Spoon: 3.9 Soup (Patreon)

Preface

Yes, PWP won and that means 2 of my weeks will be dedicated to it, but I did post PWP last week so let's start the month with some spoon.

Soup 3.9

Aaron Fulan

Oldale Town, Hoenn Region

Onale and I stared each other down from across the field. The break was mostly for her torchic to catch his breath and they were fully recovered now. Given what I’d seen of the pair so far, her bard schtick was a load of horseshit; they were easily among the most talented pair I’d seen to date.

There was also Sabine, Sparky as she wanted to be called, and Lucky the elekid back in Mauville. And Lisia and Ali of course. Was I destined to meet powerful women?

My semifinal match against Clark and Jax the tauros had ended up being largely unscored because the tauros only knew Horn Attack, Stomp, and the like. There just weren’t many ways to use those moves in an aesthetically pleasing way. Not so this time. Both Jeanne and Ember were better trained and the judges were paying more attention.

I felt a small pang of hunger, the sun was starting to set and it was almost suppertime, but I pushed it aside to focus on the battle.

The mayor cleared his throat for attention. “Now that we’re all fed and watered, let’s close out the night with one last battle. Coordinators, are you ready? Good. Then begin!”

“Ember, barrage! Don’t let up!” Onale yelled out, eager to get the first points in.

“Tor-CHIC!” he trilled, spouting an impressive number of attacks. Each fireball was the size of a soccer ball.

“Cotton Guard,” I ordered.

“Flaaf,” Jeanne said, her usual enthusiasm replaced by focused calm.

I watched calmly as she shook her head. Her wool glowed like a radiant halo before “spores” erupted from her collar and head. It wasn’t true Cotton Guard, we hadn’t practiced its use defensively much, but it was enough for our purposes here.

Each fireball met an equivalent ball of wool. The wave of woolen balls was pushed back, but not without detonating every fireball preemptively.

Wool was flame-resistant. Instead of igniting, it filled the air with the acrid smell of burning hair as it shrank down into black, fibrous carbon. That she managed even this much was noteworthy. Flaaffy wool, by evolutionary design, stored electricity without burning, and in turn was even more flame-resistant than normal wool.

The result was the same: Not one Ember reached Jeanne.

We’d planned for this. Onale and Ember were a formidable pair but their repertoire seemed to revolve around Ember’s namesake move, whether that was modifying it for the appeals round with Feather Dance or forcing a hit and run battle against the linoone in the semifinals. It was possible for her to have some tricks up her sleeves of course, but I felt as ready as I could be.

“Now, set the stage. Return fire.”

“Flaaffy!”

Jeanne stomped the ground and the earth bloomed gold as electricity erupted from her foot. A circle thirty feet across spread out with her at the center. Sparks danced over the packed dirt; it looked as though there was a spotlight trained on Jeanne and the crowd oohed and aahed appropriately.

She then cracked her tail like a whip, sending Shock Waves through the air in the form of half a dozen bolts of lightning. Ember shuffled out of the way but the bolts were locked onto his electromagnetic signature and corrected course.

Onale saw this and reacted immediately, her strange, not-Irish accent cutting through the air. “Ember! Ya can’t dodge that! Send it skyward with Fire Spin!”

“Torchic!”

He dug his clawed feet into the dirt and spread his wings outward. A column of orange flames erupted around him, hot enough to warm my face from across the battlefield. Jeanne’s Shock Waves struck the fiery tornado and fizzled out. The flames faded and Ember shaped the straying sparks into feathers as he took a bow.

I probably lost points for that but I wasn’t about to let her walk all over me. The defensive use of Fire Spin was impressive but it had some major flaws I could exploit. “Rapid fire. Make him dance.”

Jeanne punched the ground, drawing deeply from the ionized terrain. Arcs of golden lightning climbed her arm and danced along her collar, lighting up her wool like a Christmas ornament. Electricity danced through her body until a sheathe of golden light flowed from her head to her tail and her bulb shone so bright that several spectators were forced to turn away.

With a final cry, she swung her tail like a mace. A salvo of electric bolts, all locked onto the torchic, fired from her bulb with the crackle of superheated air.

Then she did it again. And again. And again.

