Chapter Text
Kitty was overwhelmed with a rush unlike anything she’d ever felt before. This was different from the surge of passion that came from relying on her harmonia; no, this was a feeling of triumph! And a different triumph than she’d felt in previous pokemon battles, or even when she was performing so well as a model those last few days.
No… Kitty knew full well just how powerful of a pokemon trainer Juliana was. She knew that the other girl had very strong pokemon, pokemon better-trained than even hers, and was clearly a strong trainer in her own right.
Stronger than Kitty, if Kitty was being honest with herself. That had been more than conveyed at this point, with her powerful team. After all, Kitty had already lost four of her pokemon, and had barely managed to take out half that many on the other side. No matter how you looked at this situation, she was obviously losing.
And yet… that didn’t bother her in the slightest.
She wasn’t fighting in some major tournament. There was nothing on the line here at all. Juliana had requested a fun, no-stakes pokemon battle, and that was exactly what Kitty was getting from the other girl.
Kitty managed to defeat a powerful pokemon like Ceruledge! She should be celebrating! And when she looked over at Dolly and saw how bright the Smoliv’s eyes were shining, and felt the joy rush through her thanks to their bond from harmonia, she reaffirmed once more that this had been the correct decision.
Even if her chances of winning were astronomically low.
“I will admit, Kitty, I did not expect you to take down Sol in that manner,” Juliana said, recalling her Ceruledge to his pokeball. “You are a very strong trainer. Tell me, has Nemona had a chance to battle you yet?”
Kitty swallowed and shook her head. “No… not yet.”
“A pity. I think she would enjoy it. I know I certainly am.”
Juliana’s words would have sounded a lot more convincing if they weren’t spoken in a completely hollow monotone like that. But Kitty kept her mouth shut and didn’t say anything, she just smiled a forced smile.
“I-I see… yes…”
“To be honest, I am actually happy that you defeated Sol,” Juliana admitted, and again, Kitty found that hard to believe. The other woman’s voice was as cold as ice.
“R-really?” Kitty stammered, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
“Yes,” Juliana nodded. “Because I have one last pokemon that I want to show you. And if Sol had taken out the rest of your team… I would not have the chance.”
She held up her final pokeball. Even though she had three other pokemon that she could still call on, it was clear that she wanted to use another new one.
Kitty didn’t say anything, because that was clearly the kind of trainer Juliana was. She was obviously giving all of her pokemon different opportunities to get experience, and training them all carefully and equally.
Unlike Kitty herself, who was realizing her team was pretty lopsided in terms of power. She really needed to buckle down and raise up the levels of some of her weaker ones, like Larosa and Pearl, and definitely Trixie. Kitty wasn’t even sure if she should bother sending the pranking Skitty out in a battle like this.
“Wani. Go.” Juliana tossed her last pokeball into the air, and a bright blue pokemon emerged from it in a flash of light.
“Quaquaval!” The pokemon cried, landing in the grass.
It took Kitty a second to figure out what it was. It looked like a bright blue bird, but with very small wings and very long legs. It had a large blue mane of hair, and a long, oddly-segmented tail, that almost looked like a chain. Its beak curled up in a smirk and it shook its hips as it stepped forward.
“That’s a cool-looking pokemon!” Kitty noted.
“Yes he is,” Juliana said, and her monotone voice actually carried a note of pride. “Wani was my first pokemon, in fact.”
“Really!?” Kitty’s eyes widened. “Wow! So you two must have been through a lot together!”
Juliana nodded.
“Meomo… actually, he’s my first pokemon, too,” Kitty said, looking proudly at her Persian, who stood a little taller upon being recognized. “I’ve known him ever since I was a baby, in fact.”
“Is that so?” Juliana almost looked surprised.
“Yeah,” Kitty nodded. “He was one of the Persian who worked on my parents’ farm. He’s always looked out for me, and protected me, ever since I was a child. And that’s why… I’ve always treasured him as a partner.”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled, and then turned back to Juliana. “You said Wani was your starter? Well, let’s see what our pokemon can do!”
Juliana nodded. “That was the plan. Wani! Use aqua cutter!”
