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The sound of the audience cheering her on filled Gesselle's ears as she bounced on her heels, the pure hype of knowing she was so close to winning thrumming through her veins and pounding in her head. It was a heady feeling, knowing that she was so close to the end. Knowing that she was so close to her goal. Taking a breath, she glanced around at the crowd and down to her Cinderace's Pokeball, a faint smile curling on her lips as she thought of the journey that brought her and King this far.
It was one heck of a journey, too.
Her eyes slid shut as she took another breath to calm herself down and, on an exhale, opened them back up to catch sight of her platinum haired rival, Bede, come striding across the field with a confident smirk on his face. Oh, how he made her heart thrum with excitement.
He came to a stop across from her as the announcer's voice rang out above the roar of the crowd.
"Who's that?"
Bede spared Gesselle a glance before he spread his hands out in a placating gesture to the crowd. "A moment, if I may. Does anyone here even remember me?" he asked, projecting his voice to the crowd. "I am Bede, the challenger who was forced to withdraw from the Gym Challenge."
From the audience, she could hear someone say, "Bede! He's the challenger endorsed by Chairman Rose himself!"
It was true, she reminded herself. Bede had be selected by the chairman for this very challenge just as the Champion, Leon, chose her and his little brother Hop.
"I have a score to settle with Challenger Gesselle here," she caught Bede saying. He turned to face her with a fierce look on his face. "I'm aware that this is against the rules, but I must ask nonetheless... Let me battle her! I'll stake my career as a challenger on this battle. If I lose, I'll retire from being a Trainer."
"What an unexpected turn of events!" the announcer said excitedly. "Former Challenger Bede has come for one last battle! We are currently debating what to do with Challenger Bede. To all our viewers, both here in the stadium and at home in front of the telly, we ask that you please be patient!"
"I know this is ridiculous of me. But I had to say something... do something!" he said, and she could feel her heart pounding with excitement as she met those violet eyes. "Ever since you showed up, everything I've done has gone wrong!" Bede clenched his fists at his sides as he glowered at the ground. Gesselle wanted to say something, to assure her rival everything was fine, but he continued on speaking, "It was Oleana who asked me to gather Wishing Stars for the chairman, but then the chairman himself disowned me... And then that strange old lady comes out of nowhere and drags me into a boot camp on Fairy-type Pokemon!"
His head snapped upwards as he glowered at her. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?! Covered in pink, dealing with quizzes, and battles with Fairy-type Pokemon every day! And here I am, pouring out my heart to you... when I've never lost my cool before!"
In a way, it was cute. Seeing Bede lose his cool like that was enough to remind her that he, too, was human and felt the weight of frustration like she did. Gesselle opened her mouth to say something when, once again, she was cut off before she could speak to her Fairy-wielding rival.
"We've reached a decision, ladies and gentlemen! The Champion himself has accepted Bede's sudden interruption! Is the Champion showing his love... by giving every Trainer a chance to grow stronger? Or is it a trial for Challenger Gesselle?"
Bede's eyes narrowed as the announcer's words lit a fire in his soul. "My will hasn't been broken yet!"
"I look forward to seeing what you can do, then," she shot back with a grin on her face.
With that, the pair turned on their heels and made their way over to their respective sides of the arena. It was hard keeping her cool, fighting down the urge to run to her side and ready herself up for the fight with Bede. He and Hop were, by far, her favorite rivals to fight by far.
Turning back around, she watched as Bede posed with his great ball before tossing it out with an elegant throw. Out in a flurry of light came a fierce looking Mawile, already ready to fight as she snapped her back maw menacingly. In return, Gesselle tossed out her Pokeball with a soft kiss and a flirty wink aimed Bede's way.
King, her fierce and beloved Cinderace, came out with hop and a backwards glance her way, ready to fight for his right to win. She grinned at him before turning that grin on Bede.
"We've faced too much to quit now! We've got no choice but to win!" the other Trainer declared to his Mawile.
"If that's what you think, Bede," Gesselle began, "then I guess we'll have to bring our all! King, use quick attack!"
With that, the battle began in earnest as King darted forward in a blur of motion towards the Mawile. He managed to land a kick to her side and knocked her away just as Bede made his own call.
"Mawile, play rough with that Cinderace!"
"King, dodge and use pyro ball!"
The Pokemon both complied with their Trainer's orders, though King was just a pinch too slow to dodge Mawile's attempt to play rough. He was tossed aside with a cry before he caught himself and aimed a pyro ball right at Mawhile. She barely had time to dodge before the attack hit her and knocked her out.
Bede called her back into her Pokeball and sent out his next contestant, a stunning Gardevoir. She danced in place as she eyed King warily.
"You ready to get another Pokemon knocked out, Bede?" she called out to her rival.
"I could say the same to you, Gesselle!" he called back before focusing on his Gardevoir. "Gardevoir, use wish!"
She nodded and raised her hands in a prayer as a light shot across the sky overhead, a golden aura surrounding her for a moment. It faded away just as King came rushing towards her.
"King, double kick and then a pyro ball!"
"Gardevoir, dodge and use dazzling gleam!"
The Psychic/Fairy-type easily complied as she dodged the first attack and almost dodging the second, the pyro ball landing a glancing hit off her arm. She raised her hands and, in a stunning display, cast dazzling gleam upon King. Blinded for a moment, she had the opportunity to move away from the hurt King and readied herself for another attack.
