After finishing lunch, Marie finally pulled out several large containers of Poké Puffs from her backpack and set them aside.
"This time… I didn't even know you'd brought another little one along. These probably won't be enough. I'll bring more next time if I come earlier."
"Rrrr~ (It's fine. If anything, I should be thanking you. Thanks to your help, the little one's growing stronger than I ever was.)"
Yuri stood nearby, watching the exchange between the girl and the Pokémon, her eyes practically sparkling. Those gold nuggets, pearls, comet shards and even those single-use TMs would sell for over a hundred thousand Poké Dollars at any Poké Mart!
You can make that kind of money as a Trainer?! Yuri was starting to question everything she thought she knew about being one.
After safely tucking away the rewards, Marie turned back and saw Yuri zoning out again for who-knows-what reason. She waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hey Yuri?"
"Huh? Ah? Oh, oh, oh… what?"
"What were you thinking just now? Were you eyeing one of those TMs?"
Marie pulled out a few slightly worn Technical Machines. Most of them were one-use-only and not that valuable to someone like her but for someone like Yuri, they were probably pretty rare.
"No, no need!" Yuri quickly waved her hands, flustered. She was only here to watch and learn how could she just accept something like that? Marie didn't push it. After all, they had only just met.
Once everything was packed up, Marie turned to the floating Dragapult family nearby.
"Let's battle! Even if you've evolved this time, I know Umbreon and I can still win!"
"Rrrr~ (Not happening. You've never beaten me before, Marie.)"
Dragapult let out a confident growl, the two little Dreepy still perched atop its head as it floated into the clearing.
"Wait, what?! They're starting a battle already?!"
Yuri hadn't even processed what was happening before she saw Marie snap a Poké Ball onto her belt and stride into the battlefield with Umbreon.
As Umbreon took position, Marie cradled her cheering Ralts in her arms, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then faced her opponent squarely.
"Do I get to move first again?"
"Rrrr~ (Ask me that again after you've beaten me~)"
"Fine then… Umbreon, let's go!"
"Eeeyah! (Bring it on!)"
Marie let out a sigh. She'd never managed to win before so she wasn't exactly hopeful.
"Sand Attack!"
Just as Marie gave the command, Umbreon kicked up a cloud of yellow sand imbued with Ground-type energy. But unlike a standard Sand Attack, this one swept across nearly the entire battlefield, forcing its way toward the enemy's position.
Caught off guard by the sudden onslaught, Dragapult momentarily lost track of its target as the sand obscured the field. While its ability, Clear Body, protected it from stat drops, the visibility interference was still effective.
Having lost the opening advantage, Dragapult would now have a harder time landing a clean hit. Which meant they could force it to make the first move.
"RRAAAAH!!"
With a roar, Dragapult rose into the air, Dragon-type energy surging from its core. It launched into a strange and fluid dance the telltale sign of Dragon Dance.
"Interrupt it!"
Marie didn't even have time to call the next move. She trusted Umbreon to make the right call.
Dark Pulse!
A move of Umbreon's own type fired instantly. The blast of dark energy shot straight toward Dragapult mid-air.
Dragapult, already prepared, expertly canceled its Dragon Dance and countered with a wide-mouthed roar launching a Dragon Pulse at the exposed Umbreon.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
The two attacks collided mid-air, sending shockwaves and debris flying across the battlefield. Marie didn't dare look away. She shielded Ralts in her arms as Dragapult vanished from sight.
"Protect!"
"Eeeeyah-!!"
BANG!
Just as Umbreon raised its shield, a thunderous impact shattered it instantly. In the next breath, Dragapult reappeared at a distance.
U-turn a Bug-type move.
They'd fought countless times before, and Dragapult knew full well that Umbreon had a move that could turn the tide in an instant: Foul Play. If it got hit even once, it would lose. One mistake in the past had nearly cost Dragapult the match, and it wasn't about to repeat that.
Marie knew it too. Umbreon could withstand maybe three or four solid hits, but if she missed the right moment to get in close, she couldn't afford to waste her limited chances.
U-turn was a versatile move. For a Trainer, it meant switching Pokémon mid-battle. But for wild Pokémon or lone fighters like Dragapult, it was literal a high-speed strike followed by immediate retreat.
At Dragapult's speed, Umbreon might not even catch that fleeting moment to counterattack and that risk wasn't worth it.
After that high-speed exchange, both sides paused.
Marie's eyes stayed locked on the field. She couldn't afford a single lapse in focus.
Wild Pokémon while often lacking the polish and precision of trained ones had one major advantage: they were unpredictable.
A typical trained Dragapult would lean heavily on speed-based tactics and often skip over utility moves. But wild ones?
That was a different story.
Like now.
After a short lull, both Pokémon struck at the same time, as if trying to catch the other off guard.
"Confuse Ray!"
Thunder Wave.
At the same moment, Umbreon's shimmering ray of light and Dragapult's electric pulse hit their marks. Both Pokémon were now paralyzed and confused.
Even the two Dreepy on Dragapult's head looked dizzy, wobbling off and floating lazily to the ground where they bonked into the dirt with a dull thud.
"…"
"…"
It wasn't a formal match, after all. Marie let out a sigh and turned to the stunned Yuri watching from the sidelines.
"Yuri! Can you carry those two over to safety?"
"Rrr… rrr… (Thanks…)"
Even Dragapult's growl was slurred from the confusion. Still, its concern for the little ones outweighed everything else, and it gave its silent approval.
"O-Okay!"
Yuri scrambled over and gently scooped up the dazed Dreepy pair, hurrying them away from the battlefield.
Marie reached out and gently patted her Ralts's tiny head who was nervously covering her eyes and smiled.
"Let's keep going!"
"RRRAAAAH!!"
Neither side had recovered from their conditions. That gave them both a window of opportunity.
Paralysis would slow movements and sometimes prevent attacks. Confusion was worse like being drunk on bad moonshine. Affected Pokémon might hit themselves or misread the battlefield entirely.
Especially without a Trainer to guide them.
Now, it all came down to which one would slip up first…
____________________
NEXT CHAPTER : Moonlight Umbreon vs Dragapult (Part 2)
(As the underground battle raged on, Marie's Umbreon faced off against the overwhelming might of Yuri's Dragapult. With eerie moonlight flickering through the cave, Umbreon pushed her paralyzed body beyond its limits, enduring brutal blows while waiting for the right moment to strike back. The clash between light and shadow reached a breaking point but neither side was ready to fall. Now, with both Pokémon battered and the tension peaking, the final showdown is about to begin...)
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