Jeanne was no longer the little mareep who struggled to pump out a single decent Electric Terrain. She’d come into her own and proved it by filling the air with sparkling missiles that homed in on her target like a swarm of hornets. She’d gotten good enough at launching these weak but swift attacks that even Artoria had trouble parrying them all. Boosted by Electric Terrain, she practically filled the field in a yellow haze.

“Block it! Fire Spin!” Onale cried desperately.

The column of fire went up. And this time, he was forced to hold the move as Jeanne’s river of Shock Waves collided against the flame. Either he’d tire and collapse or he’d run out of air as his own attack burned up all surrounding oxygen and he’d be forced to drop the move. One way or another, I was confident we’d win a contest of endurance. In the back of my mind, I could feel Artoria picking out my thoughts so she could explain them to Durvasa.

I was brought back to the match by the sputtering flames. Sure enough, Ember had just enough time to catch his breath before his eyes widened comically.

“Torchic!” he cried in pain as one final salvo sent him flying across the field. Whatever points he’d won for his use of Fire Spin now went Jeanne’s way for exploiting its weakness so quickly.

Jeanne moved to swing one last time but I let out a sharp whistle. “Hold fire.”

It was courtesy to give opponents time to collect themselves in a contest battle. Part of it was the emphasis on sportsmanlike behavior. A bigger part was that it was hard to judge the appeal of a pokemon’s moves when aimed at an already downed target. It wasn’t as though Jeanne was idle anyway; she’d been taught to Charge with every lull in battle. I could see her bulb glow dully as she collected herself even now.

“Ember, are you okay?” Onale called. She sent a hard look our way but nodded curtly. “I would like to withd-”

“Torchic!” Ember roared, though it came out more a shrill chirp than anything. He stood on shaky feet. Every breath released a small cluster of sparks into the air. Dirt covered hsi plumage in splotches of brown. Despite his clear exhaustion, there wasn’t a shred of surrender in his eyes. “Tor-CHIC!!!”

With a final shout, the white light of evolution shrouded him from view.

“And that,” I muttered dryly to Jeanne, “is why we Charge.”

“Flaaf,” she bleated back, resigned to a much harsher battle to come.

“Agility. Stack it. Combusken are fast, with a good mix of physical and ranged options. Expect a game of tag.”

The white light faded and Ember stood tall, the second wind brought on by his evolution buoying his spirits. He was an impressive specimen, standing several inches north of three feet with thick, powerful thighs and wings tipped with wicked-sharp claws. The vibrant yellow crest on his head had turned orange and tongues of flame licked up his plumage like ribbons of confetti as if celebrating his breakthrough.

Onale’s look of shock morphed into a confident grin. “Ember! You evolved!”

“Combus!”

“Good. Now let’s get some payback.” She looked at me with fire in her eyes. “You ready for round two?”

I could tell by the look on her face; this wasn’t about the ribbon anymore. No matter how we liked to dress it up, pokemon were combative creatures. They needed challenges to reach their full potential. The best of them thrived when ground against a rival like iron sharpening iron. Artoria had a taste of that in Mauville with Lucky the elekid. It seemed Jeanne had found hers as well.

I nodded amiably, acknowledgement of what was happening, a connection formed between two pokemon. “Ladies first.”

“Ember, barra-!”

“Flaaffy!” She couldn’t get out the command before Jeanne launched her own barrage, forcing the combusken to do his best impression of a tap dancer.

“So much for ladies first.”

“Jeanne’s a lady. Are you the one fighting or is he?”

“Ugh, you’re one of those. No one likes a wiseass,” she huffed. Then her head was back in the game. “Close with Quick Attack. Then Double Kick!”

“Slow him down with Cotton Spore!”

Ember was too fast. It wasn’t teleportation, but Jeanne wasn’t prepared for the massive speed boost the young fowl got through his evolution. He dodged and weaved through the hail of woolen spores before launching two sharp kicks towards her head, first in a snap kick and then a textbook roundhouse by using his own pre-extended foot as leverage.

“Flaaf!” she cried in alarm. She ducked out of the way of the snap kick but was caught by the followup roundhouse. It sent her reeling two steps back.

As the combusken stepped in to press his advantage, I shouted, “Thunder Wave!”

Jeanne’s pained cry turned into one of malicious glee. Her collar sparked and her bulb glowed a radiant gold before a burst of electricity erupted towards Ember.

