The dust settled as Cid shakily hovered to the ground, his breath ragged from the intense fight he’d just been through. Durandel, the Aegislash he’d been locked in combat with, lay on the ground across from him, defeated. On either side of them stood the two trainers; on one side, ruby red cloak billowing about her in the wind, was Remy Charlevoix. On the other, his azure coat having long since been removed and placed over one of his defeated companions, was Dan Halen. His jaw was set in a grim lock, his teeth grinding together. There was good reason for it; that blasted phantom sword had almost single-handedly destroyed his entire team. It had taken the combined efforts of Yuna, Auron, and Cid one after another to finally bring it down, and it had taken the better two of the trio down with it. And to top it off, Remy still had four more Pokemon to his single desert spirit. The sheer frustration he felt was like a rising tide that threatened to drown him. He’d raised Pokemon for years, longer even than she had in technicality, but for all his work and prowess she was still a wall he’d never been able to surmount.

And this time, it was all on him. He’d sent Zidane into what should have been an obvious trap, and she’d been ready and waiting. If only he hadn’t done that, he might still be in the fight. But now… Bringing down four opponents consecutively would be an ungodly tall order for Cid, even on a good day. With the four including a Latias and her trademark Charizard, and his Flygon as exhausted as he was, there was nothing to be done. With a sharp exhale of breath he plucked the Dusk Ball that belonged to Cid from his belt and deployed the red beam to withdraw his battered dragon.

“That’s an end to it. Your win, Rem. Again.”

As soon as his shoulders slumped forward in defeat, the surprised yet confident smile fled from Remy’s face to be replaced by a frown. Dan knew exactly what sort of thoughts would be running through her head; had she been unfair? Did she pressure him to a battle too much? Did she push too far with her tactics? And he also knew that as much as he would wave it off, tell her she was not to blame, and insist she stop apologizing, she would do I anyway.

“What?” she began, almost dejectedly, “Wait! You can still-”

“No, I can’t. Cid was pushed hard enough, I’m not going to try and ride out the rest of this. He needs some rest… same as everyone else. Still can’t beat you, I guess.”

“But… that’s not-!”

A sudden thunderclap from above sent them both looking up toward the sky. Night was coming, and a storm was coming with it.

“We’d best get inside,” Dan said as he carefully scooped up Yuna’s barely conscious form, still wrapped in his jacket, “Looks like it’s the only shelter we’ll have for a bit.”

With only a nod, Remy started in after him with Durandal safely in his ball. The location they walked into was an abandoned hideout, one in the mountains of Hoenn that was once a prominent Rocket Base. Seth and Hannah had both been dropped off with Remy’s father in Johto, and the two had proceeded on their personal crusade against the various crime syndicates that had no doubt seen Giovanni freed. But when they had arrived at the base, they found it empty, ransacked, entirely vacated. In spite of searching high and low for any clues or signs, they found nothing. But, rather than move on, Remy had proposed a rematch between them for old times’ sake. And now, as the rain began to pour down, they found themselves in the same abandoned hideout, nursing their bruised Pokemon and, in Dan’s case, his battered pride.

“Looks like I’m out of practice,” Dan finally said as he finished bandaging up Yuna and placed her back in her ball, “I fell for that King’s Shield bait hook, line, and sinker. I guess some things just don’t change…”

@Feisty-Pants

Remy - The Scarlet Champion

There was always an inner spark of ferocious fire that came out from her whenever she battled. With concise decisions made, and ventured guesses bearing fruit, she managed to score a lucky victory against the Sapphire Champion that was her rival. Yet as she herself wrapped her injured Aegislash in her own cloak of deepened ruby hue and began to apply medicine, a chance glance to her friend upon his forfeiture of the strife at hand caused doubt to spread in her mind.

She had known that he was working on a new team, and that was the team she had faced. Particularly to work with Zidane, the Infernape that had once been Morgan's.

Had she been too unfair, bringing her absolute best to the table?

