Author's note:
Read through the previous chapter and I noticed I made some dumb errors here and there. Sorry about that.
Honchkrow cried out in pain as well as its delicate eardrums ruptured from the Golbat’s aural assault. And even Nina was not unscathed as she desperately plugged her ears to mitigate the noise. Falkner though, just calmly shoved cotton into his ears with a look of mild annoyance.
Unfortunately, the sound of shattering glass soon resounded when Espy’s barrier finally broke, freeing the way for Honchkrow to escape into the wide open skies and away from the offensive noise, the Gravity field had long since dissipated with Espy’s return.
Then, with a swipe of his sleeves, Falkner signaled for Honchkrow to start bombing Brucey with a mix of Air Cutter and Dark Pulse. The damage, thankfully, knocked Brucey out of Uproar.
The problem with the move was that the Pokemon using it couldn’t hear any instructions during its duration, and Brucey was too scatterbrained to have the situational awareness to know when to stop on his own, despite Nina and Espy’s best efforts.
Nina whistled and clicked her tongue, signalling for Brucey to burst into two dozen Kage Bunshin clones and employ Poison and stall tactics. She eschewed Hurricane since that would only serve to benefit the Honchkrow.
Brucey and his clones swarmed the Honchkrow. But already, a lot of them were popping from his opponent’s indiscriminate bombardment. And none of his attacks were hitting either because Falkner’s specially trained birds were much more skilled than Brucey in flight. Not even the Golbat’s erratic flight patterns could juke it since it could just persist with its widespread attack.
Worse of all, Brucey had the weakest mental strength among all of Nina’s Pokemon. So he quickly fell victim to the Honchkrow’s Taunt and Swagger, completely sealing his utility moves and confusing him, as evident from the scattered and erratic spread of his swarm. Like mosquitoes to a light, they were picked off one by one until only the real Brucey remained.
And since they were too high up in the sky and beyond earshot, Nina couldn’t return Brucey either. Just forced to helplessly watch as her precious Pokemon took a beating, looking bruised and battered, wobbling precariously in the sky, wings limp and barely flapping.
“Brucey! Keep it together, Brucey! BRUCEEEYYYY!!!”
Brucey jolted, the haze over his eyes cleared as he felt a sudden warmth suffuse the very core of his being. In that overwhelming moment, he received a surge of love and concern from a distressed Nina down below — emotions which he had never experienced so vividly before.
For the first time since the Golbat was born, the world came into focus; azure blue skies above, the cool breeze brushing against his fur, the colorful world down below. And more importantly, the glistening tears of the loving girl looking up at him, Friend Ball gripped tight in her hand and face twisted in sadness — the one person in this world who never gave up on him and who loved him unconditionally no matter what.
His mind cleared, all the time he spent with his newfound family flashed before his eyes. Espy, who often told him off but would always, without fail, take time off her own training to help guide him. The ever affable Nitey, who always roared at him for his pranks, but would still share his sweets with him afterwards. Sir Clodington, who fought with him at every turn and who always seemed a little disappointed every time Brucey faltered — his one and only rival, as Nina often said.
Then there was the shy Haunter, who always felt so warm to him despite her cold Ghostly flames. And the ever curious and friendly Poppy, who he was afraid to approach for fear of getting in trouble, but who would approach Brucey regardless, every time he saw him alone by himself.
Finally, he remembered the gnawing sadness and the cloying desperation that burdened him his entire life, the darkness that plagued him since his time as a blind Zubat — the feeling known as loneliness as he now understood it and the frustration towards his inability to Evolve.
His family would never abandon him. No matter how useless or annoying he was. Even if he remained a Golbat for life. Because they loved him as much as he loved them. And with that realization, the darkness in Brucey’s heart vanished without a trace as a blinding light lit up the skies and dispelled the Honchkrow’s domain.
“Brucey…” Tears streamed down Nina’s eyes. She could feel it, clear as day, a connection that wasn’t there before — an invisible bond between her and Brucey, her ever mischievous and trying Golbat. The Golbat who struggled so, so hard to fit in and to be loved. And through it, Brucey’s overwhelming sense of gratitude towards Nina and the rest of their family.
