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Description
When Assana saw her opponent, her heart broke. A well dressed, bespectacled man who looked barely out of his teens. Her cameras’ picked up his easy smile, the gentle look in his eyes. A dapper gentleman if she had ever seen one. But this was not what made her sad.

Nor was it the Arcanine that followed at his heels, though that did present some concern to her. The fluffy canine’s tongue lolled from between bright white teeth, intelligent eyes casting one way, then another.

No, what saddened Assana was the pretty pink bow tied around the Arcanine’s neck, a near perfect match to the man’s purple bowtie. In her experience, it was rare for trainers to give their Pokemon things like that to wear in battle if it did not have a purpose, because if an object had sentimental value, then the trainer and/or Pokemon wouldn’t want it damaged in battle. This man was no trainer. It was in the way he walked, the somewhat haunted look behind the smile. If he had any battle experience at all, it would have been mutually friendly battles with friends. Not this butchers’ brawl that they were about to engage in now. He was no trainer. She doubted that he had even been signed up as a competitor for the tournament. He was simply a man and his beloved companion, caught in the wrong place and the wrong time. He didn’t deserve what he was about to see.

Taking a moment to wipe a tear from her eye, Assana turned and laid her hand on the warm grey-white metal of Magnus’s arm. “You know what must be done.”

The Iron Claw Pokemon looked at her for a moment, then silently turned its cold red eyes back on its soon to be opposition.

When she turned back, she was surprised to find that the man had not stopped at his challenger box, but rather had continued to walk across the field toward her. What is he doing? Frowning, she gestured for Magnus to follow her.

In the middle of the arena, beside the climbing structure that dominated the field, the man smiled as he extended his hand. “”

Assana looked at the hand for a moment, confused, then reluctantly shook it as she inclined her torso. “”

Baxter chuckled. “”

Another crack worked its way through Assana’s heart. “”

Baxter’s expression brightened at her interest. “” He turned and briskly rubbed the Fire type’s cheeks, chuckling as a light purple tongue lapped at his fingers. “”

A lump formed in Assana’s throat, and she tried to ignore it. “”

The Arcanine let out a short bark, colouring the air with the smell of smoke as Baxter turned to greet her companion. “”

Assana smiled, reaching out and ruffling Bonbon’s ears. “”

He glanced at her. “”

She swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in her throat without success. Don’t get attached. It will only make it harder. “”

Baxter’s expression brightened. “”

Assana nodded. Yes. It was. She turned her head to look at Dialga, who was watching the pair intently. “”

The other man’s gaze turned to follow hers, and an expression that seemed to be equal parts sad and grim formed on his face as he sighed. “” He held out his hand again. “”

She stared at the hand for several seconds, then up at the kind smile that he was giving her. Finally, she hesitantly shook it. “” She looked over at Bonbon, who simply gazed at her from within his thick mane, his brown eyes dark and intent. Finally, she turned away and began walking back to her challenger’s box, Magnus floating along behind her. As she was about to reach the box, she stopped and touched Magnus’s arm again. “Make it quick. Please.”

Again, the Iron Claw Pokemon remained silent as it turned in place.

Across the field, Baxter waved to her. “”

Assana swallowed, then pointed at the Arcanine, whose head was low to the ground, as if he was waiting for her to throw a ball or some other such game. “Magnus, Bullet Punch!”

A metallic grating sound carved through the air, and Magnus rotated its arms backwards and locked them in place. Bright white light expanded over each hand, and it suddenly exploded forward with incredible speed.

Baxter’s eyes widened with alarm, and he called out. “” The Legendary Pokemon barked twice, the sound echoing around the stadium, then opened his mouth and released a spray of stars. At first it seemed like the two would collide, until Magnus suddenly jerked to the side and shot past the cloud, which curved sharply to follow. As Magnus approached, it unlocked its arms and held back one glowing fist, before spinning sharply and striking the Arcanine square in the snout. Even as the Fire type yelped and reared back, blood already beginning to stain his muzzle, Magnus reached out and seized him by the mane, pulling itself forward to sink its golden claws into the canine’s haunch. Before trainer or Pokemon could react, Magnus had rotated them both ninety degrees, causing the cloud of stars that had pursued it to slam into Bonbon’s exposed flank.

In the fourteen months since she had first received the shiny Beldum from a chance meeting with Steven, Assana had learned two things about Magnus: first, that he apparently had no personality to speak of, and second, that he made up for it with brutal, calculated efficiency. After evolution, she had found that his reaction time seemed to be even faster than hers, and so he would occasionally counterattack before Assana even had time to process the situation. He still obeyed her, most of the time, but they had both come to the understanding that there were times when he had a certain level of autonomy in battle.

As Magnus heaved the wounded Arcanine aside and quickly ascended into the air, waiting for her next command, Assana closed her eyes, trying but failing to exorcise the image of Bonbon’s innocent stare from behind her eyelids. “I’m sorry.”