Pocket Monster University

“How about it, sweetie? Want to tap out?”

Pinned underneath her body, her massive bust pushed into my face, I couldn’t breathe, let alone answer.

As it turned out, Terry’s pokegirl was a lot faster than she looked. When she charged me, I only barely managed to twist away enough to not get bashed out of the arena and into the water. Instead, she’d grazed me with a swipe to the shoulder that had sent me staggering to the side, then followed up with a punch to the gut that knocked the wind out of me completely.

Before I could recover, she’d done a sharp pivot right in front of me, striking me with—of all things!--her breasts, smacking me in the side of the head and sending me down for the count. And before I could get up, she’d already laid her body on top of me, smothering me under those massive breasts of hers.

From the very start, everything had been moving at her pace, and I’d been helpless.

“No point in bein’ stubborn, cutie.” The curvy pokegirl started grinding against my crotch, her voice turning huskier. “And there ain’t no shame in losing. And really, I think the problem is that you and my sweet little trainer got off on the wrong foot. I bet if you two just sat down and talked it out like adults and not the hormone-driven teenagers—ouchies, you running a fever, sweetie?”

If I didn’t do something fast, I was going to pass out from the lack of oxygen. And if she wasn’t going to get off of me, I’d force her off. I still didn’t have any fine control over my fire abilities, but I at least knew how to turn them on. With my whole body was covered in flames, there was no way she could—

“Mmm… oh wow, I’d just love to cuddle you in the wintertime when it’s all chilly. You’d be like my own personal kotatsu!”

I was burning like a bonfire, and she wasn’t getting off! Worse, I was starting to get lightheaded. She might not be burning, but with her breast smothering me like this, my lungs were. Just what kind of a pokegirl was she?!

“Looks like Krimson is trying to buck Terry’s Mochi off with a fire aura! But look! Mochi is weathering this attack just fine. Hold on… all of that steam. Wow! It looks like Mochi is able to keep herself cool by sweating! Enough that she’s keeping pace with Krimson’s crimson flames!”

“Excuse me? Young lady, I am NOT sweating!” Mochi cried out, her voice cracking with embarrassment.

“Indeed. Take a closer look, Miss Sonia. While it’s true that sweat is mostly water, not even a pokegirl would perspire so heavily. And since she’s Terry’s pokegirl, it’s little surprise she has some proficiency with water. While it might appear that she’s covered in sweat, I believe she’s actually keeping herself moist with a slow conjuration of hydro energy, relying on the evaporative cooling to keep her from burning. Such a clever countermeasure!” the man next to her explained, arms folded and rubbing his chin as he analyzed the fight. “Of course, even without that, you have to wonder if a rookie like Krimson could really release his fire unrestrained. Fire is the most inherently dangerous of the elemental forces, and many trainers have to work months or even years to get through psychological blocks that keep them from harming other living things. And against a veteran like Mochi, who was a Trainer for two years and a pokegirl for Sevente—”

“Hey now!” Mochi’s head whipped up, and she pointed an accusatory finger towards the commentators. “Don’t you go blabbing out a girl’s age!”

Finally! With her head lifted up, I managed to get my nose free. I sucked in as deep a breath as I could, shutting off my flames so they’d stop consuming the surrounding oxygen, then pushed at her with renewed vigor.

“Get off of me!”

“Oh, shucks! You’re a real slippery one, ain’tcha? But if you’re not gonna go down the easy way, Mama is gonna have to get rough with you.” Mochi raised her arm up, and even though she didn’t clench it into a fist, I knew that if she swung that at my head, I’d gouge a dent into the stone tile underneath me.

“{Get off!}”

“Okay, okay! Fine, no need to raise your voice.” And just like that, Mochi’s eyes glowing red, she leaned back into a squat, then stood her body back up, feet planted on either side of my hips.

For a second, we just looked at each other in silence, not really believing what had just happened. I’d been in such a mess, a nauseating mix of anger, anxiety, and excitement, that I’d completely forgotten about my greatest weapon. And it worked! Worked far better than I would have expected against a veteran pokegirl.

“Oh no you don’t!” Mochi was the first to recover, jumping up into the air and coming down cheeks first, aiming straight for my head. I barely managed to roll away to the side, and as I scrambled back to my feet, I saw the spiderweb of cracks radiating out from the point of impact.

Forget knocking me out. If I took a hit like that, she’d kill me, durability skill or no!

“{Go jump out of the arena.}”

“You precocious little…” Mochi turned around, then started walking towards the edge of the arena. Before she had any time to think of a countermeasure, I’d win this fight. It looked like all that training with Sabrina really was the right answer for winning this duel.

…or it would have been, if Mochi hadn’t stopped walking five steps from the edge of the arena, turned back around to face me, and charged.

{Trip!} No point in vocalizing the commands to give her a head’s up.

Rather than faceplant like I’d hoped, Mochi managed to catch herself as she was falling, turning it into a surprisingly nimble roll that transitioned into a leap I just barely managed to dodge

“Get back over here!” Mochi grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled, the fabric starting to tear.

{Let go!}

She must have been anticipating that, because at the same time she let go, Mochi delivered a roundhouse kick right into my ribs. The blow caught me completely by surprise; from the start, I’d been listening, trying to read her thoughts. But with a crowd this big focused on the two of us, it was like trying to listen to a whisper across the room at a heavy metal concert.

The kick hurt. Intensely. Ever since I’d gotten my Toughness skill, I’d been feeling like physical sensations were dulled. Like I was in a dream where nothing could really hurt me.

That kick was a wake up call. Blinding hot pain as I felt my bones bruise and my body was launched like a football at kickoff, arcing high into the air. As I started coming down, I saw that I was going to land in the water, and it was pure desperation that had me release every bit of fire I had, an explosion detonating at my back that managed to change the angle of my descent while incinerating what was left of my shirt.

As far as rocket jumps went, it was pathetic, but rather than splash into the water, I managed to catch the edge of the arena, my chest absorbing the impact as my arms splayed onto the tiles, clawing to not fall in. I crawled back into the arena, and when I did, I wasn’t sure I could get back on my feet.

“Ooo…! So close! Terry’s Mochi almost had a knockout, but Krimson managed to perform an aerial recovery at just the last second! Gee, Mr. Lee, Krimson’s psychic assault looks like it's getting through to penetrate Mochi’s defenses, but sure doesn’t last long, does it?”

“An astute observation, Miss Sonia. It appears the young Krimson is using a technique called Intrusive Thoughts. Sharp blasts of psychic energy that appear on the surface level of one’s mind, forcing the target to act before they have time to consider the action. But since it strikes at only a surface level, such compulsions are easily dispelled. And the greater the target’s wit and awareness, the less effective the technique is.”

“Hey! You’re not callin’ me dumb, are you?” Mochi turned back to glare at the judge.

“Not at all, Madam!” Mr. Lee shook his head. “You’re doing an excellent job of responding to the psychic assaults, and it seems they are becoming less and less effective as your body becomes more familiar with the technique.”

He was right. That kind of technique wasn’t going to work. As I forced myself to my feet, sucking in the most painful breath of my life, I steeled my resolve. If I was going to win, I needed to try something else.

But what would even work on her?