Ever since he was demoted in ranking in the test, the youth had his pride damaged and that made him work very hard to raise his Growlithe.
With his families assistance, he had been able to get another Pokémon and a Fire Stone which he planned to use on his Growlithe in the future.
He had been wandering around to find traces of Kimi who he knew should be a local in Veridian City so that he could get his revenge.
The Fire Stone he bet was done in the spur of the moment because of his eagerness and if he lost then his parents would be very disappointed with him.
It was a medium quality Fire Stone so its worth was higher than a low grade one which would be available in low end stores so his parents must have payed a lot for it from one of the bigger stores in another city or they would have had to use their connections to get their hands on one.
The youth did not hesitate to put it up as a prize if he was defeated because he had confidence in himself.
He lost in the test because Kimi and her Growlithe had used the environment and rules of the test against him while they avoided combat so he had confidence that he would win if there was a rematch since he had trained a lot since then.
"Begin!"
Kimi did not even have to give out directions to her Growlithe as she synced up her own aura with her Growlithe.
"Use bite!" The youth shouted and the enemy Growlithe went on the attack as it tried to run and pounce towards Kimi's Growlithe.
Its teeth were about to sink into the body of Kimi's Growlithe until it narrowly avoided it and followed up with its own Bite.
The teeth of her Growlithe sunk into the side of the the opponent and then released after applying enough force to wound it.
Growlithe retreated to the side and looked proud of herself while the opponent looked angrily towards her.
"Use Flame Wheel!" A Flame Wheel was released onto Growlithe as the opponent surrounded itself with flames and crashed into her but she just stood on the spot and took the attack as she used her body to push back against the Flame Wheel.
While she was a little affected by her opponents intimidate ability, she had her own advantage which she had been unable to use when they had first fought when she was still small.
Her previous trainer was a spoiled noble who was arrogant and chose to challenge his rival to a battle, the low levelled Growlithe could only use a bite to attack while the opponent was a higher level and had a much higher range of moves to make use of.
She was naturally suppressed and beaten which resulted in the claw scars on one side of her forehead and cheek as the opposing noble child ordered his Growlithe to teach her and her owner a lesson for being so arrogant.
She was the one which was wounded while the noble child did not suffer any grievances besides a humiliating loss, instead of caring for her and getting her treated right away, he chose to neglect her and eventually abandon her which developed a sense of mistrust and left her with some emotional scars.
As she was covered in the fire from the Flame Wheel and the surroundings were covered in flames as a result of the attack and collision, the youth laughed. "Hahaha See! You should have just admitted your mistake and offered your Eevee to me. Now you know the difference between you and me."
Kimi let out a sigh as she gazed towards him. "How foolish!"
Kimi had been with Growlithe in her previous life long enough to know about her weaknesses and strengths so she knew that the flames were useless and would only make Growlithe stronger.
Growlithe was surrounded in flames and then suddenly the flames on her body became larger, her previous experiences in battle using Ember and every little experience that she had came together with her overcoming her trauma and past loss.
The Ember that was gathering in her mouth started to change as if she had just comprehended a new move and levelled up in the middle of battle.
Kimi looked excited over the change and used her aura to convey her approval. 'Do it!'
Flame Wheel formed around her body as the ember was released from her mouth and her body started to rotate in the opposing direction to the Growlithe which had believed itself to be the winner or close to victory.
Even though the attack was less effective on a fire type, it would still deal some damage due to it being a more powerful move than ember and the level difference was enough to add to that.
The youth believed that Kimi's Growlithe would be weakened and that would allow him to go in for the victory once the flames died down.
He had not expected that the flames helped to boost the power of the fire attacks and the spiritual growth of Growlithe or the experiencing of the attack helped his opponent to level up and comprehend the move.
A cry was heard on the ring as the youth's Growlithe was hit by the Flame Wheel and was surrounded in flames.
The youth was shocked and saw that his own Growlithe was visibly weaker than before, although it did not suffer from the additional damage from the burn status, it was still struggling to hold onto its health as the flames were slowly dispersing around its body. "Be ready to use that!"
His Growlithe desperately held on and concentrated on the battle as Kimi's own Growlithe leapt deeper into the flames where the opponent was.
It was just about to get close and land the finishing Bite when it heard a warning from Kimi.
