Pocket Monster University

As I stepped into the arena, the metal bridge behind me sunk back into the moat. The floor of the arena was made of hard stone tiles and had a diameter of forty feet, give or take. It was surrounded by a deep ring of water that added another twelve feet of thickness, and the spectator seats were built right next to it, two halves that almost connected with each other, raised stands packed in with students who’d shown up to see the duel between me and Terry.

“We’ve got quite the turnout tonight! The stands are packed and the people are getting rowdy! What a way to kick off the school year. Isn’t that right, Mr. Lee?” The color commentator's voice rang out loud over the sound system. She was a bubbly young woman that seemed too old to be a student and too young to be a teacher, with bright orange hair she kept in a fluffy, gravity-defying ponytail.

“Well, I can’t blame everyone for being excited. I have found myself interested in seeing how this is going to play out as well.” The man’s rich voice and careful way of speaking were at odds with his youthful face. He was tall, svelte, and handsome without leaning too far towards masculinity or androgyny. Whoever he was, he gave off the same kind of vibes as my mother. Friendly, welcoming, but with an understated confidence in himself that in a normal situation would have made me nervous.

“Right!? In the Blue corner, we’ve got Terry the Terrible! Terry the Tyrant! Terry ‘Steal-Yo-Girl’ Barnes!”

I ground my teeth together as the crowd reacted with a mix of cheers and boos. He was standing at the opposite edge of the arena, shirt off, arms folded, looking right back at me with a steely-eyed stare. Confident, no doubt. I was new to a trainer, not even a week under my belt, and he’d been doing this for more than a year by comparison.

And sure, if things had played out normally, I’d probably be in for a real beating. He’d made a fatal mistake, though. It was one thing to bully me. I didn’t really mind, and had more important things to focus on. But going behind my back and taking Yang… enslaving her? Doing… who knows what… to her? MY Yang?

“And in the Red corner, say hell to the Krimson Flame, the Fire that doesn’t Tire, the legendary rookie we’ve all got our eyes on… Benjamin Krimson!”

I slammed my fist into my palm. How much longer did I have to wait? When would they just get these formalities over with!?

“Hey now, settle down. Deep breath.” Flannery, the only other person in the arena, gave me the advice/warning, and it was only then that I realized I’d been forgetting to breathe and had set myself on fire. “Save all that gumption for the rounds, alright?”

“Yes. Okay.”

Rounds.

This wasn’t just a schoolyard brawl. This was a formal duel between Terry and I. And in a proper duel, the battle was divided into rounds.

Each round would start off with sending one member of our team to fight, and it’d only end when that combatant fell into the water, lost contact with the arena for five seconds or more, surrendered, or was judged unable to continue fighting. Once a member of the team was defeated, they were out of the duel. Our teams consisted of ourselves and two of our pokegirls, so I needed to go through a minimum of two rounds before I could wipe that smug look off his face personally. Until then, I needed to stay calm and get through this rationally.

Yang was counting on me. I was sure of it.

“Okay, gentlemen. Let’s get this started. Feel free to go at it as hard as you like. Your bodies are a lot more durable than they are powerful, and we’ll get you fixed up afterwards. But when I call the round, that’s the end. Any dirty blows after that could get you disqualified. Or worse. Understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Terry shouted back at her sharply.

“I know.” I wasn’t taking my eyes off of him.

Professor Flannery only shrugged, then looked at Terry. “Blue Corner, send out your first challenger.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Terry fumbled for the ball at his belt, dropped it, and with a flash of red light, out came his first pokegirl. My heart tightened in my chest as I thought that it might be Yang… but instead, a pokegirl I’d never seen appeared.

“Hiiii~!” She was pleasantly plump and curvy, to put it politely. Chubby, if you’re being mean. She had a thin layer of aquamarine and tan fun covering her skin, and as she yawned, I saw a set of large, sharp fangs inside of her mouth. She was dressed lightly in a plain black bikini, one that was clearly too small for the chest she was sporting, her massive breasts spilling more than halfway out of it from the top and bottom both. In spite of the situation, she was smiling, even giggled at me. “Ready to rumble, sweetheart?”

“Red Corner, your first challenger.”

I reached towards my belt to grab a ball. I only had Helena and Lina on my team, but they both seemed like a good matchup here. Whoever this pokegirl was, she looked like she was strong but slow. Lina could take to the air to evade, and Helena was almost an animal with how agile she was on all four paws. That made sense. It was the safe move. But as I thought of something happening to either one of them…

“I’ll do it. I’m challenging her!”

“OHHH!!! Just what you’d expect from our legendary rookie! He’s gunning to take down Terry’s whole team without using any pokegirls of his own! Can you believe it!” The announcer crowed while the crowd erupted into conversation. They might think I was full of myself, but the truth was much more simple. I’d let him take Yang, and I wasn’t about to let him or any of his girls hurt someone else that belonged to me.

“Alright, Blue Trainer, back to your corner. Fighters, stand apart. The Round begins in…”

“Three…”

“Two…”

“...One!”