“Quaquaval!” To Kitty’s surprise, the Quaquaval’s tail extended, and large feathers of water emerged from it, flaring out in all directions like a ring. The avian pokemon shook his hips, and sent several blades of water flying right for Meomo.
“Meomo!” Kitty shouted. “Use power gem!”
“Persian!” The gem on Meomo’s forehead shined, and a burst of gemstones formed in the air around him. He flung them forward, and the two attacks collided, sending droplets of water and chunks of energy flying in all directions.
“Expected,” Juliana snarled. “Wani, aqua step.”
“Quaquaval.” Wani leaned forward and braced his legs against the grass in a form Kitty recognized instantly from all the times she’d seen Ayame run. In a blitz, he dashed forward, coating his legs with water as he did and propelling himself towards Meomo at high speed.
“Aqua step is a Water type move that boosts the speed of the user by one stage,” Juliana informed Kitty as her Quaquaval got closer to the Persian.
“So it’s like flame charge? But a lot stronger I’d reckon,” Kitty noted, sensing how much power was coming off the move. She’d need to be careful about this. Under normal circ*mstances she’d have Meomo use seed bomb to attack if a pokemon like that got close, but with Wani’s speed she doubted that would work.
No, the only way we can do this is by matching speed with speed! She decided, sending her instructions silently to Meomo.
“Quaquaval!” Wani used his erratic dance moves to distract and disorient the Persian, while he circled around him at high speed. He raised a long leg, and swung it at the feline pokemon in a powerful kick aimed right at the back of Meomo’s throat.
But moments before the attack struck, Meomo disappeared like a blur and Wani kicked at nothing but air.
“You might be fast, but Meomo is still faster!” Kitty warned. “Don’t think you can match us when it comes to speed!”
She was using her harmonia to its full effect, boosting Meomo’s speed as high as it could go, while also focusing on making this next attack a powerful one.
“Aerial ace!” Kitty shouted.
This time, it was Meomo who took Wani’s back. He reappeared in a blur behind the bird pokemon and extended his claws, moving at such high speed the air around him seemed to shred into blades. He dodged the Quaquaval’s tail feathers and dug his claws deep into the pokemon’s pack, striking with a powerful slash.
“Quaquaval!” Wani wailed in pain. He stumbled forward and kicked wildly at the Persian, driving Meomo back to give himself some time to recover.
“Whoa! Nice work, Meomo!” Kitty cheered. She expected aerial ace to do some damage, but that attack looked like it had really hurt.
“Aerial ace… excellent choice of move,” Juliana said coldly, narrowing her eyes. “Instead of feint attack, you used that instead. Even if they both serve the same purpose, aerial ace would be super-effective whereas feint attack would not be very effective at all. …Tell me, how did you know that Quaquaval was part Fighting type? Have you encountered one before? Or did that harmonia power of yours tell you somehow?”
“Huh?” Kitty blinked, confused. “Oh! I dunno, I guess…”
How HAD Kitty decided to use aerial ace, instead of Meomo’s trusty feint attack? Feint attack had worked fine against Ceruledge, but Kitty had decided to switch it up. Had it really just been on a whim, after all?
“…Yeah, I don’t know,” Kitty admitted. “I just had a feeling I suppose.”
“…A feeling.” Juliana sounded like she both believed and didn’t believe Kitty at the same time, somehow. Then, she actually smiled. “Kitty… feelings like those… pokemon trainers refer to that as ‘instinct’ actually.”
Kitty beamed. “Yeah… instinct.”
“Persian!” Meomo opened his mouth, and fired a barrage of seeds at Wani to try and do even more damage to the Water/Fighting type pokemon. But Juliana wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Aqua cutter,” she ordered.
“Quaquaval.” Wani wagged his tail feathers and sent several blades of water flying towards the seeds, triggering a series of explosions before they could strike. But when the flash and smoke from the seed bombs had faded, Meomo was nowhere to be seen.
Kitty cracked a jagged grin and shrugged her shoulders.
“Where could Meomo have gone?” She mused, stroking her chin exaggeratedly. “I couldn’t hazard a guess…”
Juliana narrowed her eyes. She was anticipating an attack that could come from anywhere. Aerial ace again would be the rational choice, coming from the Persian, judging by how much damage it had down to Wani.