The Golbat’s Light of Evolution shone bright like the sun, briefly driving away the menacing Honchkrow. And from it, emerged a quad-winged Crobat, now double Honchkrow’s size and brimming with a purple Aura.
“Cro… CROBAT!”
With a sharp glare, the newly evolved Brucey charged forth and slammed into Honchkrow with a purple cross of Poison Type Energy. Cross Poison — the signature move of a Crobat.
“Honch!” Honchkrow cried out in pain, its plumage now sticky with noxious Poison.
But as one would expect from one of Falkner’s specially trained Pokemon, Honchkrow remained stalwart. It fought through the pain and retaliated with a Comeuppance, by returning the pain stored in its psyche and multiplying it with Dark Type Energy.
“Cro!” Brucey faltered, wobbling unsteadily in the air.
By all means, the Crobat should have fallen by now, but he refused to yield. He would not have his first battle after Evolution be a lost!
“CRO! CROBAAAT!!!”
With a desperate cry, Brucey took advantage of his size and Bite down on one of the Murkrow’s wings with his Poisonous fangs. Then in an almost self-destructive tirade, bombarded the Honchkrow with a slew of point blank Air Slashes, the wind blades drawing blood equally from both Pokemon.
“Bruceeeey! Stop! You’ve done enough! I’m proud of you, so stop hurting yourself!”
Nina’s face was an ugly mess of tears and snot. But her cries went unheeded, because shortly after, both Pokemon fainted and plummeted from the skies.
“No! Brucey!” Nina ran desperately towards the edge, Pokeball in hand to return her beloved Crobat, lest he crashed to the ground and injured himself. She made it just in time, the range of the Pokeball’s light beam barely able to catch Brucey before he fell any further.
“Brucey… Brucey… You idiot! You didn’t have to push yourself so far…” Nina would have to have a very long talk with the Crobat later. “He’s been spending too much time with Espy. She’s starting to rub off on him in a bad way.”
A wave of protest permeated Nina’s mind from the Espeon in question, as if to argue her innocence. But Nina knew better. Out of all her Pokemon, Espy was the only one who would so casually disregard her own wellbeing for a win.
For the longest time, Nina knelt by the edge of the wooden platform, tears dripping down on the green top of her Friend Ball. But to Falkner’s credit, despite his rigid pretense, the man was fully sympathetic of what Nina was going through right now, and even asked the referee to hold off on their countdown. Until a staff member showed up and offered to take Brucey to the Pokemon Center.
“Thank you for your patience and my apologies for the unsightly demeanour, Lord Falkner. I am ready to continue now.” Nina said after doing a quick wipe of her face and regaining her composure. “As a gesture of my sincerity, please allow me to make the first pick in the upcoming round.”
Falkner nodded with grace. “Very well, I congratulate you on your Crobat’s achievement. Friendship Evolutions are a testament to the bond between a Trainer and their Pokemon. I would expect nothing less from Professor Oak’s chosen.”
Nina smiled and expanded her next Pokeball with renewed determination. “Go, Nitey! Let’s win this whole thing for Brucey!”
“DRAGOOO!!!” Nitey appeared with a mighty roar and stared intensely at Falkner to make his move, eager to avenge his fallen brother. Nina could vividly feel the anger simmering within her partner.
The Gym Leader scoffed. “Dragons… Uncouth as ever, no matter the origin. Let’s see if this one holds up to its lineage.”
Falkner’s next pick was a Swellow. Vibrant red and midnight blue feathers, the swallow Pokemon emerged with a sharp gaze and a dignified bearing as it slowly tilted its head up to assess its opponent and gave Nitey a curt nod.
Nina held back her squeal, Swellow had always been among her favorite of the avian Pokemon — the species’s gentlemanly look made her want to dress them up in a monocle and a bowtie just to complete the ensemble.
“Now then, Tsubame. Kami no ikari o misete kure!” — Show them the wrath of god!
“SCREEE!!!”
The Swellow itself though, was not gentle by any means. The moment that Falkner called out to it, the swallow Pokemon flared its wings and summoned a violent vortex of Flying Type Energy that churned all around it, wrapping its elegant silhouette to form a shining chrysalis.
Nina, who was almost blown off the tower from the surge of wind, winced and yelled out to Nitey high above; “Brace yourself, Nitey! I have a bad feeling about this! Sapphire strats!”
