Pocket Monster University

"Fighters, to your corners!”

Flannary was all business as she shouted out the direction, even if just a few seconds ago she’d been looking at me like I was a starving puppy stuck in a box. She’d told me I was in no shape to continue, and seeing as fighting was her specialty, she was right. No doubt about it.

But I wasn’t going to let things end here.

Besides, it’s not like Terry was in the best of shape either. Lina had pushed him to his limits, so even if he didn’t have any damage built up, I doubted he could exert himself half as well as normal. That evened the playing field.

“Red team, you have ten seconds to get in position.”

“Shit.”

Maybe things weren’t even at all, because no matter how hard I tried to tell my legs to pick me up, they weren’t listening.

“Ten… nine…”

I flipped over onto my stomach. That was a good call. The pain in my bruised ribs was just the wake-up call I needed to get a fresh injection of adrenaline. Not enough to stand on two feet, but enough to crawl my way over towards the corner of the arena.

“So, uh… are we really going to round five? Krimson looks like you could knock him over with a feather. He can’t even stand up!”

“Young Krimson is still prepared to fight. And sometimes, an animal is most dangerous when he is cornered. As long as there is life in his eyes, the battle remains undecided.”

“Four… three, two…”

Flannary sped up her countdown, but it was too late. I scrambled to the corner, then turned over, sitting with one leg stretched out, and the other pulled up. “Start the fight.”

I looked past her, to the other end of the arena. Terry was there, but between the distance, hair in his eyes, and the blurriness in mine, I couldn’t see how he was doing. Cocky bastard. Probably thought he’d already won this. I’d show him.

Flannary took in a deep breath, her chest swelling, and she exhaled flames through her nostrils as she let it out. “Fine. The Round begins in three… two… one!”

Terry dashed forward as Flannary took to the air, coming straight for me. He stretched his arm backwards and a long, winding rope of water formed in the air, swirling around his arm as he whipped it forward, aiming right at my chest.

“No.”

The water hissed into an opaque white cloud of steam as it made contact with my chest, the impact as light as a summer breeze. I still didn’t have the energy to stand up, but that much I could do. Dominating Mochi had drained me, but I still had plenty of Fire power in the tank, it seemed.

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’d ever really tested the limits of my fire abilities. I vaguely recalled having it on my stats screen, but it’d been at rank 0. What was it now?

“C’mon, give it up. You can’t even stand up. I’d feel bad attacking you again. You might get hurt.” Terry said from the middle of the arena, making no move to come any closer. Coward. Scumbag.

“Then you jump off.” I offered.

“...I would, but I’ve got way too much riding on this match now. Besides! I’m not the one who needs a medic.”

What had I done with Yang? It’d not really been a technique, had it? I’d called out the flame and been engulfed. I was doing the same thing now, radiating out pure, invisible heat. I imagined it’d seriously hurt Terry if he so much as touched me. But he wasn’t going to come close. I needed to go to him.

“You will.”

A beat later, I added. “Need a medic.”

Cool one-liner bungled or not, I grit my teeth and pushed off against the ground. Nothing was wrong with my legs, but they fought me every inch of the way all the same. My body was screaming for rest, felt so beat that one solid blow would make it shatter into a thousand pieces. But I was on my feet.

Terry took a step backwards. “I’m warning you…!”

I took the first step forward.

Terry attacked, this time hurling a simple beach ball sized orb of water right at my chest. Again, it vaporized into white steam; the momentum sending the cloud streaming right behind me even if the impact didn’t touch me. “Stay back!”

That brought a smile to my face as I took another step closer. “You’re the one that started this.”

“Get the fuck away from me!” Terry retreated all the way back to his corner.

If he only knew. I doubt I could make the walk all the way to his corner, let alone beat him in the state I was in. The second he regained his nerve, he’d knock me over like a domino. So what was I doing? I couldn’t beat him. My body felt like it was shutting down. So why stay on my feet?