And yet…
“Wani, jump up with acrobatics!” Juliana immediately ordered.
“Quaquaval!” Wani leapt high into the air, using the waves of water from his feathers to carry him up into the sky. At just that moment, Meomo emerged from the ground with his claws drawn, and slashed at the space where Wani had been seconds earlier.
“Ah!” Kitty gasped, going pale. “You knew we hid underground again?!”
“I said it before,” Juliana said, narrowing her eyes. “Instinct.”
It was the only thing that could describe why she’d suspected Meomo was hiding underground, instead of preparing to pounce with an aerial ace. But her instincts had been correct, and now the Persian was defenseless.
“Quaquaval!” Wani shot back down to earth and struck Meomo in the jaw with an acrobatics attack. He kept up the pressure, striking the feline with kick after kick as Meomo tried to regain his bearings.
But Kitty had her harmonia to defend him, and she had her own skills as a trainer to take advantage of, too!
“Meomo, iron tail!” Kitty shouted.
“Persian!” Meomo turned his body and swung his glowing tail, parrying the kick from the Quaquaval. The two attacks bounced off each other and that gave Meomo the opportunity to jump back, putting some distance between himself and the dancing bird.
Another wave of seed bombs didn’t hurt either, and both pokemon separated to avoid the chain of explosions.
“Nice work, Meomo!” Kitty cheered. “But be careful! That thing’s really tough! Hit him with your screech attack!”
“Persian!” Meomo unleashed an ear-piercing shriek that chilled Kitty to the bone. It clearly had an effect on the Quaquaval, as the duck pokemon was frozen in place momentarily, his defenses lowered and open for Meomo to strike.
But Kitty hesitated.
“Wait, Meomo! Don’t attack just yet!”
“Persian?” Meomo glanced back at his trainer, questioning her. The Quaquaval was wide-open, another aerial ace would be devastating!
“Oh?” Juliana cracked her eyebrow.
“She wants us to attack!” Kitty warned. “I don’t know how I know, but… that’s just what my instincts are telling me!”
She narrowed her eyes at the trainer across from her. “Your Quaquaval is a Fighting type pokemon… wait, that’s it! You were gonna have him use counter, weren’t you?!”
Juliana’s lips pulled back in a savage grin. “I thought it would be a form of poetic irony,” she replied, answering Kitty’s question. The other girl shook her head in disgust.
“I knew it!” She snapped. “Counter… of course it would be counter! We’ve gotta be careful, Meomo! You don’t want to get hit by an attack like that!”
She knew how devastating counter was. After all, counter had been how she’d scored her first victory in that battle by taking out Juliana’s Tinkaton!
But if Wani was capable of that, Kitty would have to be a lot more careful. Meomo wasn’t exactly a special attacker. If she didn’t handle this perfectly, her Persian would be taking a serious hit.
“Use agility,” Kitty ordered. “Let’s work on getting you even faster than before, Meomo!”
“Persian,” Meomo nodded, and took off through the grass, running circles around Wani in order to disorient the dancer.
“That won’t stop us in the slightest,” Juliana said, shaking her head. “Aqua cutter!”
“Quaquaval!” Wani’s tail feathers formed a ring around her body, and they began to spin like the blade of a saw. Feather blades flew out in all directions, practically forming a recurring chain of shockwaves aimed directly at Meomo.
“Meomo, jump!” Kitty wasn’t expecting an attack like that, but with Meomo’s speed it didn’t matter if she was caught off-guard. Meomo could still respond flawlessly to the attack, and he leapt high into the air, avoiding the blades aimed his way.
Most of them.
“As anticipated. Aqua step,” Juliana ordered.
In the air, Meomo couldn’t change his position. He couldn’t move to get out of the way. Which was a massive problem, because Wani could.
The Quaquaval leapt off the ground, using his water to propel him towards the Persian. As he picked up speed, he spun through the air and delivered a devastating kick into the side of the pokemon’s face, sending Meomo tumbling towards the ground.
“Rrgh!” Kitty winced, feeling an ache shoot through her neck as pain blossomed through her side from where Meomo had fallen. But she held on, refusing to let her pokemon give in so easily. “Meomo, use screech again!”
