“You’re doing great Yasashi, keep it up and we’ll win this.” The battle had been easy so far, but I knew the difficulty would ramp up now. The young latias we were facing was arrogant and likely thought there was no way for a pokemon within ten levels of it to be a serious challenge because there was no way for the stats to match. We had proved it wrong and now it seemed to be facing us as if we were an equal challenger.

“Lati… AS!” With a roar, the gathering cloud exploded into a wide area. Yasashi released an Ember in front of him to disperse some of the gas while allowing the recoil to initiate a backwards dodge.

“Thats it buddy. Stay light on your feet and pepper her with Ember. This is a battle of attrition for us.” Saying that, I watched our opponent intently, searching for any hidden hints of what they might do. My previous comment would have Yasashi dodging the more overt moves and retaliating when possible so now I just needed to focus.

“Dodge!” It took a minute, but the latias finally slipped in a stealthier attack. Taking a page from our book, she had released two uses of Smog, one after the other, to counter and retaliate against Yasashi’s Ember. The first use hit his Ember and exploded into a minor cloud that obscured vision. The second was sent immediately after and in a wider range, punching a clear hole through the cloud and managing to fully hit my pokemon as he began to dodge left.

Yasashi let out a cry of pain and stumbled, allowing for another Smog to hit him. “Left!” I shouted in an attempt to get his attention. My pokemon immediately dodged left, barely managing to avoid a third Smog. “Come on buddy, I know you can do this.” I spoke to my bagon, trying to get him focused. The hits had caused a lot of damage and Yasashi was rattled.

“Just a little bit more. We almost have her.” Both pokemon were heavily damaged and it would only take a few more exchanges to determine the winner. “Just follow my commands and we will win this. We’re so close.”

Latias released a Smog, releasing another to the right as soon as Yasashi dodged that way. “Counter and move.” My bagon released an Ember that barely countered the second Smog and moved further to the right to reposition. He was panting hard and tense all over. This fight had gone on for much longer than any previous and he was beginning to show it. It didn’t help that he had been constantly moving and firing Embers the past couple minutes either.

“One more exchange buddy. Let’s finish this before you run out of steam. Leer her and charge up an Ember.” Yasashi growled in agreement and began charging one final Ember. The latias did the same and they stood there, ten yards between them, preparing for the final showdown until my command broke the silence.

“Now! Close and Scratch!” Yasashi immediately twisted and released the Ember on the ground behind him, using it to jump forward at incredible speeds while his claws glowed a harsh white. The latias released her Smog as Yasashi began his charge, creating a cloud of poison between the two. Nevertheless, Yasashi charged through it, tanking the damage in the hopes of getting in close and ending the fight with a well timed and charged Scratch to his opponent’s lowered defenses.

Clearing the cloud, Yasashi looked ready to pass out. His skin was an unhealthily light grey and had none of its usual shine. His claws glowed brightly, but his arms hung almost limp at his sides. He crashed into the latias and both fell to the ground, neither moving.

“Yasashi!” I rushed forward as fast as I could, my other pokemon following at their fastest as well. I slid to a stop next to him just as a deep pink glow settled over both Yasashi and the latias, healing their wounds and recovering them at a visible rate. The larger latias floated down and spoke to its younger counterpart after both combatants regained consciousness.

“A good fight that ended in a tie. The bagon dealt the finishing blow as its wounds overcame it, leading to a synchronized knock out. So the question remains, did Trainer Ben and his pokemon perform to your standard? Or do you wish to learn from me?”

“Moves. Combinations. Strategy. Worthy.” The young latias spoke in single words and I waited once more for her senior to translate.

“Your combinations and strategy were inspiring. She deems you worthy to be her guide and trainer.” The experienced legendary spoke, confirming what I hoped was true. We had succeeded.

Laughing in relief and elation, I reached out and pulled her in a hug, squishing Yasashi between us. My other pokemon let out cries of joy and triumph before rushing into my arms, both to congratulate Yasashi and so they wouldn’t miss out on the group hug. “I shall leave you to your celebration. Good luck to you all, and have fun little one.” With those paring words, the large legendary flew away.

A few minutes later, I ended the hug and our new companion began nudging my hand as if searching for something. I tried to translate that as words like I could with my other bonded pokemon, but when I couldn’t I slapped my head.

“I need a Poke Ball for you, don’t I?” My realization was met with an exasperated, if happy, noise of affirmation from the latias. I grabbed one of the three empty pokeballs from my belt and offered it to her. The tip of her snout toughed the button in the center and she disappeared into the ball in a flash of light. I immediately brought her back out before standing up and speaking.

“Let me go grab the rest of our supplies, then we can name our new companion and continue our journey to Clearsky Town.” It took every scrap of self control I had to not Identify my latias immediately, but I managed. I jogged over to the edge of the one-time battle zone to pick up the last two empty pokeballs and our leftover food from lunch before returning to my pokemon.

Ubduh

If you catch any mistakes I make, please leave a comment and I will fix them asap. I will credit you down here.