He was too close, far too committed to his offense to even attempt to dodge. His muscles seized and Jeanne took the opportunity to deck the bird on his beak before squaring her feet and whipping her bulb into his face like a flail. The impromptu uppercut made him stagger but caused little actual damage.

“Now make some distance. Cotton Spore!”

“No! Burn it up with Fire Spin!”

Jeanne spat out a dozen spores but they were consumed immediately in a tornado of fire. That gave her the opening to run away. She hopped back, covering more than twelve feet with a single leap.

“Agility again. Then Electro Ball.”

“We can play that game. Quick Attack and Dobule Kick!”

Playing a game of tag against a combusken wasn’t exactly good odds, but it was the best option we had. Staying still like she’d done when Ember was a torchic would have seen her blitzed and overwhelmed in short order. At least now, she was holding her own.

She launched an orb of condensed plasma that the combusken kicked into the ground. It detonated in a shower of sparks and left behind a sizable divot. He then launched himself into the air and brought his foot down in a powerful heel drop that had Jeanne diving out of the way.

She let out a yelp of pain as one of his talons clipped her arm.

Even as she rolled away, the violet light of Agility surrounding her body became denser. She hopped to her feet with a vicious glare, starting off another physical trade.

Jeanne bobbed and weaved out of a series of rapid kicks and scratches but she was no fighting type no matter her spirit. She just couldn’t compete with Ember’s natural instincts and wasn’t able to use Thunder Wave in time before taking a harsh knee to the gut.

“Feee,” she grunted as she was sent sliding back. Her body sparked and she gave him a nasty return jolt that allowed her to make some distance again.

“Push through the pain! Press the attack!” Onale yelled. For someone who introduced herself as a bard, the girl was vicious. “Flame Charge!”

Ember let out a valiant cry. His entire body erupted into flames in a manner that was similar but not quite like Fire Spin. Unlike his earlier moves, this fire was far more condensed and coated his plumage like a suit of armor. He poured everything he had into obeying his trainer and launched himself like a phoenix towards Jeanne faster than he’d ever moved before.

I frowned. That wasn’t something I expected. Did he learn it upon evolution like Double Kick? Or maybe she’d simply never seen fit to order the move in her other rounds?

No matter. The move was far too fast for Jeanne to evade, no point in trying. Instead, I went for the counter option. “Protect into Electro Ball!”

I took a great deal of satisfaction in watching Onale’s eyes widen in surprise as Jeanne planted her feet and held out her hands like a sumo wrestler bracing for impact. Her forehead rammed straight towards the combusken as a green barrier formed between them.

The two collided with a deafening crash. I doubted anyone was paying attention to the scorecards held out by the judges anymore. No, the victor would be decided the old fashioned way.

When the smoke cleared, we found Jeanne and Ember clashing against each other, his burning knee grinding away at her shield. Just beneath, keener eyes could have spotted a small mote of light sparking to life between her paws.

Seconds stretched into eternity as the two pokemon pushed themselves to their utmost but the climactic clash couldn’t last. Ember soon ran out of momentum and touched down on one leg so he could spin his heel into the Protect.

That moment he began to pivot was the moment of attack. Jeanne’s Protect cracked and shattered into fragments of hardened aura as she released the move. Then, with a bleating battle cry, she stomped forward half a step and decked Ember across the beak with a newly formed Electro Ball.

“FLAAFFY!!!” she roared, the palm-sized orb of energy sparking with deceptive power. She’d poured everything she had into that attack, her Charge, the Electric Terrain, so that even from a standing start, it struck like a missile.

A sound like a thunderclap reverberated across the hall. So close to me, it had a physical wave to it and I rocked on my toes with the flow before to right myself.

“Ember, no!” Onale yelled as her partner soared through the air. He was out like a light before he hit the ground and she ran into the field to hold him.

Jeanne for her part stood, panting and bruised, but with her horns, paws, and bulb sparking. She looked out upon her defeated opponent, at the crowd that was still too stunned to comment, and at the judges. She must have remembered what I told her in Verdanturf because she then sank into a flourishing bow towards the judges’ table. Or she tried, before exhaustion caught up with her and she fell on her snout.

“Flaaf!” she yelped, her butt wiggling in the air. She played it off and rolled forward until she was seated on her haunches. With arms raised towards the setting sun and horns and tail glowing triumphantly, she cheered. “Flaaffy-flaaf!”

