“Yeah! Crazy that we get a match so soon!” He was halfway tempted to make a “see you too!” joke, but he didn’t want to make it seem like he was teasing her or something. Their last meeting had been kind of rocky, to put it lightly, though not in terms of what happened between them.

But that was that, and this is this. And it was time to focus on this battle. Elga informed him that their opponent was a familiar one; Hideo had a Salazzle of his own - for a while now, though he wasn’t too keen on using her.

Ace Trainer Hideo would like to battle!

He’d learned to take the first move if he could. It’d help control the flow of the match better. “Elga...how about we take this nice and calmly?” The wording was a bit vague, but courtesy of Elga’s Telepathy, his Beheeyem knew exactly what to do. The only outward sign that he’d used Calm Mind would be his body glowing.

Beheeyem used Calm Mind

Calm Mind uses:  1

Eris Halla

Elga had a habit of giving Hideo as much information as possible via his Telepathy. He knew Eris was moving her hands in an odd way. It was only once he heard the Salazzle breathe in and out - with Elga telling him the Salazzle spewed a gas - that he realized that those hand signals had meant an order.

Clever. Though he doubted Eris knew, the information Elga shared wasn’t clear enough for Hideo to know exactly what movements she made. Then again, he’d already battled trainers whose Pokemon understood vague orders. Some could even go loose without any orders.

But he couldn’t be impressed for long; he had to battle. “Elga, don’t get caught in that!” Hideo ordered, unaware Elga was already moving out of the way the moment he started speaking. He wasn’t able to get out of way of the cloud entirely, the poisonous air burning his body, but he avoided breathing any of it in (yes, he breathed), sparing him longer-lasting damage.

Hideo was half-distracted by Eris’s conversation-starter, but Elga made sure to make him focus long enough to make an order. “Uh, Simple Beam her.” Elga would do just that, firing a series of psychic rings at the Salazzle.

Now to chatting - sounded like she was somewhat comfortable talking about the whole bicycle trail incident. “I got pretty lucky. Doug chewed me out and the mentor I was supposed to be with, and I don’t think I’ll ever get that mentor again, but I told my parents that we stumbled on the scene during the mentorship stuff and got involved that way.”

Thank Arceus the video he had his Rotomdex take was (as far as he knew) solely in League hands. If it ever found its way to his parents, ooh boy that wasn’t gonna end well for him.

“How about you? I hope Doug didn’t grill you that bad.”

Beheeyem was hit by the Smog, but wasn't poisoned.

Beheeyem used Simple Beam to try and disable the Salazzle's ability (even if it has 0 effect on him).

Calm Mind uses:  1

Eris Halla

Hideo halfway-expected another Smog to come out after the Salazzle breathed in again. But this time, he could hear the crackling of fire spew out, and he knew Elga didn’t have a chance of dodging it; speed was his Beheeyem’s main weakness.

But fortunately, durability was his strength, and he took the attack well, just needing to protect his face with one of his hands. It was a decent scorching, but he took it in stride. “Time to attack back!” Hideo ordered, and Elga knew exactly what attack to use; with a single motion of the arm he defended with, the lights on his hands would light up as he let out a Psychic blast, aiming to knock the Salazzle aside.

Hideo could breathe a sigh of relief, knowing Eris was spared a tongue-lashing, though it sounded like she had a similar risk he had. “Yeah, I’m screwed if my parents find out how it went down. I guess I could back you up if you need it; I could say you got caught up in it too by accident.”

Of course, he wasn’t aware of what exactly Eris had done during the battle that would warrant her getting in so much trouble, other than maybe wandering out of a school trip.

Beheeyem was hit by Incinerate.

Beheeyem used Psychic.

Calm Mind uses:  1

Eris Halla

Hideo got a feeling of satisfaction - the Psychic hit, and he could hear the Salazzle be thrown aside. But the sound of tumbling didn't last long, and before Elga told him an attack was coming - a sense of danger - Hideo could hear it.

