<Ruby's POV>

"During battle, strategy is just as important as pure brute force," Mrs. Shadow, the Statistics of Battle teacher, was droning on, "Type match ups can decide a battle's outcome before it even starts. For example, you can be the strongest Fighting- type around, but if you only know Fighting- type moves, it would be impossible for you to win against a Ghost- type Pokemon. It should also be taken into account some Pokemon's move set. Let's say a Fighting- type Pokemon has the move Foresight. This move allows all Fighting- type moves to affect Ghost- type Pokemon. Therefore-" Mrs. Shadows lecture was interrupted by a loud CLANG! that signified the end of second class for the first day.

I quickly gathered up all my stuff and walked over to Flicker, who was in the same class as I was. "Thank goodness that's over," I stated.

"Agreed," Flicker replied, "If I had stayed in this class two more minuets I would have died of boredom."

"What do you have next class?" I questioned as we walked out of the room.

"Ways of Battle," Flicker answered, glancing down at the schedule in his hand.

"Same here!" I exclaimed, "And doesn't Flash have that class next, too?"

"I think so," Flicker remarked as we walked towards the Arena.

"Great! Then we'll all be taking Ways of Battle together!" I exclaimed.

"Cross our fingers that Cloudy and her gang aren't," Flicker muttered.

I nodded in agreement, remembering the last time we had to battle Cloudy in the school- wide tournament last year. Let's just say I've had better battles and leave it at that.

Flicker and I continued making small talking, exchanging information on our first day,  until we reached the Arena. When we pushed through the doors a voice called, "Ruby! Flicker! Over here!" I looked in the direction the voice was coming from and spotted Flash waving to us from the other side of the Arena.

"Flash!" Flicker exclaimed, racing across the Arena to greet his best friend. I followed at a slower pace, carefully scanning the crowd for some familiar faces. I did spot some unwanted faces; Cloudy, Misty, and Belle, another one of Cloudy's buddies. I mentally attempted to send them hate messages. Which, of course, didn't go through.

I quickly  found my seat next to Flicker and Flash as the Ways of Battle teachers, Mr. Cario and Mrs. Samura, entered the room.

"Hello, class!" Mr. Cario announced, "As you know, I'm Mr. Cario, and my partner here is Mrs. Samura." Mrs. Samura gave a little wave to the class. "To start off this year, we will do a review of the battle formats you learned. Let's say, the Triple battle. Get into groups of three with others of your Year, and we will pair you with another group from your Year to battle! Unless you are a First Year. All first years in this class are to go to Mrs. Samura."

Everyone promptly obeyed his orders. Flicker, Flash, and I unanimously  chose to be a team. After all, no one else from our year would want to team with us. We watched the rest of the class slowly form teams of three and when everyone had finished, Mr. Cario went through and paired two groups together. Much to my annoyance, we got paired with Cloudy and her team.

"Ready to loose, weaklings?" Cloudy taunted.

"You're the one who's going to loose," I snarled. I may not stand a chance against Cloudy, but I'm never going to let that girl know that!

Mr. Cario rang a bell, signaling the start of the battle. Everyone promptly shifted into their Pokemon forms. On our side, there was Flash, an Espurr, Flicker, a Dratini, and I was a Vulpix. On Cloudy's side, there was Misty, a Musharna, Belle, who was a Bellossom, and of course, Cloudy, an Altaria.

When Cloudy shifted, I spotted a necklace around her neck with a small, pink orb with blue and purple swirls. I only had a moment to ponder what use the stone could possibly have when Cloudy was suddenly encased in a rainbow glow. The glow intensified in a bright light, and I sensed amazing energy coming from Cloudy.

Slowly, Cloudy's appearance changed. More cloud- like plumage covered her back, and some formed around her neck like a collar. Some more plumage formed a hat- like crest, and Cloudy's tail feather's lengthened extensively. The light abruptly vanished, replaced by an emblem that resembled DNA. Cloudy let out a fierce battle cry and the emblem vanished.

Flicker, Flash, and I stared in shock at the new form Cloudy had assumed.

MEGA EVOLUTION! I thought, Joy! We're soooooo done for!

"What, never heard of Mega Evolution, losers?" Cloudy jeered.

I regained my composure enough to snarl threateningly at Cloudy. Before she could react, I struck her with a Fire Spin.

Cloudy screeched in fury are aimed a Moonblast at me. I attempted to counter with an Ember, but the Moonblast broke through and crashed into me. I yelped as the blast slid me back a few paces. I heard Flicker cry out and glanced to my right to see Belle attacking him with a Leaf Blade. Thinking fast, I sent a spiral of fire at Belle, knocking her off Flicker. Flicker followed up my move with Twister.

Leaving Flicker to deal with Belle, I turned my attention back to Cloudy, who was ganging up with Mistie to take out Flash. I raced at Cloudy, knocking her back with a Quick Attack and following it up with a Fire Spin. Flash leapt up and slashed at Mistie with a Scratch attack. 

Cloudy glared at me furiously. She wrapped herself in red flames and flew at me with a powerful Sky Attack. I attempted to dodge, but she slammed into my side and sent my flying back several paces. I struggled back to my feet in time to see her racing up another Sky Attack. This time, I used Quick Attack to help me dodge out of the way in time. Cloudy crashed into the ground behind me.

I switched my attention to Flicker's battle with Belle. Flicker was trapped in Belle's Petal Blizzard. I used Fire Spin to burn away the flower petals. Then I used Ember to land a super effective hit on Belle. Flicker nodded to me thankfully before using Twister to send Belle flying.

