab sprung up. It slammed into Graveler, shooting him back at Primeape. Primeape cried out and shot to the side. Graveler missed by a narrow margin. Another slab sprung up and shot Graveler to the side. A series of slabs, like the paddles of a pinball machine, shot Graveler around Primeape in a square. Primeape whipped back and forth trying to follow Graveler’s movements, all while struggling to stand steadily on the steep incline. The orange flames around his fist flared as he tracked Graveler.

Without warning, Graveler shot at Primeape. Instead of dodging, Primeape lunged into the attack and hit the speeding Graveler with a blazing slug. While the spikes may have pierced and mangled Primeape’s fist, Graveler’s steel coating shattered around the punch. He crashed into the ground, shedding shards of steel, losing chunks of his rocky body and seeping blood from the web of hundreds of cracks across his body. Green returned him at once.

“Primeape!” Green shouted.

Primeape howled and bellowed. He stomped his feet and leered at nothing in particular. It may have got some cheers from the bikers, but Green returned him at once with a half sigh, half scream.

“Stupid, fucking, hairball,” she muttered as she put both Graveler and Primeape into her healing machine.

While rage burned in her chest, it was nothing compared to the insistent gnawing of doubt. If Primeape could counter Graveler’s pinball tactics, then so could Toxicroak. Green took a deep breath and sat on the boulder. Air filled her lungs and she forced a wave of cool calm over herself. Getting upset wouldn’t do her any good. She needed to think clearly.

Graveler was too slow to run and was the wrong to type to fight. They needed a new approach. Green thought on Graveler’s strengths. Defence; useless. Weight for heavy, direct hits; useless. Ground typing that resisted and super effected poison; useful. Control of the ground; extremely useful.

Green grinned to herself. Hope banished doubt with an electric shock down her spine. She hopped off her boulder and began to pace back and forth, kindling the fledgling embers of an idea burning in her mind. The healing machine hummed in the background.

Once the machine chimed, Green got them out of their balls immediately.

“Graveler, grow your spikes again.”

Graveler cheered and grew spikes from his body.

“Can you drop them?”

“Grav?”

“Like, pop them off, so they scatter around on the ground.”

Graveler through for a moment before nodding.

“Great! Give it a shot.”

Graveler clenched all four fists. Sliver flames flared and all his spikes broke off onto the ground.

“Yes! Okay, when you’re using pinball tactics, scatter spikes around the bridge. Cover the ground in them.”

“Grav!”

Graveler assumed his position before the bridge and so did Primeape. The bikers cheered and the two betting factions began chanting both pokémon’s names. Or taunting. Green couldn’t tell.

Graveler tucked into a spiked ball and launched himself down the incline of the bridge. Primeape took off after him but before he could close the gap, a hail of spikes exploded off of Graveler which left a trail in his wake. Primeape ran over them, stabbing the soles of his feet. He howled and came to a screeching halt. Erratically, he plucked out the spikes from his soles. As he did, Graveler shot himself back up the hill. Primeape noticed just in time and avoided the attack but got more spikes in his feet.

“Control the field!” Green yelled. “Walls! Box him in!”

As Graveler catapulted around Primeape in a square, silver flames flared around his body. Four walls sprouted from the bridge and surrounded Primeape on all sides. More spikes flew from Graveler, covering the exterior perimeter of the box-ring. Primeape pounded on the steel walls with blazing fists and shattered one to pieces. However, as he came barging out he ran into the spikes. He screamed in rage, in pain, in anguish. His knees buckled and he fell. Desperately, he ripped the spikes out of his feet. As soon as Primeape was on the ground, Graveler launched himself at Primeape and, covered in spikes, slammed into his face. Primeape and Graveler hurtled into the box-ring, broke out the other side and skidded to a halt before the wheels of the biker’s bikes. Blood matted Primeape’s fur. Both his eyes were mashed and his jaw shattered. Round wounds dotted his front. Graveler rolled off of him unharmed and looked up at the bikers nervously.

They cheered and rushed him. Using their combined strength, they lifted the two-ton pokémon into the air and chanted his name. Giggling, Green returned Primeape. The bikers carried Graveler over to Green and set him down before the boulder. He was grinning ear to ear, not that he had ears. Green hopped off the boulder.

“Great work, buddy! That’ll work great against Toxicroak. We’ve got your angle!”

Green knelt and hugged Graveler, which earned him quite a few jealous looks from the bikers.

***

Atop the giant cliffs of Route 16, Green watched the blues and greys of twilight sparkle upon the unusually calm surface of the North Fuchsian Sea as an iridescent sheen. A breeze rushed up the towering cliff face. She inhaled it gladly. Salt washed through her sinuses; a flood of soothing coolness. Green opened her arms and let the relaxing chill dance upon her skin. Despite its night lights twinkling off in the distance before Green’s eyes, Fuchsia City, its gym and Janine felt half a world away. However, the fluttering silver light in her peripheries kept her anchored to reality.

