[X] My Assistant

[Umbrae Calamitas]

Had Tuesday been aware of the storm that had been brewing within her team, she would not have anticipated it to come to head as it did. Had she known, as Odysseus knew and other suspected, that it was only a matter of time before the fury culminated, Tuesday would have expected it to do so in the presence of Jaima. She would not have anticipated that she be so far removed from her friends as she was, an unknown number of miles away from them, in fact. She would not have guessed that the rage which filled the heart of her first pokemon would reach its apex during a pokemon battle with a trainer she had never met before. Had she known, she didn't know what she would have done to prevent it.

But then, she didn't know.

"Laurel, use Take Down!"

"Smokescreen, Dante!"

The venusaur that was the third pokemon her opponent sent out charged forward with a grumbling roar. Dante hunkered down on his back legs, muscles tense, hissing as the smoke burst from his mouth like a gas bomb, filling the air with a dark cloud which obscured their view of each other.

Laurel's move must have missed its target, as there was no sound of an attack having connected. Only the grumbling of the large saurian beast and Dante's ominous hissing.

The field in which the two trainers were battling already contained evidence of their pokemon's harsh battles. Grass was torn up in area, great gouges had torn through the grass and soil, and whole areas had been trampled or burned clear of vegetation. A large dead stump off to the side had already been a point of attack for Tempest, Tuesday's hotheaded pikachu. The bark still coating the stubborn remains of the tree was crispy and brittle on the edges, and the center of the tree was blackened and scorched. The stantler, who had attempted to use the stump as a springboard of attack, had not fared well from the attack, either.

Tempest, of course, had been beaten nearly to unconsciousness by the small deer-like pokemon that the other trainer had used as her second. Tuesday had never encountered the pokemon's like before, but the adorable pink and yellow pokemon had clearly been a grass-type, or partial, like the venusaur before her now. Tuesday resisted the urge, with some difficulty, to fetch her sketchboard and draw the pokemon. It was a close thing. Her fingers were itching.

This third pokemon was proving to be difficult, however. Dante had laid waste to Horizon, as the girl had called her fawn pokemon, but was now faced against a pokemon of a greater evolutionary tier, and power. Of course, being a fire-type helped.

"Fire Fang!" Tuesday called.

She heard a snarl from within the smokescreen and caught a glimpse of a flash of fire. The gentle breeze which had been blowing was quickly causing the smoke to dissipate, and Tuesday caught a glimpse of her opponent on the other side of the field.

Straight brown hair was cut just at the girl's jawline, curling in at the ends. A single strand of hair, errant, with a slight curl to it to differ from the rest of her hair (as all errant strands must), hung down over one of the girl's large green eyes. Her lips were parted slightly as she watched the battle before her. Her hands clenched into worried fists as she attempted to command her pokemon in such a way as to bring the battle back into her favor.

"Earthquake!"

"Earthquake?" Tuesday gasped, just as the venusaur stomped great paws down on the ground and caused it to tremble beneath her. Tuesday let out an "oof!" as she lost her footing and toppled, with no small amount of embarrassment, onto her behind. She grimaced at the sore pain in her rear, but blue eyes flicked up to the battle before she bothered to get to her feet. The smoke still hung with stubborn futility in the air, brief wisps of dark cloud, but she could see the two pokemon fine. Dante had lost his balance from the attack and collapsed onto his front, legs and legs splayed outward. As he pushed himself to his feet, hissing dangerously, he did not look the least bit pleased.

In the moments after Dante had fallen, the venusaur had taken advantage of its opponent's lack of attacking and moved closer. Tuesday thought quickly of a way to give Dante a chance to get away from the pokemon. A fire attack would do more damage, of course, but even with the super-effective attack, the venusaur would have a chance to retaliate. a physical attack was more likely to make the larger pokemon flinch away, or at least attempt to dodge, giving the charmeleon a chance to put some distance between them.

"Dante! Metal Claw!"

The charmeleon put its weight on its right rear leg as it brought its left arm raking upward through the air, claws glowing. The metal claw attack caught the venusaur across the face, causing the pokemon to roar and pain and jerk backward on instinct.

"Get out of its range, Dante!" Tuesday called. She knew, of course, that the charmeleon wouldn't be able to get out of striking distance of a vine whip or razor leaf, but as least he could avoid being stepped on.

Instead of doing as she said and retreating to a safer distance, however, the charmeleon hissed loudly, a burning sound, like cold water hitting a hot skillet. Light flickered beyond the charmeleon's fangs, and then flames burst forward. The venusaur roar and reared back on its hind legs, eyes shut and face as turned away as such a large pokemon could manage.

"Laurel! Use Synthesis!" the brown-haired girl cried, fists clenched at her chin.

Tuesday hadn't even thought of what order, exactly, to give Dante before the charmeleon was attacking again. Fire burst forth from his mouth, causing the venusaur to retreat, its attempt at performing Synthesis a failure. Dante advanced on the pokemon, mouth opened in a continued hiss that was interrupted only by the flames that burst forth. Fire attack after fire attack, the charmeleon unleashed unrepentent fury upon its opponent, oblivious to the measures of his own cruelty and Tuesday's cries for him to stop.

Exhausted, with scorch marks scattered across her body like war scars, the venusaur collapsed to the ground with a great rumble and thump. Snarling, Dante's claws glowed on both hands, and he lunged with fire flickering in his mouth. The fainted venusaur was a defenseless victim to the charmeleon as his claws tore through blue-green flesh and his fangs, burning with flames, shredded the petals on the unconscious pokemon's back with great bites and vicious twists of his head, as though the venusaur were not another living creature, but a dog toy, to be chewed to pieces for amusement, if nothing else.

"Dante! Dante, stop!" Tuesday cried, horrified. Her attempts at recalling the charmeleon were a failure when he dodged the red beam of the pokeball, only to unleash a flamethrower attack upon his felled opponent.

"Laurel!" the other girl cried, tears filling her eyes but unfallen, as she desperately searched in her bag for her pokeball.

"Dante!"

The charmeleon ignored her again and, horrified at what she was witnessing her first pokemon do to another, Tuesday grabbed another pokeball from her belt and tossed it outward. The words she thought she would never say - words that fought tooth and nail to be substituted with vomit at the very thought of them - tore from her throat before the pokeball had even fully unleashed its charge.

"Odysseus! Take Dante down! Water Gun!"