Chương 13: 13-Fight!

It only takes a second for Tanya to realize her opponent definitely doesn't remember Caretaker's instruction to not fight close to the buildings or trees. Both of which she's standing right next to. Funneling mana into her legs, she launches herself at Torchic, carefully moderating her speed to meet him at one of their most regular fighting spots, the packed brown dirt a target on the otherwise perfectly manicured grass.

They land just outside the arena at precisely the same time and leap to meet each other mid-air. Torchic's natural speed puts Tanya at an initial disadvantage as he crosses the distance between them faster, using that speed again to get the first strike. A kick that uses his opponent as a springboard to jump for the ground, faster than gravity.

Pulling on her psychic mana, Tanya tries to build her prototype gravity formula but is disrupted, the mana turned to deflect embers one after the other as her opponent fires five in quick succession as she falls. For some reason, telekinetically gripping herself is significantly harder than it should be. But grabbing the air and using wind to vector herself mid-air is both a simple and effective method for controlling a descent.

Using this, she maneuvers herself over Torchic, intending to use her greater bulk in conjunction with gravity to end the bout quickly. Unfortunately her opponent knows better than to stand still, taking several leaping backsteps as Tanya slams into the ground where he was less than a second ago. But as they lock eyes from across the arena, Torchic doesn't immediately launch into another attack.

"You're late!" He shouts, scraping a claw aggressively in the dirt. Tanya pauses, keeping a steady eye on her opponent. It's… true that they've made a habit of fighting at yard time, but at no point did they actually speak or formally agree upon that understood rule. Which she had broken without knowing. Tanya's not exactly sure how she'd describe her relationship with Torchic, but he's correct that reneging on a deal –even an unspoken one– is quite rude, especially considering Tanya was on some level aware of it.

She relaxes her stance slightly.

"Apologies, my nursery had us in a meeting with potential partners. I was unaware yours wasn't doing the same." She says before bringing her guard up, expecting her opponent to do the same. He doesn't, instead he drops out of his combat stance completely, looking genuinely confused. Blinking a few times and tilting his head.

"... partner?" He asks in a tone softer than she'd ever heard from him. Before his gaze snaps to where Tanya had come from as Amelia calls out from across the yard. He stares at Tanya's provisional partner for several seconds, and as it does Tanya can feel his magic flicker, its normal bonfire suddenly becoming fickle and dim. He stares at her from across the dirt, a confusing mix of emotions rapidly cycling across his face.

"But… That's not ri- You're so strong- Y-You're not a-" He stumbles over himself, glancing between Tanya and Amelia as she makes her way closer, his voice quieting each time.

"You're… my…" He starts, trailing off to silence. Until Tanya can see something click inside his head, and his fire flares to life brighter than ever.

"This- This isn't right! I'll prove it!" He shouts, getting back into his ready stance as mana and heat shimmer around him, so thick Tanya can barely see him though the distortion.

"I'll show you!" But the fire isn't… right somehow, where his normal bonfire felt powerful it also felt constrained, sustainable. This mana feels like it's trying to catch the whole world on fire. Tanya takes a step forward.

"Torchic, yo-"" Rival!" He shouts, mana flaring in time with his words.

"Our eyes have met!" He crouches into a runner's launch.

"I challenge you to a battle!" He's gone- Heat. Tanya transitions from an uncontrolled tumble into a roll after what feels like a truck hit her upside the head. Finding her feet again, she brings up her guar- Fire. Blocking almost does nothing as another kick punches through her defense, sending Tanya staggering, but keeps her feet. Channeling mana into her mind and eyes to speed up her perception so she can- She tries to dodge the next reckless kick but he's just moving too fast.

Ducking enough to turn an otherwise devastating strike into a glancing blow and before she can even think about retaliating he's already gone, the momentum of his attack sending him to the other side of the arena where Tanya can see him turning to launch again. Even now, he's too fast for her to track once he gets going. But… Torchic disappears again in a haze of heat. Tanya ducks, compressing her bulk downward like a stress ball, and feels the displaced air of her opponent's leg sweeping over her head.

