Chapter Text
When Arven came to deliver Kate her lunch, he was stunned by what he saw. The tomboy was cozied up so close to Im that she was practically sitting in the redhead’s lap. They were on Kate’s bed together, and Kate was wrapping her arms around the other girl.
“…What did I miss?” He asked, staring blankly at the two of them.
“Arven, you won’t believe it!” Kate squeaked. “Earlier, well… I went to go talk to Professor Raifort, about the Treasures o ruin, and that stake… but Val confronted me! She accosted me in the hallway, to try and threaten me.”
“What!?” Arven’s eyes widened.
“But it is all right!!” Im said, looking to Kate for approval on whether or not she was using that word appropriately. The short-haired girl nodded. “I made sure that everything went fine!”
Arven sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good,” he said. “But the problem is that Val is a threat. She’s dangerous, I think we can all agree to that, right?”
“Right,” Kate nodded, sighing in resignation. She wasn’t any more happy about this than he was. In fact, she honestly felt a lot worse. After all, this had all started because of HER little mistake, trying to look too eager to talk to Professor Raifort again.
When that happened, things became even worse. She wasn’t going to be that reckless after everything that she’d gone through… not if she could help it.
The problem was, she didn’t think she could help it. That was the problem she was facing at the moment, much to her chagrin.
“Val threatened me,” she said, looking down solemnly at the floor. “She said that if I tried to get closer to the situation with the stakes, or Professor Raifort, then things would be dangerous. That I might get hurt.”
She shivered, and Im placed her hands over hers.
“It was also my fault,” Im said. “I got very up-set at her.”
Arven’s eyes widened slightly. “Upset?” He asked, his mouth twitching. “What do you mean by that? You got upset?”
“That is co-rrect,” Im nodded, her smile gone for once. “I thought that she was threatening my friend Kate. And when that happened, I wanted to make sure that she would not threaten friend Kate ever again!”
Arven nodded. He understood where she was coming from, but at the same time, this was a tricky issue to deal with.
He was a lot more concerned about Im at the moment, though.
“Okay, Im, I think in the future, you shouldn’t draw attention to yourself like that,” he informed her, staring seriously at her. “After all, Val is dangerous. I know you think you’re tough, but she’s probably the last person you want to make mad.”
He shivered a little as he said that. After everything Kate and Alcea had informed him about Val’s nature, he wanted nothing to do with her, and he didn’t want Im to have anything to do with her, either. After all… this was a danger.
Kate was actually surprised he cared so deeply about her. That touched her heart, and she smiled, holding her hand over her chest.
“Arven, you’re actually concerned about Im? And me? That’s so sweet!” She couldn’t help the smirk from creeping up her lips. “I wouldn’t have imagined that!”
Arven’s cheeks flushed, and he glared at her. “What are you talking about?!” He sputtered, shaking his head quickly. “That isn’t a big deal, okay? We don’t need to deal with it! Let’s just move on, and you guys stop messing around with Val, okay?!”
He was getting flustered over the situation, and that had caused him to make a bit of a mistake. Because of the way things were going, he hadn’t expected to say something that direct.
Kate’s face soured when she heard that.
“Listen… Arven, I don’t think you understand the issue,” she said harshly. “It’s not like I tried to do this, you know?! It’s not like I tried to make things awkward between Val and I, or confront her! That’s not how this went down!”
She knew she shouldn’t be yelling at him, but she just couldn’t help but get defensive over the situation. That was her nature, after all.
And it didn’t help that Arven was getting defensive himself.
The two of them both looked at each other, and then reached a bit of mutual understanding. They both took a deep breath, and then exhaled in a long sigh.
“Okay, let’s walk this back,” Arven said.
“I agree,” Kate nodded. “Sorry for getting so defensive.”
“Sorry for sticking my foot in my mouth,” Arven apologized as well.
The two of them were actually doing a pretty good job at working on their conflict resolution, all things considered.