I knew the answer, of course. Yang. Lina and Helena too. Losing here could mean losing them forever. Losing everything. But hadn’t I already lost everything? I was exhausted. Bruised and beaten. Probably had some broken bones. I had enough psychic energy for maybe one suggestion, and as far as fire went, the only thing I knew to do was wrap it around myself, a technique that even Mochi’s limited water skills had been able to nullify. How could I possibly…

Hmm…

It was worth a shot.

I sparked the flame aura around my body, then focused. Let the flames die out everywhere but in one place.

“Krimson seems sluggish on his feet, and it looks like he’s opted for a ranged assault! The fire that was engulfing his body has now been focused and condensed into his right hand, a hand currently aimed at Terry Barnes!”

“A high-risk, high-reward maneuver. Should he miss, he’ll be left open to a counterattack. But should the attack land, it could end the duel decisively.”

Something in that Mr. Lee’s voice made me think he was playing along, that he saw right through my plan. But that was fine, because I just needed one person to buy this bluff. And Terry had bought it hook, line, and sinker. In response, he’d conjured up a shield of water, a floating disc held out in front of him, ready to block my attack.

Of course, I had no idea how to attack with fire. Even if I did, there was no way that one attack could change things around. If I tried this tactic against Mochi or Yang, they’d have knocked me out long ago.

But Terry? Terry was cautious. Maybe even cowardly. Terry saw the monster that had taken down both of his pokegirls. The spawn of a legend and a goddess. The man who would first die than surrender. He was still in his little corner of the arena, and he was sweating bullets. That gave me my only chance at this.

I poured my power into my hand, and the flame grew, burning like a campfire. Another push, and it roared, the flames engulfing half my arm as they rose into the air.

“Three…” I called out over the sound of the crackling flames.

“Two…” Terry redoubled his defense, drawing water out from the moat and holding it between us.

{HE’LL KILL YOU, JUMP OFF NOW!!!}

“One.”

I hit Terry with every bit of psychic energy I had left. The backlash was immediate, my flame snuffing out as pain lanced behind my eye. It sent me to my hands and knees, and looking down, I saw splatters of bright red blood spilling from my nose. The world swayed, and I nearly fell completely. I stayed there on my hands and knees, looking at the floor, my body rooted in place.

And then I heard that splash.

He’d done it. He’d done it!

“What’s this? Right at the last second, Terry has jumped out of the arena and into the watery moat below! Incredible! Has Krimson won?”

“Not yet. As the rules say…” Whatever the co-host had to say, it was jumbled up, like he was the one that had been sunk underwater. Or maybe it was me.

But I knew the meaning. Terry was out, but I was down. And if I didn’t stand up, this match would be a double knockout. A tie. Not bad for someone who had just moved in last weekend, right? And sleep would feel so good…

“Idiot, stay awake!”

“Master!”

Lina and Helen. Standing at the edge of the arena, shouting for me.

“Sorry…” I didn’t feel great about disappointing them, but I was so tired. I needed rest. Needed…

“Ben! Stand up! Please!”

Yang. Was that Yang?

I looked over to the other side of the arena and saw a blurry figure shouting at me. I lifted one hand from the ground to rub at the eye, try to get it to go into focus. “Yang…?”

“Ben!” There she was. And that pink glow was gone. Why was she so upset? Why was she so loud? “Stand up! You need to stand up!”

“...two…” I twisted my head to the side and saw Flannary’s shapely legs standing right next to me. Two what?

“...three…” Oh, she was counting.

“...four…”

“Ben!”

“Master!”

“You big goof!”

I grit my teeth, pushed off of the ground, and stood on my feet, head spinning so much I nearly face-planted all over again. I looked at Flannary, blood still streaming out my nose. “Did I win?”

She gave me a fierce smile, grabbed my wrist, and held my arm up high. “The Winner, by knock out! Benjamin Krimson!”

The crowd didn’t roar as much as I’d been expecting them to, but there was some applause for sure. Lina and Helen were rushing towards me. Yang was… where was Yang…?

I just needed to rest my eyes for a second. Then I’d spot her…