[PTS] Ren Faire: Clash of Wills

When Cerise was approached by the green-haired boy in the oversized armor, she didn’t quite know what to expect. She got the hint very quickly, though: there was a Honedge advancing on the boy faster than anyone would think a floating sword could do. While she initially wanted to ask what this guy had done to get that Honedge that irate at him, pacifying the Honedge was more important. Questions could come later.

She reached into her bag and rifled around for a certain Pokemon’s Pokeball. She pulled it out and tossed it to the ground, releasing the Tepig inside: Apollo. Apollo lifted one of his forelegs and gave a surprisingly loud “Te!”, pointing at nothing in particular. “Apollo, look out!” Cerise called out, and with a startled squeal, Apollo rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the Honedge as it thrust itself into the ground. This Honedge clearly meant business and was intent on taking out its rage, frustration, or something on someone.

“C’mon, Apollo!” Cerise called to the Tepig. “Use a fire attack!” She knew her type advantages. Honedge had Steel for one of its types, so a fire-type like Tepig was well suited to take the living blade down. However, Apollo didn’t attack. He rolled to his feet and seemed to yell at the Honedge. “Tepiiii!”

“Apollo, no! Use Ember!” Cerise felt a pang of worry shoot through her chest. Why wasn’t Apollo listening to her? He was generally an obedient sort. Maybe a living weapon legitimately scared him? But then, why would he be sticking around to yell at it?

Apollo gave Cerise a quizzical look, then squealed and ran as the Honedge flew in his direction, pointy end facing him. “Apollo, please! Listen to me!”

“Pih!” Apollo looked from Cerise to the Honedge in hot pursuit. He hesitated for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. With a piggy war cry, he charged forward and attempted to jump-tackle the Honedge from the bottom to knock it off its trajectory. As one might expect, this Tackle wasn’t very effective; while the Honedge did get knocked out of line, all it did was right itself with an eerie noise. Apollo looked back at Cerise, as though waiting for her instructions. Why did he use Tackle and not Ember, though?

It was then that Cerise realized, to her mixed horror and embarrassment, that Apollo didn’t know Ember yet.

“Oh my god,” she said to herself. “Apollo, I’m so sorry! Please, come back!” Apollo seemed to have been waiting for that cue, and he sprinted to Cerise’s position as fast as his stubby little legs would take him. The Honedge was still intent on a fight, however, so Cerise needed to think quickly. She needed a Fire type move; Copper didn’t know one yet either, so that ruled him out. Naturally, that left one of her Pokemon left: Mae the Magby. Digging around in her bag, she pulled out Mae’s Pokeball and released her onto the field.

Mae seemed confused for a moment, but when the Honedge abruptly switched targets to the new arrival, she squealed and darted out of the way. Cerise clenched a fist and called out. “Mae, quick, use Ember!”

With an agreeing “Mag!” Mae shot out a little ember at the Honedge, which struck it decisively and caused it to recoil.

“Yes, that’s it!” Cerise called out. “Keep doing that, Mae!” She could feel Apollo pressing up against her legs, as though that would make him less visible. She felt really bad about forgetting his current abilities, and she knew she’d have to make it up to the fire piggy somehow. Mae did as she was told, spitting out another fireball at the Honedge that sent it spinning out of control. Mae looked to Cerise for approval, then after receiving it, shot out one more fireball. With a feeble cry, the Honedge fainted.

Cerise gave a heavy sigh as Mae seemed to dust herself off a little. “Good job, everyone. Let’s go somewhere a bit quieter.” Cerise wasn’t the type of person who needed to pull back from a situation often, but this was a doozy. Someone else was going to have to handle the fainted Honedge for the time being. She started walking to a less crowded section of the faire, making sure that Apollo and Mae were following behind. They were, and soon she took a seat on a bench. “Is everyone all right?” she asked, studying her Pokemon for signs of unhappiness or discomfort. Mae nodded without hesitation, but to Cerise’s surprise, Apollo nodded as well, with a quieter-than-usual “Te.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Apollo? I’m so sorry… I can’t believe I forgot you didn’t know Ember yet…” Cerise’s eye contact was at her hands. Apollo then surprised her again by hopping up onto the bench and climbing into her lap. He looked up at her in a way that suggested determination. “Tepi.” Cerise just sighed and scratched behind Apollo’s ears. “I’ll pay more attention next, time. I promise.”

“Pih.” Apollo stretched a little bit in Cerise’s lap.

“Well, I think we all need a moment after that tussle. I hope they can all sort themselves out on their own now that the Honedge is down.” Cerise watched as Mae hopped up on the bench and sat down too. She giggled and gave Mae head scritches, which the Magby seemed to enjoy quite a bit. “Thanks, guys. I’ve got great Pokemon, I can tell everyone that much.”

“By.” Mae leaned over into Cerise’s side, and she put an arm around the fire baby Pokemon.

“When we’re ready to go, maybe we should look for Beau again, huh? I’m sure he’ll want to hear about this, too, in case he has to deal with a rowdy living sword.” Neither Pokemon responded this time, but that was because they were enjoying time with their trainer. Cerise sighed again and petted her Pokemon gently. Her Pokemon had to be her favorite things that came of her arrival in Ivywood (aside from being able to live near Beau without any annoying obstacles). With that, she took out her phone and shot Beau some quick texts, hoping that he could come meet her soon.