“I am very glad that everyone is getting along fine!” Im pressed her hands together and smiled. “This is just wonderful!”
The two of them laughed at Im’s innocent smile. That was definitely something to appreciate, in a situation like this.
“Anyway, let’s forget about Val for now,” Kate said, getting up off the bed. “The less we think about her, the better.”
“I can agree to that,” Arven nodded in agreement.
“So… what do we have for lunch today?” Kate asked, rubbing her hands together in anticipation and licking he lips.
While Kate was busy getting lunch, the person in question, Val, was entering another class. This one was Dendra’s class on Terastallization.
Kate had been enrolled in that particular class herself, but she had chosen not to come today, for obvious reasons.
Elaina was also not there. Again, for obvious reasons.
That was something Val found particularly amusing.
“Well, what a pity,” she murmured to herself, looking around the field. “Sparse pickings today. I don’t even see the short one, you know, the white-haired girl who always follows around in your footsteps, Julia?”
She was talking to Julia. Goading her. Trying to upset her.
Julia just responded with a glare.
“Osu! Alright, now!” Dendra clapped her hands together. “Today’s going to be a special lesson! I was thinking, we could have a bit of a battle between trainers using Terastallized pokemon! What do you all think?”
Of course, it didn’t matter what the students thought. That’s what was going to happen. But fortunately, the class seemed to be in agreement to the idea.
“That’ll be so cool!” One student declared.
“I can’t wait to see it!” Another girl squealed, squirming with glee.
“Osu! Great!” Dendra grinned. “Then, who would like to go first?”
“I’ll go first, professor!” Val said, raising her hand.
“Osu, works for me,” Dendra nodded. “Who would you like to challenge, Val? Unless, do we have another volunteer?”
“Ara, I suppose I could volunteer,” Naya said, glancing sideways at the trainer.
But she was a hair too late.
“I’ll volunteer,” Julia said firmly, stepping forward. She turned and glanced at a rather amused Val. “Assuming that’s okay with you, of course?”
“Okay?” Val batted her eyelashes like a coquettish schoolgirl. “Why, that sounds just lovely! I would love to have a battle with you, Julia.”
That seemed to go pretty well.
“Osu!” Dendra clapped her hands together. “Then it’s decided! The first match of the day will be between the two of you! Let’s step over to the practice field, shall we?”
She led the students over to the concrete practice field in the center of the yard, where they could battle one another directly.
“I’m surprised you took me up on the battle,” Val said, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “Rather daring of you, don’t you think?”
“I wouldn’t call it daring,” Julia replied calmly. “In fact, I think I can handle your skills pretty well. I’m a rather strong trainer, you know.”
Of course, she knew that Val was a strong trainer herself. But that was something she had to worry about later.
She trusted her team, and she trusted her pokemon.
“I’ll start!” She snarled. “Roden, go!”
She took out a pokeball, and threw it into the air.
“Houndoom!” Roden growled, emerging from the pokeball with a snarl. Flames sputtered out of his fangs as he braced himself, glaring and growling at the trainer standing across from him.
Val just smirked. “Ah, I should have figured. You’ve been relying on that one a while now, haven’t you? Your Dark/Fire type.”
“So what if I have?” Julia asked, narrowing her eyes.
Val shrugged. “So nothing. I have quite a fondness for that type combination, as well. As a matter of fact…”
A grin spread across her lips. “…I have just the perfect idea!”
She took out a pokeball of her own from her belt, and flung it into the air.
“Sindra! Go!” She shouted, and the pokeball burst open to reveal the muscular pokemon hidden inside of it.
“Incineroar!” The feline pokemon growled, showing her fangs right back at the Houndoom.
“Wow,” Dendra whistled in appreciation. “Now that’s quite a skirmish.”
“That pokemon…” Julia squinted at the muscular feline. Her dark fur patterns indicated that she was a Dark type (as well as the fact that Val was using her) and the fiery belt around her waist indicated that she was a Fire type.