I heard Flash cry out and directed my attention towards him. Mistie used Psybeam and knocked Flash back several paces. Flash staggered back to his feet. I raced over to help him, but Cloudy slammed into my side with another powerful Sky Attack and sent me tumbling several paces off course.

I struggled back up to my feet and turned to face Cloudy. She shot a Dragon Pulse at me, and I nimbly dodged it. Angered, Cloudy aimed another Dragon Pulse at me, which I dodge once again.

Infuriated even more, Cloudy started to glow a blinding white light. Dazzling Gleam. I closed my eyes in a frugal attempt to block the light, but to no avail. I heard Flicker whimper from the super effective attack.

I sensed the light recede and opened my eyes to see Cloudy flying at me with the Sky Attack. There was no time to dodge, and the attack slammed me head on, and I tumbled back several paces.

I struggled back to my feet and glanced around me. The super effective hit had knocked Flicker out, and I could tell that Flash wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. And neither could I.

I glared at Cloudy, who was watching with an evil smirk on her face. I snarled at her angrily. She just smirked and charged up a Moonblast attack. I braced myself for the impact.

"Stop!" a voice cried. Cloudy halted her attack. I glaced up to see Mr. Cario standing next to our group. "This match is over," he stated, "Cloudy, Mistie, and Belle win. Everyone, go to the nurse to get healed."

*~*~*~*~*~

Flash, Flicker, and I sat in the Nurse's office, in our human forms, waiting to be healed after our battle with Cloudy. Although I had suffered no server physical injuries in the battle, it had been a huge blow to my pride.

"If Mr. Cario hadn't intervened, we would have been able to crush Cloudy and her gang!" Flicker ranted, pacing angrily. 

I sighed, "As much as I would love to agree with you Flicker, we lost. And you were knocked out! Admit it! Denying that fact isn't going to change it."

"Maybe Cloudy bribed Mr. Cario into saying that she won! I wouldn't put it past her," Flicker snarled, glaring at the wall, probably imagining with was Cloudy instead.

"You know Mr. Cario would never agree to that!" I argued.

"Oh, come on! You know Cloudy is out to get us!" Flicker pointed out, "She would do anything to bring us down! You know she's the reason you haven't evolved yet, right?! She wants nothing more than to see us suffer!"

I stood up. "Flicker, calm down!" I exclaimed, "Getting angry about that isn't going to change anything! It will just make it worse!"

"I know Cloudy's the reason I haven't been able to find any Fire Stones on campus!" I added, "But I'm not ranting about it! I'm fine with it! Because I'm going to oppose that bully until we graduate, and maybe even after that! I won't let her bully you two!"

"Why? I didn't ask you to! I was doing just fine standing up for Flash on my own!" Flicker responded.

"No you weren't! Cloudy walked all over you and Flash! I wasn't going to just stand there and watch that!" I shouted angrily.

I heard a small whimper coming from where Flash was sitting. I glanced over to see tears leaking from Flash's eyes. Shock jolted through me, and I felt a stab of guilt. Here Flicker and I were, arguing like three-year-old kids, while Flash was crying.

Flicker noticed as well. "Flash, what's wrong?" he asked, his composure entirely changing.

"I'm sorry," Flash whimpered, "It's all my fault."

"What's your fault?" I inquired, all anger from my argument with Flicker gone and replaced with concern.

"Cloudy only bullies you two because you stand up for me!" Flash yelled, "It's all my fault! It's my fault that Ruby can't find any Fire Stones! It's my fault that Cloudy is destroying us every chance she gets! It's all my fault!" He curled in to a ball, sobbing as more tears rolled down his cheeks.

I sat in the chair next to him. "It's not your fault, Flash," I comforted, "Flicker and I chose to stand up for you. We chose our path, and it just so happens that those paths clash with Cloudy's. There's nothing you could do about it."

"Yeah," Flicker agreed, "And besides, I would never be able to pass Algebra if you couldn't help me with my homework. Those crazy math problems hurt my head."

Flash wiped the tears from his face, "That's right... but-"

"And how would I keep Flicker in line?" I asked, "You know how reckless and silly he can be sometimes."

"Not as silly as you can be," Flicker shot back, although the anger from earlier was replaced with a light, teasing tone.

Flash gulped, "But-"

"And who would be able to keep Flicker and I from arguing constantly?" I asked, "We would end up being the biggest headaches this school has ever known! And that's most certainly not the reputation I want to have!"

Flash wiped the remaining tears off his face, "I, I guess you're right," he mumbled, although I could tell he wasn't entirely convinced.

"That's the spirit!" Flicker exclaimed. He grabbed Flash's hand and pulled him up onto his feet.

"Let's hurry and see the nurse," Flicker stated. A teasing light gleamed in his eye as he grinned mischievously, "You still need to help me with Algebra, remember? I still don't understand it! What's with letters in Math? It's not English, it's Math!"

Flicker laughed, and Flash and I laughed with him.

---

~Author's Note

Yay! I finally managed to update a book more or less on time! This is probably the first time, ever! I just hope it won't be the last...

Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? Cloudy sure is mean, isn't she? More than mean. She's malicious! And poor Flash. I can be mean to my characters, can't I?...

Flicker: I agree.

Flash: I agree with Flicker.

Leo: Weird is more like it...

Ruby: Hey! You don't exist yet! Go back to Chapter Seven!

Leo: Don't you mean ahead?

Ruby: That doesn't change anything!

And I'm the weird one?

Everyone: YES!

Meanies. *pouts*

SO.... ignoring them, please vote, comment, and I'll see you next Author's Note, which will hopefully be in two weeks!