The playground was filled with students as they crowded the makeshift arena— where lines were drawn in the sand with children’s shoes and borders were marked with a rectangular ring of rocks around the field. A blonde Lass and a brunette Youngster stood on opposite sides of the battlefield.
“Done going to the bathroom, Rei-Rei?” the Lass taunted. “Were you scared or just stalling?”
The Youngster growled, “Quit callin’ me that, Katsumi!” Pulling a Pokeball from her waist, she huffed and said, “Let’s just get this battle over with so I can win!”
Katsumi blinked for a moment, but pulled out her own Pokeball. “I’d like to see you try!”
The two girls tossed their Pokeballs into the ring.
“Go, Gertrude!”
“Frick ‘em up, Sparx!”
Gertrude, Katsumi’s trusty Butterfree, materialized onto the field in a flash of light, already ready and raring to go.
Meanwhile, Rat’s Pikachu Sparx apathetically glanced around the arena. With a yawn, he sat down and scratched behind his ear with his back leg.
Katsumi wearily tilted her head at the Pikachu on the field. “Uhh… I thought you weren’t allowed to bring Sparx to school anymore…”
Rat scoffed at her, “Whaddaya gonna do, tell on me? Snitches get stitches.”
The Lass squinted back at her opponent, but said nothing. Instead, she thrust a finger forwards and shouted, “Alright, Gertrude, let’s start off with Poison Powder!”
“Dodge it, Sparx!” Rat commanded her Pikachu.
The Butterfree blew a purple powdered substance in Sparx’s direction, but the Pikachu rolled its eyes and leapt out of the way.
With a grin, Rat punched a fist in the air and said, “Yes! Now hit ‘em with a Thunderbolt!”
But the Pikachu in question didn’t seem to pay any mind to his trainer’s words. He looked back at her with an apathetic glance and scoffed at her.
Katsumi seemed to hesitate. “Um… Reiko…?”
Rat didn’t listen to her. “C’mon, Sparx! Use Thunderbolt!”
Again, the Pikachu just loafed around, ignoring his trainer’s commands.
“Reiko—”
“Thundershock! Thunderbolt! Do something!”
Sparx seemed to grow visibly annoyed, glaring back at Rat and twitching his ear with irritation.
Gertrude shot a nervous glance in her trainer’s direction. Kat slowly pulled a different Pokeball from her waist and crept forwards onto the battlefield, keeping her eye on the Pikachu. “Reiko, I don’t think—“
Visibly red in the face, Reiko clenched her fists and shouted at her Pokemon, “Just hit someone already!”
“REIKO!”
In the blink of an eye, Katsumi threw out her Sandshrew just before Sparx sent a bolt of lightning at Rat. The electric attack was absorbed by the Ground Type Pokemon, saving the person behind it from harm.
The playground fell silent. The only sound heard was Reiko and Katsumi’s heavy breathing.
It felt like ages until Kat finally spoke.
“What… were you thinking, Reiko?!”
Rat flinched at the sudden change of volume, eyes darting left and right as she became suddenly aware of the crowd around them “I— I wasn’t—“
Kat returned her Pokemon and stomped forwards to be face to face with her rival. “You shouldn’t use Sparx in battle if you can’t even keep him under control!”
“I can—“
“You could’ve gotten hurt, Rei!”
“But I—”
“Stop.” The Lass raised a hand at her rival. “Just…” She rubbed the bridge of her nose between her fingers and sighed, “Just stop…”
Reiko bit her lip to keep it from wavering.
Katsumi let out a tired breath and said, “We’ve tried to tell you so many times but it’s like you don’t even listen. Sparx won’t respect you unless you show him that you’re worthy of his respect. Professor Oak told you, your mom told you— heck, even I told you!”
The other girl silently lowered her head and gritted her teeth.
“It’s a two-way street, Reiko. You only get as much respect as you give.”
Katsumi stepped past her rival and glanced at her from over her shoulder with a frown. “And you don’t seem to give either of us your respect.”