I shook my head with a fond smile. Would it have been cooler if she just stood there stoically? Absolutely. But it wouldn’t have been Jeanne if she didn’t spazz out like this. “Yeah, praise the sun, you crazy lamb chop.”

X

Compared to the final battle, the ceremony was a forgettable affair. Jeanne and I stood while the mayor placed the contest ribbon on her head like a hairclip, but she was too tuckered out to fully appreciate her moment in the sun. I gathered Artoria and Durvasa before ordering a huge platter of food from Mirabelle’s to celebrate in our room. Victory wings, waffles, and a mound of literally every berry the restaurant had on offer was the order of the evening. The nurse at the pokemon center had given her a clean bill of health by the time I returned with our feast.

“Jeanne, come here,” I ushered. She plodded to my side, mouth full of strawberries and the freshest alfalfa I could find. I held out my pokenav. “Let’s get a picture of you so I can post it on the group chat.”

“Flaaf,” she bleated, visibly preening as she adjusted her ribbon. She’d refused to remove the thing even for the nurse.

I tugged her to my side and snapped off a quick picture. I was hardly an expert but that was irrelevant; Jeanne looked adorable no matter the lighting.

Sir_Aaron: Yo, guess what I got? [IMG]

Mossdeep_Moon: What? You won? CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Sir_Aaron: Jeanne won. It was pretty epic. Our opponent, a torchic, evolved mid-battle in the finals. Had a dramatic “I’m the protagonist and this is the fiery passion of my soul,” moment and everything. He was pretty strong.

Mossdeep_Moon: Why can’t I find the video? :( Boo! It’s not up yet!

Mossdeep_Sun: What are you complaining about, sis?

Mossdeep_Moon: Scroll up, you dolt.

Mossdeep_Sun: Oh. Boo! No video.

Sir_Aaron: Chill. The video will go up in a day or two.

Mossdeep_Sun: Not fast enough. You should give your mega stone to mom. You know, for safekeeping.

Mossdeep_Moon: Yeah. We can’t scry you anymore.

Sir_Aaron: Too bad. My stone. Besides, Artoria would throw a fit if I gave it away, even temporarily.

Mossdeep_Moon: But… but… we want to see your journey… Don’t you love us? [IMG]

Sir_Aaron: You know the puppy eyes thing doesn’t work on me, right?

Mossdeep_Sun: [IMG]

Sir_Aaron: Still no. Seriously, love you? I’m planning on giving one of you away to Lisia, remember?

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Aaron! That’s an awful thing to say about your siblings!

Mossdeep_Sun: Yeah, bro, that’s mean.

Mossdeep_Moon: Hehehe, Aaron’s getting scolded.

Sir_Aaron: You’re the one who made the deal with me.

XO-CloudDancer-OX: I agreed to adopt them both. They’re clearly a pair. You can’t just split them up like that.

Mossdeep_Moon: Ehh, I can do without Tate once in a while.

Mossdeep_Sun: Take Liza, she’s a bully.

Mossdeep_Moon: Am not!

Mossdeep_Sun: Are too.

Mossdeep_Moon: Am not.

Mossdeep_Sun: Are too. You poured egg whites into my shoes!

Mossdeep_Moon: Heh, oh yeah. But that was like a week ago.

Mossdeep_Sun: That was yesterday!

XO-CloudDancer-OX: What is going on?

Sir_Aaron: They have an ongoing contest(?) prank war where Liza tries to get one over on her brother and Tate tries to use his divination to evade it. If he can figure out her plots before she completes them, she does his chores for her. Mom made this arrangement so they could train their powers even when playing… or maybe she just got sick of punishing Liza. I’m not sure honestly…

XO-CloudDancer-OX: That’s… unique…

Sir_Aarron: You’re a gem, Lisia. That’s the nicest way anyone’s described mom’s parenting skills.

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Anyway, congratulations! Jeanne’s ribbon is super pretty.

Sir_Aaron: Thanks. Jeanne says thanks too. Expect her to lick you when we meet again.

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Aww, I don’t mind that.

Sir_Aaron: Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Flaaffy don’t slobber anyway… I think…

Sir_Aaron: Do you know what cud is?

XO-CloudDancer-OX: No?

Sir_Aaron: No one tell her. It’ll be funnier when it happens.

Mossdeep_Sun: You’re mean, bro.

Mossdeep_Moon: ^^^ How can you do that to your best buddy?

