Taylor Thompson
"Hey,” a voice said. Turning, Taylor spotted Ken and smiled. "Looks like Peter's got a tough battle."
“Yeah, I know. I think he’s the only one who got paired up with a senior,” Taylor answered, watching as Peter withdrew his Natu after a vicious battle. “But he did pretty good, anyways. HEY, PETER!” She waved her hand in the air, trying to catch his attention, and gave him a thumbs-up. Geist nodded in his direction as well, seeing as he couldn’t give a thumbs-up because, well, he had no arms.
“I’ve got no idea who the heck I’m supposed to fight.” Taylor added with a sigh, “Some girl named ‘A-line’ or something. I heard she was a really good battler…” She winked, “but if there’s any time for me and Geist to pull off a miracle, I guess now would be it.”
At that moment, a voice boomed through the loudspeaker. “Taylor Thompson, please report to sector #5.” It repeated. Taylor blinked in surprise; funny, her match wouldn’t be starting for a few more minutes.
“… Huh. Guess my opponent’s here early,” she said. Taking off in a run, she shouted to Ken, “I’ll see you later!” She stopped and spun around, adding with a cheer, “Knock ‘em through the ceiling, Ken!” And with that said, she scurried to the fifth battlefield.
As the battle was starting early, the fifth battlefield had yet to be cleaned. Pools of water sat next to charred spots of ground still burning from the impact. A few leaves had been swept onto the field, along with what looked like a puddle of nasty acid. Geist usually stayed away from the ground, so the mess shouldn’t affect him. Still, Taylor had to wonder whether the debris would be helpful or harmful to them in the long run.
Her opponent Aline was already standing on the other side of the battlefield, posed and ready to fight. She had an expression of disdain on her face, probably from having to fight a pathetic freshman. Her Pokémon, a Roselia, stood at her side, its rose-like hands on its hips. At the sight of Taylor, both Aline and her Roselia grew a wide smirk.
“You ready?” Taylor asked, trying to keep a peppy exterior.
The senior sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s just get this over with.” Her Roselia hopped onto the battlefield, standing proud against its tiny foe. Slowly, Geist floated over to the fight and nodded politely to his opponent like he always did.
“Aw, how cute,” Aline chuckled, eyeing the Shuppet menacingly, “I haven’t seen anyone use that kind of trash in a while.”
Taylor grinned, though it was obvious that she was steaming with anger. “You got a problem with Ghost-types?!” she snapped.
Her opponent sighed. “I could care less about Ghosts. I mean, it’s not like they’re any good at taking hits.” She yawned and stretched, then added to her Roselia, “Alright, let’s get going. Roselia, Magical Leaf.”
The Roselia spun around in a circle, it’s rose-like hands swaying elegantly in the wind. With a forceful slash, it cut the air, sending a volley of sharp, shimmering leaves in Geist’s direction. Instead of moving out of the way of the attack, Geist stood perfectly still, completely indifferent to the leaves heading its way. Taylor beamed with pride. Yeah, like a bunch of shiny leaves could do anything to Geist. He could just phase-
Her thoughts were cut off as she saw the sparkling leaves tear through Geist like a knife through an old rag. Both her eyes and Geist’s eyes widened with shock. But… but the attack should have gone right through! Geist slowly melted to the floor, his eyes still wide.
Aline smiled and let out a sadistic laugh. “You thought you could phase through that attack, didn’t you?” she taunted, “Well, since you obviously have no idea what just happened, I’ll tell you. Magical Leaf is a special attack, freshies. And the best part? It’s unavoidable.” With a cocky chuckle, she added, “Roselia, why don’t you throw a Sludge Bomb their way?”
The Roselia’s roses began to glow with an eerie purple, and the Pokémon dramatically pointed its hands at Geist. It fired, sending two giant blobs of poison straight at Geist’s head.
“Dodge it, dodge it, dodge it!” Taylor cried. Geist shook itself out of its daze and disappeared into the ground just as the attack collided into the area where it once stood.