“Persian!” Meomo hopped to his feet and let out another powerful cry, stunning the Quaquaval once more. But he still refused to attack.
“You’re trying to wear down Wani’s defenses in order to finish him off with one hit, to avoid any chance of a counter,” Juliana judged. “That is definitely a valid strategy… but relying on a strategy like that will be your doom, Kitty.”
“Huh?” Kitty’s eyes widened.
“You’re hesitating. Trying to make sure that everything is safe, because you’re in a losing position,” Juliana harshly rebuked her. “Caution like that will not help you win. At some point, you must seize the initiative, not waste your time setting up. Like this!”
“Quaquaval!” As Wani dropped out of the sky, water wrapped up around his body, coating him in a torrential veil.
“Wave crash is a devastating move, and with the boost to our speed, at this range, there’s nothing you can do,” Juliana declared as her pokemon collided with the stunned Persian.
“Persian!” Meomo cried out in pain as he was flung across the grass. Kitty shook, feeling the damage for herself. That one had really hurt, and even with the help of her harmonia, she couldn’t keep Meomo from feeling the full effects.
“Qua… Quaquaval…” Wani stood up straight, clearly winded from that attack. He’d taken some serious damage from the recoil, but as Juliana had made so clear, that didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to hold back from using a move like that just because it was risky.
And Kitty… Kitty couldn’t do that, either!
“Meomo!” She shouted. “Use aerial ace! Go!”
It didn’t matter if the Quaquaval could withstand the Flying type attack and return fire with a counter. If Kitty and Meomo did nothing, he would probably overwhelm them regardless. It was clear from those last few exchanges that he and Juliana were at a higher level than the two of them, and if Kitty wanted to win, then she’d need to be bold.
You could afford to be cautious and calculating against a weaker opponent, or even against someone on your level.
Juliana was neither of those things.
If Kitty wanted to stand a chance of defeating her, then she needed to be bold. She needed to give this fight everything she had!
And that was exactly what she did.
“Persian!” Meomo disappeared into a blur, and reappeared behind Wani’s back. He lunged at the avian pokemon with his claws extended, and slashed down the pokemon’s back with a powerful aerial ace that ripped out blood and feathers from the pokemon’s hide.
“An excellent attack!” Juliana shouted, her cold voice sounding admiring for just a moment. “But a move of that level is still something Wani can endure! Now, counter!”
Kitty knew it was coming. She knew it was coming, and she’d given the order anyway, because that was her best chance.
It didn’t matter in the end, but it might have, and that was what was really important.
“Quaquaval!” Wani shouted, pushing through his pain. He planted one leg in the grass and used it as a pivot, turning his whole body towards the Persian and taking all the strength he’d just withstood from the aerial ace attack, and directed it into a single kick.
It felt to Kitty like the whole right side of her body just exploded. But she knew that wasn’t the case. Just as she knew that Meomo would be okay as he flew through the air, and crashed down in front of her.
He was unconscious… but he would be okay.
“Return,” she said somberly, recalling Meomo to his pokeball as Wani stood up straight, injured, but ready to continue the fight.
“You have one pokemon left,” Juliana noted. “Send it out.”
Kitty bit her lip, and shook her head.
“No… no, I don’t think I will.”
Juliana looked surprised to hear that. “Wait… what?” She returned Wani to his pokeball and her expression softened. “Why not? The fight isn’t over yet.”
“No, I know,” Kitty said, shaking her head. “But… I only have one more pokemon left that can fight, and that’s Trixie. I haven’t trained my Cyclizar at all… I haven’t even nicknamed him yet. And Trixie… there’s no way she’d stand a chance against any of your pokemon, not at her current level. I’d be sending her out just to get hurt. So… that’s it, then. I’m okay with ending things here.”
She raised her head and smiled, and Juliana could see that there wasn’t a trace of sadness in her eyes. She really had enjoyed the fight all the way through, even though she’d lost.
“Well… okay then,” Juliana nodded, and the warmth returned to her voice and her expression as she slipped out of her battle mode. “If that’s what you want, Kitty.”
Kitty noded. It was. She had learned a lot from this battle, even if she hadn’t managed to win. And she’d had fun. Which was almost as important!