"Gardevoir, use calm mind, then psychic!"
"King, dodge her attack and hit her with a flamethrower!" Gesselle cried out, her heart pounding in her chest like a drum of war. "You can do this!"
The attack missed King, but his attack missed Gardevoir as well. She huffed and narrowed her eyes as a plan formulated in her mind. "Hey, Bede!"
"What, Gesselle?" he replied, never taking his eyes off the battling Pokemon. "Gardevoir, use psychic again!"
"King, dodge and hit her with a quick attack," she called out, watching at her beloved companion complied with her orders. "Do you want to go out for tea and dinner after this is all said and done?"
"What?" He tore his eyes away from his Pokemon and stared at Gesselle as a flush made itself at home on his face. "What the heck, Gesselle?!"
"I mean, we could just hang out. Be friends, have a date," she flirted.
"I— You—!" Bede spluttered. "Don't distract me!"
"Is it a distraction when it's true?~" sang the flirting Trainer as she winked at him. She watched as he turned away and hid his face behind his hands. "Now, King! Use double kick!"
She watched as Gardevoir was knocked out with only two kicks, a grin on her face at the sneaky win.
"You!" he growled before he tossed out another Pokemon. "Go, Rapidash!"
The pastel and white, horned Pokemon came trotting out of the Pokeball. He tossed his mane and whinnied loudly as he pawed the ground fiercely.
Bede narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, prepared to bring on his next attack. "Rapidash... quick attack."
"Quick, King, dodge!"
He tried to comply, but he failed to dodge in time. He flew backwards as the Rapidash headbutted him in one quick attack. King was winded by the time Rapidash began his next attack.
"Use take down!"
"King, try to dodge!"
Once again, he failed to dodge as he was hit with a brutal take down from his opponent. Gesselle winced as she returned King to his Pokeball and pocketed it. Sorry, King. She'd make it up to him somehow.... probably spicy curry and a lot of playtime. She pulled out her Morpeko's, Murphy, Pokeball and pressed a kiss to his Pokeball before tossing it out.
"Go, Murphy! You can do this!" she cheered loudly.
"Morpeko," the adorable ball of chaos cheered in return.
Bede's eyes narrowed as he pointed towards Murphy and yelled out, "Rapidash, use quick attack!"
"Murphy, use thunderbolt!" Gesselle cried out as she pointed back towards the Rapidash in return. "But, seriously, Bede, I was being serious about the date idea. It'd be awesome to just hang out and maybe trade training tips! Oooor, well, recipes with one another for camping."
"You're not tricking me again," he said as their Pokemon continued to fight with one another. "Psycho cut!"
"Dodge and crunch him!" she called to Murphy after he zapped the Rapidash. "It's not a trick though, I want to take you out on a date! Friend date, really, but still! It'd be cool to learn more about you. Like how did you meet Rapidash and Mawile? What's Gardevoir's favorite meal?"
"I— What the heck? You're not distracting me with your friendship, Gesselle!" Bede huffed as he watched Murphy crunch down on Rapidash's left foreleg. He was quickly forced to summon him back into his Pokeball when it turned out he couldn't move safely without a major limp. The blonde shut his eyes before he pulled out his last Pokeball and tossed out his Hatterene.
He wasted no time in Gigantamaxing Hatterene while she quickly called Murphy back and sent out Grecia. She narrowed her eyes and made use of her Wishing Star, quickly Gigantamaxing her into the beautiful, giant cake she looked like.
The pair of Gigantamaxed Pokemon stared each other down as the crowds went mad around them. She could hear the cheers in her head as she pumped her fist. "Grecia, use misty terrain and dazzling gleam on Hatterene!"
"Al-alcremie!" cried Grecia as she quickly complied and activated the misty terrain, then shot a dazzling gleam towards Hatterene. It hit her solidly just as Bede managed to call out his attack.
"Hatterene, use calm mind and hit that Alcremie with a dazzling gleam of your own!"
"Hatterene!"
"Grecia, try to dodge and hit her with magical leaf!" Gesselle called out. They were down to the wire, or at least Bede was, she assumed from how quickly he used his Dynamax upon his Hatterene. It was enough to make her sweat as her heart thrummed hard in her chest. She was so close. So, so very close to the end!
The attacks simultaneously hit the Pokemon in a flash of bright light and Gesselle felt her heart stop in her chest for a brief moment. But in another instant, Hatterene was wobbling where she stood and all she could do was shout, "Grecia, do it again!"
When she complied, it was game over for the Hatterene as she reverted to normal and she was quickly summoned back into her Pokeball. For a moment, there was silence as Grecia reverted back to her normal size and she, too, returned to her Pokeball.
She had done it. She beat Bede!
The crowd roared with chants of both of their names as stars filled her eyes. It was a long and hard battle, but they had done it! They both did amazingly.
"There we have it, ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer said as the duo walked back towards the center of the arena and met each other in the middle. "The match goes to Trainer Gesselle! Congratulations to both our wonderful trainers for such an amazing battle."
"You did well," Bede said begrudgingly as he held out his hand for her to take. "Cheap shots though."
"You did well, too," she returned as she took his hand and shook it firmly. "I meant what I said though. I'd love to go on a friend date with you, Bede. You're an amazing person and I'd love to get to know you more."
He flushed. "I... I'll see what I can do."
Gesselle smiled, then winked. "I look forward to it, then."