From the heights of Route 16’s cliffs, Green watched as the iridescent blue and grey sheen of twilight sparkled on the surface of the Northern Fuchsian Sea like a cosmic blanket of shimmering sapphires and moonstones. In the absence of the oppressive summer sun, the sea breeze washed over Green in a soothing wave of refreshing coolness. Silver light danced at the very peripheries of her vision. Behind her, Machoke was sat, deep in concentration. Silver flames danced along his torso, his upper arms, forearms, thighs and calves. Rectangular sheets of metal slowly inched into form across his skin, like rudimentary plates of armour. Green abandoned the refreshing breeze and turned to face him.

“Nearly there, good work, buddy.”

Machoke nodded without a word and without opening his eyes. After a few more moments of channelling, steel plates covered Machoke’s front from neck to ankle. Small gaps separated the plates at Machoke’s joints. He stood and moved about. Walking, lifting his arms and bending his knees were all possible, but stiff and slower than without the plates. Green analysed the gaps between the plates. They were wide enough, she judged.

“Feel good?” Green asked.

Machoke rolled his shoulder, thought for a moment and nodded.

“Ma.”

“Okay, now try popping one off.”

Machoke tensed and shut his eyes. Silver flames engulfed the plate on his forearm. The plate popped off. The skin beneath was a bit red but unharmed.

“Nice. This’ll work fine then.”

“Ma!”

Machoke smiled.

“Alright…” Green began as she made her way over to her bag, slumped against a tree.

Beside her bag was a thick, hardcover book given to her by Joy. On the orange cover was a black symbol of a fist. Green opened the book at a bookmark to a page sporting a full-colour drawing of Lucario, the aura pokémon, channelling a sphere of orange flame on its outstretched paw. She reviewed the instructions another time, picked up the book, stood and faced Machoke.

“Machoke, keep your focus on the steel energy binding the armour to your body and slowly let fighting energy join it in your soul.”

“Ma…”

Machoke furrowed his brow. Green looked up from the book.

“Your soul is like a pool of liquid, okay? Right now, the liquid is purely steel energy. I want you to slowly mix fighting energy with it. Like adding oil to a pool of water.”

“Ma.”

Machoke nodded. He shut his eyes and the plates of steel began to glow silver. Orange sparks popped from between the gaps in the steel.

“That’s it. Slowly introduce it.”

The orange sparks grew ever so larger and ever so brighter. However, as the drizzle of sparks became a shower, the silver glow of the steel began to flicker.

“Slower, slower.”

Machoke slowed the rain of sparks and the silver flow stopped flickering. Green referred to the book.

“Allow the soul to familiarise itself with the balance of the two energies,” Green read out loud.

Machoke nodded.

“And once it feels comfortable, flare the introduced energy.”

After a while of letting sparks rain from his body, Machoke slowly began to relax the tension in his body. Then, abruptly, he tensed again and the rain of sparks erupted into flaring orange flames.

“Yes!” Green cheered. “Okay okay, now focus the fighting energy into your chest,” she read.”

The flames between the plates on Machoke’s arms and legs faded away, and the flames between the plates on his chest flared.

“Good, now hold your hand out in front of you.”

Machoke held out his hand, and point its palm straight forward.

“Gently flow fighting energy from your chest, down your arm and out of your palm.”

Orange flames erupted from the gaps between the plates of steel on Machoke’s arm. A jet of orange flame burst from his palm. Green read the final instruction over a few times just to make sure she read it right.

“Uh… now, form the overflow into a sphere.”

“Ma?”

“I don’t know. That’s just what it says.”

“Ma…”

“Okay…” Green thought for a moment. “Try curling your fingers, like you’re holding a ball. And imagine that you’re actually holding a ball.”

Machoke curled his fingers and thumb and the jet of orange flame curled and spiralled. But the spiral only became a disc.

“Put a bit more energy into it.”

The orange flames on his chest and arm flared. The orange disc pulsed and morphed into a sphere. Machoke was breathing heavily. Beads of sweat were tricking down his brow.

“Thrust your arm! Launch the sphere!”

“Maaaa!”

Machoke stepped forward and thrust his arm. The orange flame erupted into powerful jets as the sphere flew from Machoke’s palm. It sped through the air like a bullet, crossed Route 16’s path and exploded against a tree’s trunk. The ground shook. Heat warped the air. And the tree collapsed. Green dropped her book and laughed.

“Fuck yeah!”

She ran to Machoke and hugged his arm. Machoke chuckled weakly. Green let go and Machoke sat down. Panting, he grinned at Green. A dam of ecstatic energy broke in Green’s chest, flooding her with an unstoppable surge of excitement. It was as if she were walking on clouds and her head was full of helium. She just couldn’t stop laughing. Laughter which spread to Machoke. He stood up, took her hands in his and pressed his forehead against the top of her head. They laughed together until the energy began to fade. Green sighed, took a few deep breaths and let out a long exhale. Calm washed over her, banishing a lingering doubt and anxiety that had plagued her ever since her defeat. She looked out over Route 16’s cliff upon the lights of Fuchsia City. The evening haze had begun to roll in, covering the city in a purple blanket. Only the gym poked above the haze. Green leaned against Machoke’s chest.

“We’ve got this, buddy.”

“Ma.”

Machoke kissed her head.

“But, just to be safe. Let’s do it a few more times.”

“Ma…”

-----

Thanks for reading! Critical feedback is appreciated <3

Next chapter, After a full day of intensive training, Green takes on Janine's gym once again with a brand new plan under her belt.