He's sloppy. Surprised by the lack of contact and having completely abandoned any recognisable structure in his attack, Torchic stumbles on the followthrough. Allowing Tanya to close the gap on her terms, sending out a few blows that are taken and ignored as mana flares brighter.

Dodging back, he throws out another ember that Tanya ducks around as she rushes him, disrupting his footwork by telekinetically grabbing the dirt beneath him and using the threat of moving it to keep him from reaching dangerous speeds again. With avenues of escape narrowing and Tanya's overwhelming advantage in close quarters combat, her opponent flares out a wing to deflect another pound, feints a kick, and leaps into the air.

Thinking he's about to throw another ember, Tanya readies her psychic mana but has to quickly transition into an awkward block as he stamps on her head in a crush claw that rattles her mind and disrupts the mana enhancing her body. Using Tanya as a springboard again, he soars through the air on smoldering wings, rippling like a log's embers in the wind. Right up until gravity triples. Landing hard, Torchic's mana flickers for a second in shock as he struggles to his feet.

Tanya staggers as well, though more from the exertion of using the spell than its actual effects. The prototype gravity equation is inefficient in both mana usage and mental computation power. Yet even in its unfinished state the spell shows its potential. Focusing to maintain the formula, she begins to steadily walk toward her opponent as he struggles to acclimate to the new environment, made only more difficult by his top heavy physiology.

But as she approaches the incapacitated chicken his mana doesn't die down, instead it flares brighter, shining from his eyes as he growls with determination. Until that fire within becomes too powerful to contain and his feathers ignite!

"Yes!" The sudden searing heat disrupts her concentration on the spell and she's too slow to get off an attack before her opponent is– She blocks, counter– Struck from the other side– Behind–"See?!" He's everywhere. She needs more mana! Something within clicks, and suddenly her mana flow feels bottomless. Wind is pushed to keep sand from her eyes while clods of earth all around the arena tear themselves from the ground then fling through the air to hem in and direct the firestorm.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Meanwhile she charges relentlessly. Taking advantage of her greater durability to turn damage into opportunity, she charges through jabs and feints, never allowing her opponent even a second to breathe. Embers. Deflect. More mana to match speed. He's too fast for complicated maneuvering, so she needs to power through anything that would slow her down and bracket his safe avenues of movement. Block.

He flares a wing to disrupt vision and Tanya makes a prediction. She's proven right as he feints, ducking to get behind her as a piece of earth in his path falls under her control, forcing her opponent to place his foot awkwardly and giving her just enough to get off a strike. Tanya loses herself in the moment, every iota of strength and skill pushed to their limits and beyond, pushing against her Rival to achieve ever greater heights.

She grapples and begins to toss him over her head, he kicks and scratches her face then uses that claw to wrench his other leg from her grip. Sent flying across the arena and stabilizing with his wings, he fires off endless volleys of embers as he does. She charges through them as her Rival's flames grow stronger with yet another flare of temperature, shooting toward her like a falling star. He begins to glow a dim white. He's going to kick.

"Defense curl!" Wha- Torchic disappears, faster than she'd ever seen him. A feint! Behi- A kick strikes the back of her head, completely unguarded and without a counter. Already off balance from the run over, the attack sends her to the ground. Torchic standing above, having secured a massive advantage should he continue to attack. Stunned and lying in the dirt, Tanya realizes by the unspoken rules they've been following there is no arguing Torchic has won this match.

Blinking a few times to refocus and clear the minor ringing in her ears, she starts pushing herself up. But as she does, she notices her opponent isn't standing above to gloat. Instead it seems he's moved a few steps away, turning his back to her in order to yell at Amelia. Internal flame guttering, his words slowly become audible as the ringing in Tanya's ears fade.

"-ou're ruining it! You're ruining everything!" He screams, scraping his claw in the dirt and taking a step closer.

