The mysterious man stood forth with the woman and moved closer to us. We saw his shadow coming by and so we decided to look at him directly. Dawn and Logan were frightened with his rich looks and severe face. The man walked with his cane of spiraling music notes carved on it. For the main handle, it was the head of a Charizard.
"What is it this time?" I said to myself. I wasn't scared of him. An old man would be weak to break with any Pokemon nor assistant.
"Good day," he gestured a bow in the most gentleman way possible. "you all youngsters?"
"Youngsters? I'm twenty years old. Those two are probably even older than me," I said.
My response didn't make him happy. He smoked from his tobacco pipe for a few seconds, observing us through adjusting his monocle.
"This is Master Arthur Chevalier. I am her secretary. Do call me Claudia."
"So, she's not the daughter nor the wife then."
"You fiddling scalawags. What are ye doin' about this, Meloetta?"
"Why does you ask?" I said.
He looked at his secretary. This Claudia looked back at him, nodded, and turned his eyes back to us.
"Master wishes to have a fight with two of you against us. The remaining shall be the referee."
"Wait, a battle? What for?"
They gave no reply. Instead, they moved back and made some space, enough for the deck to be a battlefield. I was still uncertain why this enigmatic people would randomly give a match proposition without telling us exactly why.
Mr. Arthur was first to throw out his Pokemon. "Quilladin!"
Claudia followed, throwing out a Pokemon known as a "Vivillon!"
The latter is a butterfly-like Pokémon with wings that come in a large variety of patterns. It has a round, grayish head with large, black, pixelated eyes and a pair of skinny antennae. The tips of the antennae each have an ovoid scale that is dark gray on the upper half and beige on the lower half. It's thorax is an ovoid and divided into three segments; each segment is a different shade of gray. Its legs are also ovoid and are dark gray on the lower half, beige on the upper half, and have a black band in the middle. It has two black, circular hands and no visible arms.
Mr. Arthur's is a bipedal, mammalian Pokémon with some plantlike features. Most of its body is covered by a green, armor-like shell similar to a chestnut. The shell covers everything except its face, lower body and legs, and the undersides of its arms. The visible parts of its body are dark brown, except for its lighter face. The face has dark, oval eyes, a small, pink nose on a pointed snout, a dark brown, sideways triangle on each cheek, rodent-like incisors, and a three-pointed patch of dark brown fur on its forehead. On either side of its head is a large, ear-like spike with reddish tips. Its tail also has a reddish tip. Its shell is banded over its arms and on its back, and the fur on its lower body creates a three-pointed pattern on its front. It has three white, clawed digits on its hands and two on its feet.
"I've never seen those Pokemon before," Dawn gulped and stepped back with worry.
"Woah, woah, those are from the Kalos Region!" I clarified.
"How sure are you?" inquired Logan.
"Our orphanage's got a sanctuary for Pokemon from different regions. My mother also educated me about Quilladin. Evolves from a Chespin, a starter. What she has is a Vivillon. At first I thought it was a fairy type, but no, it's a bug and flying."
"I see," Logan said.
Logan and Dawn went on to accept the challenge. They were confident to at least have some fun with Pokemon they've never seen before docking to the city. I was referee for the match, with only the purpose to proclaim the match a go and its victors.
Dawn and her Empoleon, Logan and Heatmor. I noticed the trainers would take this game through precautionary measures, using Pokemon that has the advantage over the foes'.
"Heatmor, Fire Lash!"
Quilladin spun around. The flames enveloped it for a little while and was later dispersed into thin air.
"It's defense is high," I warned the two. Meanwhile, Vivillon is a master of special attacks.
"Vivillon, Stun Spore!"
"Empoleon, Flash Cannon!"
They exchanged attacks. Though paralyzed, Flash Cannon was able to take revenge for what Vivillon did. It overshoot the deck, landing to the ocean. Luckily the Pokemon had wings to fly its way back.
"Go with Slash, Heatmor!"
"Counter with Dual Chop!"
"Empoleon, use Metal Claw!"
"Vivillon, charge with Bug Buzz!"
She scrambled her bag.
"What's the matter? Ran out of Paralyze heal?" Claudia teased Dawn.
"Yikes," I mumbled softly.
Heatmor kicked through his rear leg, tackling Quilladin from there. The foe spun again, but this time was clenched by Logan's Pokemon. While spinning it, Heatmor spewed it with flames and tossed it to the basketball hoop. Too fat, it couldn't fit.
"Vivillon! Save the Master's Pokemon!"
"Now!" said Dawn and Logan.
"Hydro Pump!" "Flamethrower!"
The moves intertwined into a helix and plunged towards the Pokemon with eyes widened.
Vivillon went in front of Quilladin and extended its wings, receiving both the attacks.
"Forgive me, Master Arthur." Vivillon was sent back to its Pokeball.
Quilladin quickly stood, determined to go against the two giants alone.
It let out a large squeal and turned its surrounding to green.
"Grassy Terrain," I told myself.
"Slash, let's go, Heatmor!"
Empoleon was paralyzed. It couldn't move!
"Both Claudia's and Arthur's Pokemon aren't able to battle. The winners are Logan and Dawn!"
The old man sent back his Quilladin and abandoned all three of us with his secretary. He didn't frown, he didn't smile, nor did he confess to defeat. He and Claudia just went back inside the ship and passed through us as if we were total strangers.
"What's up with him?" wondered Dawn.
"I don't know. But surely, Meloetta was of his concern," I guessed.