“…So that’s your great idea, huh?” Julia sneered. “You’re going to use a Dark/Fire type of your own, against Roden?”
“Well, just to be clear, Sindra here is a Fire/Dark type,” Val corrected. Then she smirked at the other girl and chuckled.
Julia just rolled her eyes. As far as she was concerned, that was a distinction without a difference.
And there were more important things to concern herself with.
“I do find it amusing, though, that you’re using a dog pokemon, and I’m using a cat pokemon,” Val said, tapping her chin. “I could have sworn it would be the other way around, given how attached you are to that Kitty girl…”
Julia locked her eyes in a glare. “Don’t talk about her,” she snapped. The last thing she wanted was for Val to get anywhere NEAR her best friend.
“…Then again, I suppose you and that Sprigatito don’t get along at all,” Val continued with a shrug. “So maybe your relationship with cats isn’t as positive as I think it is… what a pity. Don’t you agree, Sindra?” She asked her Incineroar.
“Incineroar,” Sindra snarled, glaring at Julia and her Houndoom.
Julia clenched her teeth and made a fist. “Don’t you think that’s enough posturing?” She snapped, reaching to her belt and holding up the Tera Orb that Dendra had loaned her for using in today’s class. “Let’s just get this battle started already!”
Val smirked, and shrugged. “Works for me!” She said, reaching for her own Tera Orb and taking it off of her belt, holding it up high.
Both orbs began to glow, and the pokemon they resonated with started glowing as well as the two girls began the ritual to Terastallize their pokemon.
“To protect everyone around you,” Julia growled, “One must not hold back from any method of victory, even the darkest and most treacherous! Terastallize! Reveal your true form to me, Houndoom!”
“HOUND!” Roden howled, as dark energy began to glow around him, crystallizing into a shimmering black veil that covered her inky fur.
“To protect everyone around you,” Val sneered, “One must not hold back from any method of victory, even the darkest and most treacherous! Terastallize! Reveal your true form to me, Incineroar!”
“ROAR!” Sindra roared, flexing her muscles as dark energy began to crystallize around her, as well, forming a large cloak over her fur.
The light around the two cracked and faded, revealing their new Terastallized forms.
It was a sight to see. Both Dark type pokemon wore large crowns on their heads, which ended in a zigzagging, smiling, wicked face.
“Not a bad matchup,” Dendra said, smirking in amusem*nt. “Osu! This is quite a situation! Both trainers using pokemon that are Dark type and Fire type, and both pokemon having a Dark Terastal Type! That’s something to speak about!”
“It’s quite a coincidence!” Julia nodded. “But that means we can take full advantage of it! Roden, use flamethrower!”
“Houndoom!” Roden opened his mouth, and fired a stream of flames at the Incineroar.
“Ah, using flamethrower, because Sindra isn’t a Fire type anymore, is that right?” Val cracked a grin. “That’s a good call! But it won’t be enough to get one over on us, isn’t that right, Sindra?” She called to her pokemon.
“Incineroar,” Sindra sneered, holding her claws down at her belt, and forming a circle over the front of it.
A blast of flames erupted from the belt, a flamethrower attack of her own.
The two Fire type attacks collided in the air, and canceled each other out nicely.
Julia narrowed her eyes, and smirked. “So that’s your game, is it? Well, we can deal with that! You won’t get the best of us in a fire fight!”
“Houndoom!” Roden growled, opening his mouth wide. His fangs began to burn, leaping around him as he charged at Sindra with jaws bared.
“Coming in for a direct attack?” Val’s tone turned into a mocking jeer at Julia’s expense. “Well, we can deal with that!”
“Incineroar!” Sindra narrowed her eyes and charged at Roden, raising her claws.
“Cross chop!” Val ordered.
Julia’s eyes widened. “Roden! Dodge it!”