Even in spite of her protests against his surrender, he declined to further continue the conflict. With a grim nod accepting this as the end of the practice duel, Durendal returned back to his Pokeball in a flash. Not long after, Ferrothorn would receive similar treatment to quickly recuperate from his injuries; and he too would loyally return to his home upon his Trainer's hip.

After her companions were seen to, she hurried over to the opposing side of the turbulent conflict. While thunder crashed overhead, she helped Dan's dear Zidane and Auron into the deeper, better parts of the abandoned shelter. While her Rival worked on healing Yuna's injuries, she kneeled before the two; tending carefully and gently to both the Infernape and Metagross alike. Applying bandages, using potions and so-on.

Once they returned to their Pokeballs, the Scarlet Champion let a long, weary sigh escape from her lips.

Their first search had uprooted no fruit, and as an afterthought she had proposed a battle between herself and Dan to keep their edges and minds sharp. What she certainly didn't hope for was the situation that now grit his teeth with a fixed jaw front of her. He was slumped in a miserable, hopeless defeat. Not the kind that strove someone to become better, but the kind that caused someone to lose hope to do just that.

"Dan..." She whispered softly to him, through the rapping downpour of raindrops upon the rooftop. What should she say, what could she do? There had to be something that the Scarlet Champion could do to stir him from this miserable state.

"Don't worry, you'll be as sharp as ever again soon enough." Even she winced as she stated such words, believing that she was presenting an image of outright hubris. She had to say something to humble herself a touch. "I made mistakes too, you know. My dear Caladbolg had an Assault Vest on. The only non-status move he knows is Gyro Ball."

Softly she chuckled at her own foolishness, hoping that at least a little humility would bring him out of his stupor.

Biting her lip slightly, she plucked up her own cloak from the cavern floor and balled it up carefully to create an improvised pillow for Yuna. Adding a slight bit more comfort for the Gardevoir he so deeply cherished, she instead sat down beside the Sapphire Champion with a still encouraging smile.

"Come now, please. You still did better than most of my recent challengers. And that's with a team you're still developing, non?" Teasingly, she lightly nudged the man that sat beside her with an elbow, hoping to bring a slight rise out of him. "Once you figure out the strategy for your new team, you'll do much better. I dare to say I'd think you'd win handily!"

Perhaps it was encouraging, perhaps it wasn't. But she still hoped to bring him back a little. However, Remy had a sudden idea. Could that work?

A little nostalgia?

"Well...look at the bright side." She began, her voice changing to one that was tranquil. "It's just like the good ole' days, walking along adventurous roads," Her hands swept outward from her in a broad gesture that swept towards the sky with a serene smile. "We get to dream beneath the stars again."

@Saltwater Thief

Dan- The Azure Champion

Dan gave only a sardonic chuckle when she implied he would win next time. She was always doing that, insisting that he was the better of the two of them at any given thing, usually in complete disregard for empirical evidence to the contrary. But, then again, he could do much worse for a rival. Rather than blow him off after a challenge and tell him "Smell ya later," whatever THAT meant, she had always ever stuck around, helped tend to all the Pokemon injured in the duel, and then usually pitched her own camp in the same area. Much like what had happened just then.

A smile broke from him as Remy's arm traced the nocturnal horizon. It seemed that, once again, her thoughts followed a similar route as his. Sometimes he swore she was a mind-reading witch because of it. "Quite true. Under a night sky on top of a mountain. Just like the first time we met, up on Mount Rustboro."

He turned toward her, a sparkle of fond remembrance in his eye. "I still have that Eevee you know. He's not quite as spry as he used to be, but Seth loves him to death. Sometimes he curls up on the kid's bed and sleeps with him, it's the most adorable thing..." he continued, referring to the Umbreon at his home. It had evolved from a frightened little Eevee that Remy had been carrying in her arms, along with its sister, when she had burst out of the bushes and stumbled upon his campsite that night nearly 20 years past. Who could've predicted, he mused to himself, that a bowl of stew and an offer of a spare sleeping bag for the night would lead him headfirst into one of the most precious friendships of his life?

@Feisty-Pants