It took everything the girl had to stay grounded and not bite back with a retort of Falkner being a weeb. The latter was mostly because Nina remembered that she too was a weeb herself.
“Niiite!”
The Dragonite cried out in affirmation and shot towards the clouds to begin dancing, summoning rain, Thunder and Hurricane in his wake.
Falkner gestured past his shining Swellow, towards Nina in a haughty manner. “In centuries past, the Tsubasa clan were famed as priests and heralds of the two Guardian Birds, responsible for leading their worship with dance and ceremony.”
The Gym Leader then raised an arm to point at the dancing Dragonite high above. “And in exchange for our devotion, we were granted a small fraction of their power — behold, Sky Attack!”
At his call, the chrysalis of light and wind launched towards the sky like a heaven piercing spear, its spiralling tip aimed at the orange Dragon glowing purple, blue and crackling with Electricity.
“DRAGO!!!” Nitey roared and directed a powerful bolt of Thunder to strike at the ascending Swellow. But the Electric Type Energy merely twisted along the deadly vortex and fizzled into nothing.
“NITEEEY!!!” Nina yelled, her feelings transcending distance and empowering her partner to run away through their shared bond.
‘NIIITE!!!” Nitey shifted and disappeared in Extreme Speed to avoid the Sky Attack’s trajectory.
However, unfortunately for him, Swellow’s spear was not a rigid one. Because it simply changed course and followed after the wily Dragonite.
Nina watched helplessly as the shining spear of Sky Attack chased after the orange streak in the sky. Because while Nitey was incredibly fast in a straight line, he struggled to maneuver at Extreme Speed — an inherent flaw of the move as opposed to the Dragonite’s own shortcoming.
Falkner’s Swellow on the other hand, was both fast and agile, easily keeping up with Nitey and even cutting him off at times to eventually strike him in the belly.
“DRAGOO!!!” Nitey cried out in pain, and with a severe frown, held on to the twisting spiral of Flying Type Energy with his claws to keep it at bay.
Then, with a strained heave, he unleashed a Draco Pulse at the Swellow at point blank range. Again and again and again. Until the Swellow ceased in its momentum, leaving a nasty gash on Nitey’s belly, barely piercing flesh by the Dragonite’s hardy scales.
“Don’t let up, Nitey!”
Nitey resonated with Nina’s anger, his eyes glowed red in partial-Outrage as he grabbed hold of the Swellow’s wings and laid into the bird with a relentless torrent of Thunder Punches, each hit crackling with fury until they crashed back down onto the side of the hill housing the Sprout Tower.
“DRAGOO!!!” Then, with a triumphant roar, Nitey popped back up from the edge of the tower right behind Nina, the pair of trainer and mon glaring furiously at their opponent trainer.
Falkner chuckled then burst into laughter. “Not bad, not bad at all. That Dragonite could give even a Blackthorn a run for their money. But child… ours is a region ruled by Dragon Tamers. And all powers, big or small, need to be held accountable.”
The Gym Leader retrieved another Pokeball from his sleeves and expanded it with a flourish — this one being a Love Ball of all things.
“So you would be mistaken if you thought that the Great Clans of Johto were negligent enough to allow the Blackthorns to run rampant without bane.”
With a casual toss, Falkner threw out his pink Pokeball to unveil the chirpy, chubby and angelic appearance of a Togekiss from fading light.
Nina groaned. “Urgh, not this again!”
***
Author's note:
Originally, I had intended for Brucey to be the very last of Nina's Pokemon to Evolve. I had a whole scenario in mind and a very slow build-up.
But I saw a comment on Patreon saying that it was kind of looking like Brucey was about to Evolve there for a second. So I went back and reread it with an open mind and they were right.
After much thought, I came to the decision to do a rewrite of this chapter.
Evolving Brucey so soon has its pros and cons. The biggest downside being that this development might feel a little abrupt. Ideally, I would like to do at least two chapters dedicated to his emotional struggles before culminating in one big climax.
The upside being that this leaves me a whole lot more room to focus on the main plot of the story as well as Nina's other Pokemon instead of dragging things out.
I don't know, it's hard for me to judge but ultimately I don't regret it too much. What do you guys think?