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"A Fire type..." Chili wiped a tear out of his eye, "I-I'm so proud. You'll be fighting my bro - Cress! He just got out of a battle so he should still be around!"

He cupped his hands either side of his mouth and shouted, his voice magnified by echoes, "HEY! CRESS! WHERE YOU GONE?! YOU GOT A CHALLENGER!"

"You don't have to shout, I'm right here," said the waiter with the drape of blue hair that hid one of his eyes. He appeared from behind Chili, who almost jumped out of his skin. He turned to the novice trainer, his hands behind his back, "I'm a Water-type specialist, and my name is Cress. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

He looked Henrietta up and down then scoffed inwardly, eyes narrowing as he stroked a hair away from his eye with a soft swipe of his fingertips. "When you're ready we can begin the battle."

Cress span on his heel and began to march towards his end of the arena. Chili sighed, his inner fire petering out as he whispered to Henrietta, "Don't mind him! He always gets like that when he's lost a match. Just do your best! Okay?!"

"Hmhm," Cress stifled a laugh, eyes closed. He looked up to Henrietta, far across from her on the other side of the arena, and raised his voice, "What incredible luck for you--you get to battle the best among the three of us."

"Bullshit!" Chili yelled as he left the arena and closed the door behind him, heading back to his duties as a waiter.

"This battle will be in accordance with standard league rules. That means no use of items aside from hold items. No interference from a trainer. Nobody from outside the battle is allowed to interfere. We will use one pokémon each and continue to battle until a winner is determined."

He glanced down at the console next to him. It was a rectangle shape stood on its end with a touchscreen on the top. The list of trainers in the restaurant had been brought up; it featured their names, the pokémon on their team, the date they received their trainer card and how many badges they'd won. Cress locked eyes back on Henrietta.

"A novice, I see. Then in that case I'll use a pokémon fitting for your level."

He tapped his foot on the ground and a thinner rectangle extended from the metal floor. It had a hole on the top end, which ran the length of the block. A second after it extended, a pokéball shot out of the top with a 'shoomp!' sound and Cress took it out of the air gracefully.

"Welcome to your Striaton Gym Challenge! Your opponent will be-" Cress swung his arm out wide and threw the pokéball out into the arena, "-Panpour!"

The blue and yellow monkey materialised in the arena. It was a different one from the Panpour that battled N. It moved slowly, rocking its head from side to side. Each time it passed the halfway point of a motion, it'd suddenly speed up. It moved like water.

An electronic voice buzzed from the wall. It was synthetic. Monotone. A referee: "Battle between Panpour and Darumaka will now commence. Battle Start."

And with a ping that rang out across the arena, Henrietta's gym battle began.

Darumi couldn't close the distance that quickly. As the fire type moved to get in range for Incinerate, Cress ordered his first technique.

"Rain Dance," he said, holding out a hand with a stern expression on his face. Panpour bowed his head, swaying from side to side one foot at a time. He clapped his hands to the left, clap-clap, then to the right, clap-clap, and humidity gathered on the arena ceiling. Droplets of water quickly began to shower down onto the battle.

The flames came in close now, Darumi getting nearer. It was a sweeping fire type move that limited horizontal mobility and encouraged the opponent to take to the air.

"Take it. Water Gun," Cress ordered. Panpour swept his paw to the side as the flames, weakened from Rain Dance, came to him and broke them apart. Darumi was likely charging right at him, just on the other side of the wall of fire; Cress hoped to catch both trainer and pokémon off guard and make for an easy strike.

Taking only minor damage from Incinerate, Panpour opened his mouth and blasted a Water Gun, which was powered up by Rain Dance, right at Darumi.

Cress' hair only served to generate a blind spot for his direct right (cover up your eye with your hand and check, it only takes off the very edge of your vision, leaving the front intact) He could see Panpour's battle just fine.

"Dodge," he said calmly, and Panpour knew not to wait for any more attack orders and began to shift. Luckily for him, Darumi's Rage stunted any finesse that the rash fire type might have; for the more experienced Panpour, the openings to the attack were obvious.

Panpour bowed down, sloping out of the way of Darumi's fist and turning his head in the direction of the fire type. Darumi's furry belly was touching Panpour's face. Rain continued to fall.

"Water Gun," Cress commanded and Panpour blasted another powered-up Water attack. This time from point blank range with Darumi's arm extended above Panpour's head.

"I see... You've been training, haven't you?"

Of course, Chili had already instructed Henrietta and her pokémon on the use of fighting spirit. Cress should've expected that a mere Water Gun wouldn't be enough to take Darumi down.

"Aqua Ring," he ordered and Panpour swiped his paw out, generating a whirling ring of water that span around his body and smashed into the Incinerate with a hiss of steam.

"It's not enough," he said simply to Henrietta, "you're too weak to so much as damage my Panpour. You'll never be able to defeat me."

The best way to remove fighting spirit as a factor is to break the trainer's resolve. For a battler who lacks confidence as clearly as Henrietta, mere words should be enough.

"Go home," he said, then swiftly returned to the battle, "Hydro Pump!"

Rain continued to fall. Panpour took a deep breath and generated a vast quantity of water. It gathered together before being released at a pressure that far outdid Water Gun. It was fast and it was aimed at Darumi.

--

When Cress spoke to her, Henrietta might have heard a tapping coming from the glass partition. If she looked over, she'd probably have seen Wayne standing with his nose pressed against the glass, a load of Krabby meat in his mouth as he gave the girl a cheery thumbs up.

Cress paused. He'd accidentally struck the opposing trainer. He should stop the match. His outstretched hand curled in as he dropped his arm slightly, face worried.

He looked out to the diners eating their food. Some had stopped and were just staring at the arena, at Henrietta who was soaked. He couldn't continue like this. The gym would lose face. People would hate them for such underhanded tactics.

His will affirmed, Cress held up his hand, "Stop the match!" He looked out to Henrietta and called over, "Are you alright?"

"No." Wayne banged his fist against the glass, "What the hell is this?!"

He slammed his fist down harder and harder, "The match isn't over yet! Henrietta! Aren't you here to win?! You can't just give up now! Keep fighting, you can do it!"

His voice penetrated the thick glass, spilling into the echoing arena. People stopped and stared the the shouting teenager. Even Cress took note, quietly watching Wayne bang on the barrier. The gym leader looked back over to Henrietta.

"It's up to you," he said to the girl while gesturing to Panpour, "a winner still hasn't been decided."