"This isn't what's supposed to happen! G-Go a-away!" But as Amelia takes a step back, Torchic follows, screeching louder and flaring his wings threateningly while the guttering mana makes sparks shoot from his beak as he picks up speed. Amelia stumbles away, startled. Seeing this, Tanya takes advantage of his flickering mana to do something she'd never managed before.

Reaching out with her own magic, she telekinetically grips him and funnels as much energy as she can into throwing him back towards her, into the arena. Clearly not expecting it, her opponent tumbles on the landing. Looking up at Tanya with shocked eyes as she gets into a ready stance, ignoring her own weakening mana and the many injuries that are now making themselves known.

"Don't turn your back on your opponent." Torchic stares at her, blinking rapidly as he stands as well.

"Th-That's right! Good!" He shouts, voice wavering.

"Y-You need to do that too! And keep g-getting stronger! A-A-And then I'm going to find a real trainer- and- and-" Scraping his claws in the dirt agitatedly, increasingly incoherent chirps devolve into nothing but raw emotion until he breaks. Turning and running away with none of the speed he'd shown in their fight just a few seconds ago. Watching him leave, Tanya doesn't blink, even as the sight of her Rival running off like that makes her feel… off. Like something's wrong but she can't pinpoint what.

Because while upsetting a longtime… acquaintance… should evoke feelings similar to the ones she's feeling, the sensation isn't the same. Acting on those emotions, she takes a step in the direction of her Rival before Amelia takes a shaky breath from behind.

"Thanks." She says as Tanya looks over.

"I didn't expect the torchic to be so…" She trails off"Aggressive?" Tanya suggests. Amelia nods. There's a moment of quiet as a caretaker from another nursery comes over and sends a wave of healing energy into Tanya, who then had to explain why they were here. Suffice it to say, Chansey was very excited to realize Amelia is a potential partner. Herding both of them over to a nearby tree and running off, promising snacks.

Upon her departure, Tanya looks up to her partner as she gingerly leans her back up against the tree.

"What –and why– did you shout during the fight?" She asks seriously. Though impossible to know for sure if it would have changed anything, the distraction came at a critical moment. Understanding her reasoning for the interjection is important before drawing any conclusions. Amelia blinks a few times, scrunching her forehead before answering slowly. Picking up speed as she continues.

"Well… I've seen videos and matches of how much faster torchic are from their normal speed after they get off two flame charge's – the thing where his feathers caught on fire." She says, clarifying at Tanya's inquisitive look. She picks up a stick and starts tracing her thought process in the grass.

"So I know he should have been moving faster. But he wasn't, and I saw whenever you get off a good hit he'd sometimes pretend to be more injured than he was to surprise you when he gets close." Tanya nods slowly.

"And the…

'defence curl?'" She asks, mimicking her words with a simple gesture. Amelia glances down, eyes flickering over Tanya in a too long pause.

"Ah. It's one of your native moves. You definitely know it." She waves off the question.

"It's the one where you push allll your energy to the surface and turn it into a sort of shell, for defence." Gesturing with the stick, Amelia points to an imaginary arena in front of her.

"He's speedy, and I wasn't sure what he'd do, but I noticed you don't go into a clash unless you think you can win, then you commit everything. So after you'd used your dirt telekinesis trick to block his paths and get close I realized he might be able to outspeed and catch you off guard. So I thought a blanket defence was the best idea." Tanya hums thoughtfully, putting an arm to her mouth in thought.

The logic is sound, she hadn't realized he was hiding his speed, and there was no way her partner would have been able to explain all of that in the half second she had. Let alone enough time for Tanya to understand and make a new plan with the information. Especially with the majority of her focus on the fight. They'd need a sort of verbal shorthand, or discuss their opponent beforehand to talk though expected strategies and counters.

Tanya looks up at her partner's suddenly anxious expression, considering It seems Amelia has something unique to offer, if only her broader knowledge base of this world's combat styles and mechanics.

"Start from the beginning and break down the fight, tell me your observations." For a moment there's another uncomprehending stare. Amelia looking back down with squinted eyes just before they light up with excitement and her head whips over to the patch of dirt where the fight occurred.

"Well! On the torchic's opening move…"