Aline rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, I totally didn’t see that coming. Roselia, find it with Magical Leaf, and send another Sludge Bomb rolling its way.”
“Find it with Magical Leaf?” Taylor repeated as the Roselia spun around and launch another volley of sparkling leaves. The leaves began to point toward the ground, then suddenly dived to the floor, falling into the ground in a neat row. Smiling, the Roselia prepared another Sludge Bomb and fired at the leaves, causing a startled Geist to pop out of the ground.
“And… Toxic.” Aline commanded. The Roselia propelled itself into the air, poised to strike. Just one hit and it would all be over soon…
“Dodge it with Shadow Sneak!” Taylor shouted. Geist suddenly floated back, falling into the shadows of the battlefield and barely avoiding the Roselia’s attack.
Aline smirked. “You think you can hide from me? Roselia, Magical Leaf!” Roselia spun and launched another volley of Magical Leaves. The leaves slowly turned toward Roselia, stopped, and fired, knocking Roselia across the battlefield.
“What?!” Aline cried, her gaze turning to Taylor, who had regrown her usual smirk. “You… you little brat!”
“Why, thank you,” Taylor said with a mock bow, “Now, Geist, why don’t we turn things around with a Will-O-Wisp?” Geist appeared above the Roselia, grinning evilly as several ominous balls of fire began to rotate around it. With amazing agility, the Roselia somersaulted to its feet. However, the force from Magical Leaf had yet to wear off, and the Roselia was grazed by one of the fireballs.
“I’ve had enough of this!” Aline shouted, “Roselia, Petal Dance!”
The Roselia cringed from its burn as it stood up. Slowly, it began to spin. At first, it was a calm speed, but the spin gradually picked up speed, going quicker, faster, stronger with each rotation. The debris from the battlefield was swept up by the Petal Dance’s winds, and several cherry blossom petals appeared from the Roselia’s sides. With enough speed gained to knock out a Hippowdon, the Roselia charged at Geist.
“Alright, Geist,” Taylor said coolly, “Let’s ride it out with a Will-O-Wisp.”
The tornado of petals, ash, and water came toward Geist like a typhoon. Silently, Geist formed another set of blue fireballs by its sides, keeping them close to his body. As soon as the winds reached him, it sent Geist flying around in circles, riding out the tornado. The debris of the petals and ash tried to hit him, but the Will-O-Wisp burned them away before they could do any real damage. Finally, the tornado launched Geist toward a wall, which, like any good ghost, the Shuppet phased through, reappearing from the wall in just as much health as before. The Roselia, meanwhile, was limping and falling all over the place, confused by its turbulent spin.
“And now… “ Taylor commanded, “Shadow Sneak!” Glowing with ghostly energy, Geist charged at the Roselia full blank.
“Magical Leaf!” Aline shouted in return. The Roselia wobbled but still managed to keep itself balanced as it fired another volley of leaves.
A direct hit! Geist launched himself at the Roselia, sending the Grass type flailing into a wall. But before he had time to react, the Magical Leaves turned, slicing into Geist’s back. The ghost-type fell to the ground, kicking up dust as it did. Neither Pokémon appeared ready to stand up anytime soon.
“A draw.” Taylor stated, staring at the battlefield with wide eyes. Aline’s eyes looked ready to leap out of their sockets as she returned her Roselia to her Poke Ball. Walking over to Geist, Taylor picked the ghost up and gave it her thanks, returning it to its Poke Ball as well.
“That was a tight match,” Taylor said, walking over to Aline. She held out her hand, “Nice job. You’re Roselia’s really strong.”
Aline stared at her hand for a moment, muttered a rather loud, “Humph!” and stomped away. Taylor, hand still outstretched watched her leave with a smile.
“It’s only been one day, and I’ve already got an enemy,” Taylor chuckled, “I think I’m gonna like this school.”
She walked off the battlefield with her head held high, wondering what it would feel like if she actually won a battle one day.