“Houndoom!” Roden was thankfully very fast. He leapt to the side, avoiding both downward swings from the cat pokemon, and leapt behind Sindra’s back. Fangs wide, he bit down hard on the Incineroar’s shoulder, hitting her with everything he had.
“CIIIIIINNNN!” Sindra growled, stumbling forward and grabbing her shoulder. Her eyes flashed angrily and she whirled around striking Roden in the jaw with a powerful blow that sent him skidding away across the ground.
“Roden!” Julia shouted, startled.
“It seems like all your Houndoom has going for him is speed,” Val sneered. “When it comes to his defensive capabilities, he’s just not up to snuff! He should be focusing more on his defensive skills, don’t you think?”
Julia glared at her, and spat. “You have no idea what we’re capable of!” She responded. But internally, she was seething. It’s too bad that Roden doesn’t have Flash Fire… that would give him the edge. But there’s nothing we can do about it.
She shook her head and didn’t let it get to her. A few deep breaths was all she needed to calm herself down, and focus on the problem from a different angle.
A less aggressive angle.
“We don’t need to focus on that, Roden,” she said to her Houndoom. “Let’s go! Use another flamethrower attack!”
“Houndoom!” Roden spat a long stream of fire at Sindra. She was expecting the Incineroar to counter again with another flamethrower, but Sindra reacted differently, much to Julia’s surprise.
She climbed down onto all fours and dashed to the side, avoiding the strike. She circled around Roden, stalking her like she was in the wild.
“Normally, Incineroar are bipedal,” Val said. “But in the wild, they hunt low to the ground, on the prowl, just like this.”
“I’m sure you’ve got a lot of knowledge about being a predator, don’t you?” Julia sneered, glaring at the other girl.
Val just laughed.
“If you say so,” she scoffed. “Sindra! Use scary face!”
“Incineroar!” Sindra snarled, locking her eyes in a fierce glare that froze Roden in place temporarily, keeping him from charging.
Julia was quick to respond, knowing exactly what Val was aiming for.
“I won’t let you slow us down!” She snapped. “Roden, counter with a scary face of your own!” She ordered.
“Houndoom!” Roden recovered from the intimidating glare, and countered with a glare of his own, stopping Sindra before she could attack him.
The two of them faced each other down, snarling and glaring at each other as they paced around each other, practically drawing a circle on the ground with their claws as they did so.
“Dendra, why aren’t they using Dark type moves?” One of the girls asked Dendra curiously. “They both Terastallized into Dark types, didn’t they? Aren’t their Dark type moves a lot more powerful now, because of that?”
“Osu, that’s true,” Dendra nodded with a smile. “But in a situation like this, things aren’t usually so cut and dry. After all, they’re both Dark types. Which means even though their Dark type moves are boosted, they have a resistance to them, as well.”
It was a rather amusing and tricky situation. At this point, the two pokemon being Terastallized wasn’t even all that relevant.
No, the two of them would have to work out how to beat the other pokemon with strategy and tactics, not Dark type STAB boosted from their Terastallization.
That wasn’t exactly what Dendra had intended when she suggested that the two of them battle each other, but it was definitely turning into something interesting.
“…Of course, I don’t think that we’ll keep this holding pattern forever,” she judged, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
“Sindra!” Val shouted, taking the initiative. “Use darkest lariat!”
“Incineroar!” Sindra bellowed, charging at the Houndoom on all fours. She leapt to her feet, and darkness began to surge through her body, increasing the size of her muscles as she flexed, slamming into Roden before he could respond.
“A Dark type move?!” Julia gasped as Sindra flung Roden backwards with all her might.
Her Houndoom crashed on the ground, injured and stunned.
“Hound!?” Roden sputtered, quickly leaping to his feet and growling at Sindra. He didn’t expect to be forced into a situation like this.
Julia scowled. Val had taken the lead. But right now, Julia was focused on winning. She wasn’t about to let something like Dark type moves get the better of her, especially not when Roden had some Dark type moves of her own.
