"Clara, are you insane?" Aster pulled me to the side as I walked to the side of the field, trying to stop me from walking. "Like, don't get me wrong you are really smart and all but, she's actually a trainer! A really good one!"

"I know, but if it wasn't me, it'd be one of you, so if we're being logical here—"

"This isn't a logical situation." Aster grabbed my shoulders, spinning me around and forcing me to stop. Their voice was hushed, to try and make this whole thing less obvious, though it wasn't working. I could feel eyes on me, and I tried to not shrink away. "If they take you, who knows what they might do."

"Listen," I pulled Aster closer, keeping eye contact as best as I could, "I'll take as much time as I need, and you guys make whatever decisions you want. At this point, I think she only wants me." I gazed a bit closer into Aster's eyes, when I began to realize something.

There was fear there.

I gave as best of a reassuring smile as I could, before running over to the side of the field, taking out Swinub's Pokeball as I moved.

"So, I'm guessing you only have one Pokémon, right sweetie?" Mars said in a condescending tone, as if having only one Pokemon was automatically a sign of an awful trainer. "In that case, I'll be extra fair, and only use one of mine. Whoever is left standing is the winner! Purugly, go!"

She threw out her Pokeball, and from it came a large, grey and white Pokemon.

An evolved Pokemon, interesting...

"Swinub, let's do this," I whispered to Swinub's Pokeball, before sending him out. After that, there were a few seconds of dead silence, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

"Swin?" I looked down to see Swinub scooting towards my feet, flopping in a way that somewhat resembled a reassuring pat.

"I'm fine, don't worry." I kneeled down, petting Swinub softly. I lowered my voice, to hope that Mars wouldn't hear. "Just focus on not getting hit, 'kay? We need to take as much time as possible."

"Nub!" Swinub gave a determined-sounding grunt before hopping over to the field, looking a lot more confident than I felt.

"Use Tack--"

"Purugly, use Fake Out!" I jumped as Mars ordered to attack, with a bark that I couldn't help but be intimidated by. I watched as her Purugly bounded up to Swinub with surprising speed, clapping her paws together when she got close. I even felt myself get pushed back slightly as a shockwave was sent out, sending Swinub back.

"Nub..." Swinub took a second to shake himself off, before barking back at Purugly. "Nub!"

"Purg." Purugly stood up a bit straighter, as if to make herself more intimidating.

Tackle probably won't even do that much, might as well go for something Swinub gets some extra power on...

"Swinub, Powder Snow!" Swinub snapped to attention at the sound of my voice, his nose twitching as he summoned the white substance, sending it gusting at Purugly.

"Dodge." Mars's voice was cold as she spoke, though she had a smirk on her face. With ease, Purugly got away from the pelting snow, already ready for an attack while mid-air. "Scratch!"

Purugly unsheathed her sharp claws, letting gravity send her to her target. As she fell, though, I got an idea.

I just had to hope that Swinub would listen to me.

"Swinub, just keep moving around the field, don't stay still!" I yelled out, feeling every muscle tense up. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Markus standing in the front of a group, looking at the field instead of at me. Eris and Aster weren't standing near him.

I needed assurance at that moment, but I wasn't getting any.

That is, until Swinub listened to my idea, darting around the field erratically.

"Really, that's your best move? Running like a baby?" Mars retorted, crossing her arms as she watched Purugly hit the ground instead of Swinub. I didn't bother to answer her, since I had bigger issues to deal with.

"Swinub, keep going. Be patient." I felt like I could sense the heartbeats of everyone around me, with no noise but the battle. And now that I was forcing the battle to settle for a moment, it was quiet.

Too quiet.

But, what I wanted did happen. Mars got impatient with me.

"Use Scratch again, and don't let that bugger get away!" I saw my opportunity as Purugly leaped at Swinub, being off the ground for a few moments.

"Swinub, slide under and use Powder Snow." I felt my voice being more cold than before, and it didn't even sound like my own. Is this what battling was, letting some entity that was not you take over your brain and create a plan from what you didn't even realize you knew?

I guess it was.

Swinub was with me by this point, sliding under Purugly's claws before sending a spray of freezing snow into her belly. And freezing was exactly what it did. Before I even knew it, Purugly was stopped in her tracks, unable to do anything about it.

"What, no!" Mars stomped her foot, "You can't just win by luck! Purugly, snap out of it, now!"

Yelling was no use, though, since Purugly had no shot of getting out of her frozen state. Swinub looked over at me, as if asking if we should continue or not. I couldn't answer, since I was just dumbfounded that I was actually able to do something against a trainer like her.

What snapped me out of it, though, was a yelling from behind me.

"Maybe you should've hit her with that too, kid." I turned around at the voice, noticing the orange mining hat before immediately knowing who it was. Roark.

So, that's what their plan was...

"Um, we're in the middle of something here?" Mars spat. I turned around to see her trying to push her Purugly, to get her moving again.

"And that's the reason why I'm here. To help this kid out." Roark stepped between me and Mars, taking out one of his Pokeballs. "Though, don't know how much help I'll need to give."

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and looked to see Aster standing next to me.

"Good job," they whispered, fully putting their hand on my shoulder. "I have to admit, I was just a bit worried."

"And I have to admit, I was really worried." I looked down at my feet, wondering if it was safe for me to leave. "Is this what being a trainer is like?"

"Not normally."

"Great." I turned my attention back to the actual adults, if one could call them that. I made sure I stayed close to Aster, though.

"Now, if you could just come with us, we won't have a problem here." Roark was still speaking to Mars, who was still resistant to the fact that her Purugly was, in fact, frozen.

"Well, we, ugh," she fell down, before finally returning Purugly to her Pokeball, "we already have a problem here. Bronzor, go!"

"What, you can't handle getting beaten by a kid?" My head snapped towards Markus, who was definitely playing with fire by saying that.

"Mark--"

"Shut up, brat. Grunts, attack!" And with that order, chaos erupted. Kids ran as the grunts sent out their Pokemon, leaving just a few of us to face the Pokemon alone. Roark sent out a Cranidos, while I saw everyone else send out their Pokemon. I stepped up to stand next to Roark, Swinub still standing on the field.

"Swinub, use Powder Snow on the Zubat!" I knew it was best to go for the type advantage, for I really didn't know what a Bronzor could do.

"Swin!" Swinub started to dart through the chaos, spritizing ice onto every Zubat he could find.

"Naive girl," Mars muttered, almost too soft for me to hear. "Bronzor, Confuse Ray, on the girl!"

"Kid," Roark started to push me away, "get bac--"

Bam! I didn't see the attack before I was hit by it, sending me stumbling back. Everything started to spin, and while I knew there was noise around me, it all sounded muted. I dropped to my knees, clutching my head. I knew I should've gotten back at that point, but I had no clue where I was or what I was facing.

I then felt a arm wrap around me, and glanced to see Eris. Correction, three of Eris. She was yelling something at me, but it sounded like she was yelling through water. I just leaned into her, needing something to lay my pounding head on. She scooped me up bridal-style, carrying me somewhere away from the action.

"Where... where..." I tried to stutter out words, but nothing wanted to come out.

"Hey, it's okay," I could somehow get her words, though everything was still murky, "just rest..."

And from there, I rested.