The youth shouted. "Reversal!"
Just as the enemy Growlithe was about to use the move, Kimi's Growlithe then jumped back out of range of the attack.
The remaining flames in the surroundings only helped to raise her fire attacks power once again so she could have used Flame Wheel again but Kimi gave another order to let Growlithe gain more confidence. 'Finish this in close range.'
After avoiding the reversal, Growlithe circled around hiding her body in the flames and then used Bite to end the battle.
As the flames dispersed, Kimi's Growlithe remained standing while the other had fainted with a couple of wounds on its body.
Growlithe looked much more confident as she sat with her head held high. "Growlithe!"
Kimi lowered down her body and opened her arms wide with a warm smile on her face. "You did well."
She looked towards the youth and said. "Now that I have won.. I will be taking what I have won and will be leaving."
The youth grit his teeth and took back his Growlithe. "You cannot go!"
Another Pokémon appeared on the battle space in the next moment as it stood opposite Growlithe.
Kimi looked towards the youth and frowned. "It seems that you are not wanting to uphold your promise. So much for the honour of the nobility. Fine then.. you want to continue? We will continue but do not go around saying I have been bulling you since you came to me yourself."
Opposite her was a Wartortle which would be the natural enemy of her own Growlithe, Kimi thought to herself. 'It is as if he had been preparing to battle me and solely me so he could get revenge on me. How petty.'
Its own aura was about the same as her Growlithe so she determined it to have only just recently evolved.
Kimi saw the look of determination in her Growlithe's eyes and knew that she could not let her step down. 'It seems that I do not need to use the others this time.'
She then conveyed her thoughts to Growlithe. 'I trust in you. Use what you have learned recently.'
Kimi had also noticed something as she saw the colour of the fur on the body of Growlithe. 'It was a good idea to save it.'
"Begin!"
Water Pulse was fired towards Growlithe but she had already grown used to the projectile moves used by water types through many trials and errors.
The moment that the water started to be gathered and the mouth of Wartortle opened its mouth, it was easy to predict where it was being fired towards.
In a single moment, Growlithe was able to get to the side of Wartortle and released fire from her mouth which then formed as a Flame Wheel that coated her body as she charged towards her opponent.
The Water Pulse was cancelled and the Wartortle was unable to hold off the attack as it suffered burns to its body.
The youth looked shocked at how smoothly Growlithe dealt with its natural enemy and then ordered. "Withdraw!"
Just as it was about to suffer more damage, it withdrew into its shell and was knocked far away. "Rapid Spin!"
The turtle shell then started to spin and headed towards Growlithe who jumped out of the way and used every means at its disposal to avoid it.
Rolling over, diving, dropping down low and retreating movements were repeated as Growlithe narrowly avoided harm.
Some of her movements were inelegant and would be frowned upon if used in a Pokémon competition or show but they helped her to avoid harm no matter how silly she looked.
The turtle shell came by again then another order was given. "Water Pulse!"
The head came out of the shell when it was spinning and was about to release a charged up Water Pulse.
It was a nicely executed switch between two moves as it caught the opponent off guard and released the Water Pulse while still in rotation.
When so close to Growlithe, it would be guaranteed to hit or at least some of it would before the rotation redirected the rest elsewhere.
Growlithe and Kimi had both been waiting for the Wartortle to exit its shell so just as the water was about to be released, the sharp teeth of Growlithe bit down on the neck of it which stopped the flow of water that was being sent towards the mouth.
The Wartortle seemed to be choking on the build up of water and the tightened throat which stopped air from getting to its lungs so it began struggling as it came down to the ground while tightly held in the mouth of Growlithe.
Kimi looked at the youth opposite her and smiled. "Do you want to continue?"
The Wartortle was slipping closer to fainting but if anymore pressure was applied or it lasted longer then the internal damage to it would be enough to make it have to take a visit to the Pokémon Centre.
The additional burns were also a big problem which were further weakening it and had been doing so over time.
It was just a matter of time before the battle was over and the final result would depend on Kimi's opponent and their stubbornness.
The Wartortle seemed to become paler as its struggles were becoming weaker and it could not even retreat back into the shell anymore as it had been ordered.
The youth grit his teeth as he saw the Wartortle close to fainting. "Fine. I lose."