The Dragon Pulse hit Elga head-on, pushing him back a few inches. His body was showing some wear, and he relayed to his trainer that he was really starting to hurt.

"Alright, Elga!" Hideo said, "Show them just how tough you are!"

Elga's body shined bright, his Recover acting fast; the damage on his body disappeared as if scrubbed away, and once the light was gone, Elga looked almost as good as he did when the match first started.

At least it sounded like she was alright for now. "Just making sure," Hideo said, but he couldn't resist snickering at her question. "Well, I don't really see much of anything these days!" It was always a bit fun poking fun at people's wording like that. "But nah, it's been pretty quiet for me since then! My Aggron's all healed up and ready to battle, so I don't really got much to show for it. I did get paid for that video my Rotomdex took though." A nice chunk of change by most standards, a lot by his. He was still thinking about what to spend it on.

He just had to be careful how he spent it; explaining how he got the money to purchase something big was bound to get him in trouble.

Beheeyem was hit by Dragon Pulse.

Beheeyem used Recover.

Calm Mind uses:  1

Eris Halla

Elga was feeling much better after that Recover, but to the surprise of nobody, the Salazzle shot another attack at him. Though he blocked some of the Toxic with his arm, it didn't make a difference as the substance found its way into his body.

He immediately notified Hideo of his bad poisoning, and that they had to get more aggressive before it became too hard to bear. Which came across as a sense of urgency and danger to Hideo, but got the desired intent across.

"No more holding back, then," Hideo mused to himself, before audibly stating, "Elga, hit her again!" Elga once again raised his arm, another swipe to the side to aim another side-throwing Psychic against the Salazzle.

And all the while, Hideo took a bracelet out of his pocket, carefully putting it around his wrist. His secret weapon was ready.

"Well, yeah. Mostly off the hook." He was pretty sure he was screwed if he ran into John Sullivan again away from a mentor. He didn't know for sure if Doug would tell his parents, but he wasn't going to risk it.

As for what to spend it on? He still wasn't too sure, but he did have a general idea. "Guess I've been thinking about camping equipment. After all this is done, I'm thinking about going around Hoenn and getting badges. Battle the Elite Four and the Champion. Like a Trainer, yeah?"

He'd just have to convince his parents. Hopefully if he did well enough in the tournament, they'd let him do it - prove that he could battle just as well as, if not better than, anyone else.

Beheeyem was hit by Toxic and has been Badly Poisoned

Beheeyem used Psychic

Hideo equipped his Z-Ring

Elga is Badly Poisoned

Calm Mind uses:  1

Eris Halla

It was the first time Hideo gotten the chance to use a Z-move in an actual battle, and it was starting to make his heart race. He was hyped up, and was actually pretty glad the first person to see him use it was someone he knew. A friend he made while doing trainer stuff.

Even the incoming Venoshock wasn't enough to deter him. It hit Elga dead-on, the foul liquid burning him inside and out, and it would have been enough to take Elga down had he not healed himself beforehand.

But he still stood, shaky he may be.

"Yeah, we could do that!" Hideo said, "I'm sure we can get together again! Just gotta find a time when Doug isn't busy with work." He just hoped it'd go better than that Pokemon-tracking fiasco; he could still smell that pile in his nightmares sometimes.

But the conversation didn't distract him at all from the battle at hand.

Hideo didn't speak an order; he just began the motion, his two hands raising to his temple as his Z-ring began to glow. Elga mimicked him, his unsteady hands raising up and reaching up to the ridges above his eyes.

Hideo reached forward with one hand, his palm opening as the light from his Z-ring transferred over to Elga. Elga reached forward with one hand, mimicking Hideo again (though for obvious reasons, couldn't open his palm).

The Shattered Psyche would come right afterward, meant to grab the Salazzle and toss her around in many directions, over and over. There would be no extra movements from Elga, no hint as to where the next throw came from or went.

Beheeyem was hit by Venoshock

Beheeyem used Shattered Psyche (generic Psychic Z-move, using Psychic as base)

Elga is Badly Poisoned

Calm Mind uses:  1

Eris Halla