punchandkiss | Ninth Viking Charge

[Astrid's gear is being held by one of her pokemon as it clicks on, to reveal the last few moments of a pokemon battle. Astrid is standing on the edge of the Saffron city gym, and in the middle, her Sentret, Fuzzball, bouncing in front of her as it faces off against Sabrina and her Alakazam. It looks like the fights been going for a bit, and Fuzzball darts forward at a shouted command from Astrid.]

[There's a gout of fire from the Sentret as it uses flamethrower, and the Alakazam collapses in a heap, leaving the Sentrat the winner! Astrid lets out a little victory shout, and across the arena, Sabrina just sits down in shock, her eyes wide.]

You beat me with a Sentret.

[Astrid is grinning as Fuzzball flits over and settles on her shoulder.]

Looks like it.

[Sabrina doesn't really acknowledge her at all, she's just staring at her defeated pokemon in a daze.]

You beat me with a SENTRET?

[More puzzled this time, and Astrid isn't grinning at this point, she just looks annoyed.]

Yeah, I did. Fuzzball's amazing. Can I have my badge?

You...beat me with a Sentret. I...just...I can't believe it.

[Astrid glances over at her pokemon and then back at Sabrina in an 'is this normal?' sort of way.]

Well, it happened, so I need-

[Sabrina suddenly hurls the badge and winnings across the arena with her powers, and Astrid has to dive to catch them.]

Just take it and go!

[Is shouted at her by the gym leader, who otherwise is still just sort of staring at her poor, defeated pokemon. Astrid makes a hurried retreat out of the building, snatching her gear from her pokemon as she goes. When she's outside, she looks at the screen and grins, but it's a bewildered grin.]

...So I got my Saffron badge. ...Is she always like that?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I should let mine fight more, too... [Come to think of it, the baby duck is catching up to him in level.] He's really smart... And I was reading, too - that they can learn a lot of different kinds of attacks. ...Does she know any of the ones that you need a -- "machine" for?

Yeah, I taught her flamethrower. It's pretty useful. [Astrid shrugs.] I haven't really taught her any others, I probably will eventually, I'm just worried about her getting an even bigger ego.

[Fuzzball is kind of vain.]

[Clementine beams at the Sentret on the screen - then with a blink her eyes widen and her head turns to look just behind her, and then looks back at the gear.]

...Is it okay for one of my Pokémon to say hi? [Right after you mentioned that she had a big ego, that is.]

Sure, that's cool.

[Clementine looks back again, and on cue, her own Sentret lifts himself up on his tail and places his paws on her shoulders. He's been listening in - and his look at an unevolved, 1-TM Sentret who won her Trainer a badge against psychics is definitely an awed one.]

...His name's Ben. [Perhaps talking to this girl is bringing part of her mind back to the topic of Pokémon names.]

[Fuzzball runs down Astrid's arm to peer at the other Sentret, wrapping her tail around Astrid's wrist to make sure she doesn't fall off before waving at the other one and chittering happily, even preening a little bit.]

Why Ben?

[Astrid just sounds curious.]

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