Sir_Aaron: We met once. It’s kind of a stretch to say we’re BFFs.

Mossdeep_Moon: She’s the only other person on this chat except family. She qualifies by default.

Mosddeep_Sun: Yeah, it’s not like you have other friends.

Sir_Aaron: …

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Oof, I felt that from here in Fortree. Are you okay, Aaron?

Sir_Aaron: Don’t pity me…

Mossdeep_Sun: lol That sounded way worse than I meant, sorry, bro.

Mosddeep_Moon: Hahahahahahaha.

Sir_Aaron: Change of topic. Jeanne and I have our first ribbon. Done. Lisia, what’ve you been up to?

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Oh! I’m still in Fortree. Got here for the Feather Carnival, remember? I learned so much from Winona! Like, did you know that swablu need very special grooming methods for their feathers? They don’t have normal flight feathers like taillow or other bird pokemon. I mean, I already knew that but Winona taught me how to really make Ali’s feathers shine. Every time I think about moving on, I remember all the things Ali and I need to practice.

Sir_Aaron: Glad you’re having fun.

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Mhmm. I won the Feather Carnival contest, though it’s not official or anything and I didn’t get a ribbon out of it.

Mossdeep_Sun: That’s the one that’s only for flying types, right?

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Yup! I won the rookie division. It was loads of fun. Someone even had a corvisquire from all the way in Paldea!

Mossdeep_Moon: What’s that?

Sir_Aaron: Flying type. Kinda looks like a crow or raven. Think of a murkrow, but not bratty. Evolved form gets a steel type.

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Yeah, what he said. Except the bratty part. Murkrow are cool! They have personality.

Mossdeep_Moon: Ooh, that sounds really cool.

XO-CloudDancer-OX: It was. I’m thinking about catching a plane to Fallarbor Town for their contest in a week. I want to leave the big cities for when I can participate in super-rank contests.

Mossdeep_Sun: You can catch planes to Fallarbor?

XO-CloudDancer-OX: Kind of? There are small charter flights you can take.

Mossdeep_Sun: Oh, that makes sense.

The four of us chatted for a while longer even as Jeanne snuggled into my side. After saying goodbye, I turned to Durvasa. “So, what’d you think of your first contest?”

“Mankey. Mankey-man.”

‘Durvasa says Jeanne should have struck down the torchic before he could evolve,’ Artoria translated dutifully. ‘It was well fought, but some of those techniques seemed frivolous.’

“Haha, yeah, that’s kind of the point though. A battle between trained pokemon is unlike a battle in the wilds, Durvasa. Most of the time, the goal isn’t to kill, but to prove your strength. And a contest battle is very different from even a normal battle. What those pokemon were doing was trying to demonstrate their mastery of their moves by using the moves of their opponents as props. The goal isn’t just to win; it’s to win with style, whether in the form of aesthetic appeal or finesse. That, and it’s considered good sportsmanship to let your opponent withdraw.”

“Mankey?” He looked puzzled at the notion. Durvasa was a clever pokemon. He was likely used to using every advantage, even underhanded ones, to keep himself fed. It must have been strange to watch someone intentionally let an opponent catch his breath.

I reached out and tousled his fur. I’d have to be careful to make sure he wasn’t too brutal. “Yeah, even if they evolve and get stronger from it. At the end of the day, the goal of a contest is to better yourself and others while showing the audience how wonderful pokemon can be, or that’s what Lisia would say anyway. Besides, the fact that the torchic managed to evolve proves that it was a good battle, no? Jeanne was able to fight a much more worthy opponent because she was willing to be sportsmanlike.”

“Mankey…”

The four of us gorged ourselves on fresh, farmhouse fare as we talked late into the night. Jeanne got her ribbon, made a rival, and possibly learned a new appreciation for physical exercise. Today was a good day.

Author’s Note

Yay, first ribbon. I already made Artoria evolve mid-battle against Wattson so it’s only fair someone else pulls this bullshit on Aaron too.

Ah, and have your animal fact: Whales are explosive.

If you see a whale carcass on the beach, do not approach. The gut bacteria in a whale’s digestive tract can multiply exponentially after the whale’s death. They create methane gas as a byproduct. If the exterior of a whale, mainly its blubber, is undisturbed, it can act like a balloon that keeps the gas in until it goes critical.