Offania, the Electivire

“Are you sure you remember everything?” The Mienshao in front of me kept asking that same question as he helped me put my makeup on. Red lines of paint across my forehead, as well as tinting the end of my beard in a striking orange hue.

“Relaaaax, we’ve gone through the script like five times this morning alone.” I said, putting my suit on. Well, it wasn’t a suit, more of a costume. A tight singlet with my icon on its chest, along with very specific gloves that didn’t cover my fingers. All in a bright red that everyone recognizes. It was more protective than what it looked like, and I needed that considering the scar on my chest.

“You have around 3 months of break time after this match, so give it your all, okay?”

“Don’t worry about me, Ross. You are my assistant, you know for how long I’ve been doing this. If anything you should make sure that Ursaring knows the script. He’s a rookie, after all.”

“A rookie that is going to win tonight, heh.”

He was right, that was the script of the match. We would put up a fight, but eventually I’d lose, giving him my belt. I would take a few months to ‘plan my revenge’ as some newspapers would say, and then we’d go for a runback. It was a good marketing strategy, they’d put the rookie on the spotlight, giving the competition a fresh face, while followers of mine would immediately dislike him, making them hate-watch anyways.

That was what wrestling was about, giving the public a story they wouldn’t forget in the form of hitting ourselves a bunch. And me, I was a professional in getting hit in the most spectacular ways.

“Alright! I think that’s it.” He announced while giving me the finishing touches with his brush. “Girl, you look stunning.”

“Of course I do! I don’t need makeup for that!” I teased, striking a pose that made Ross chuckle. “You think Rashawn is gonna be there?”

“Offania, I swear to Arceus. You’ve asked that every single match and she’s always been amongst the public.”

“I know! I just want her to see me!”

“She’s your girlfriend, of COURSE she’s gonna see you!” He feigned frustration, but it was easy to see his teasing smirk. A knock on the door interrupted us, it was time. “Alright, I trust you know what you’re doing, now go give ‘em all a show.” He patted me on the back, pushing me towards the exit.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” And I stepped out of the room.

I’d been in this main chamber way too many times to count, but it never failed to amaze me. A room compared in size to that of the guild, at least from what I remember from the few times I went in there.

I looked at the crowd, there were a LOT of mons around, even more than usual. But not even this amount of watchers would impede me spotting my beloved. There she was, Rashawn, the Krookodile of my life. She was staring at me with a smile bigger than her face, and a look that only said one thing: ‘Got get ‘em’.

I looked away from her for now. I wanted her to see me at my best, so I needed to focus. I glanced at the center of the room, the ring was getting set up, taking away the ropes from the previous match and changing them with the longer ones, giving me and the Ursaring more space to move. Different sizes, different rules.

Seconds after, a Heracross jumped into the ring. “WELCOME EVERYBODY! Tonight we have the match that all of you have been waiting for! The battle that will decide the champion of the POKÉMON FIGHT CLUB!”

I laughed internally. The champion was already decided, but the announcer always did a great job at hyping people up.

“It’s time to meet our fighters! From the right side, we have… THE THREE-YEAR CHAMPION! THE ALL-TIME FAVORITE! THE DEMOLISHER OF HEADS! THE STRIKING THUNDER! OFFANIAAAAAA!”

That was my cue, so I ran into the ring, hopping over the ropes like it was nothing and landing on my two paws while screaming like crazy. That was the image they had on me, and I was gonna use it. But before I let the announcer continue, I pointed at Rashawn, everyone in the public suddenly looking at her. I put my hand on my mouth, and I blew a kiss at her, making the crowd erupt in cheers and making her precious blush more and more apparent.

“And from the left side… THE NEWCOMER PRODIGY! THE RANK JUMPER! THE SOUL STRIKER! THE CLAWED MANIAC! TAREEEEEEEK!”

A new figure entered the ring, with agility, but not as much as me. That was the first time I actually saw my opponent. More or less the same height as me, seemed strong, but not a single smile on his face. He was going for the silent and serious archetype, got it.

As we both approached the center of the ring, I put my hands up in the air, looking at the crowd. I wanted this to be a night to remember, even if I was going to lose. The yells and shouts from the public made it obvious, people were excited.

The Heracross flew back a couple of steps, talking to us a bit quieter than before, but still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“You know the rules, and so do I! No special or status moves, only physical! You can’t stay out of the ring for more than fifteen seconds! Everything else is FAIR GAME!” Those last words were shouted, which made everyone watching yell in excitement.

I found it funny, honestly. The rules never really mattered, as we both knew how the fight was going to go. …Also, the fifteen second rule, yeah, nobody counted them, we just made sure to not stay out there for the whole match.

With the rules explained, me and Tarek went back to our corners. The announcer flew again to the top of one of the poles holding the ropes. Their expression said it all, it was time. “With all of that said, THREE! TWO! ONE! FIGHT!”

The crowd erupted again. Me and Tarek walked in circles, slowly, making like we were waiting for the other to do something. I taunted him, turning around and signaling to the public to yell louder. Just as we planned, the Ursaring used this opportunity to run to me and use a Fire Punch on my back, making me bounce against the ropes and into the floor.

It hurt, obviously, but that’s why we trained, to sustain these hits. I got back on my feet, laughing. I had to make sure that even when knocked down, everyone thought I wasn’t taking him seriously.

I stole a glance at Rashawn, who was smiling, not even bothered that I took the hit. I had gone through much worse in previous matches. Besides, she knew the outcome of this battle. I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody, but she promised me she would keep it a secret, so I told her so she didn’t worry about me if I lost.

Seeing her smile was all I needed, so I focused on the match again. Tarek stepped back, tapping his elbow ready to use Hammer Arm on me. But I dodged and counterattacked with a Body Slam that threw him to the ground.

He shouted, as rehearsed. But the expression was… different. In my life, I’ve learned to differentiate the face someone makes when they’re exaggerating their pain and when they actually feel like that. This was one of the latter.

I got off him, making it seem like I was playing with my prey, that’s something the crowd always loved, but it was a good excuse to let him recover. We might have been opponents in the ring, but we were a community outside of it.

It was fine, the script could continue even with this small hiccup, we could just improvise a transition, it wasn’t the first time.

As Tarek got up, his expression changed again. It wasn’t that emotionless face he had been wearing since the start to keep that silent menace image of himself. No, now he was angry, and it showed.

In just a second, he jumped to me. If I didn’t dodge, I would have been hit by a Slash that went way too far to be considered simply a hit. It was done to hurt me.

Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one to notice that. Both the Heracross and Rashawn stood up, looking concerned. I even heard Ross yell something from afar.

But that distraction was all Tarek needed to slash again. I tried to intercept him with my tails, trying to shock him or something. It worked… too late. As the Ursaring trembled from the electricity, I felt warmth in my chest. The singlet was torn apart, and the warmth was flowing down. It was blood.

My scar. It opened, and it opened badly.

I stumbled down, struggling to breathe. The Heracross grabbed Tarek, holding him back as he tried to attack me more. Rashawn came to the ring along with Ross and a Flygon that I could only assume was one of the medics ready for emergencies.

There was… so much blood. I could taste it in my throat. The slash was big, if I didn’t have the scar, it probably would have made me bleed even if not as much.

The Flygon and Rashawn helped me lay down on the floor, I could see the complete focus on the medic and the utter panic from my girlfriend.

“R-Rashawn, it’s… it’s okay, I’ll be fine…” I said, cupping her jaw with my hand. “You know I’ve… I’ve gone through worse…”

She didn’t respond, but in the background, I could hear Ross speaking to somebody in a very demanding way. I knew he would be able to handle everything paperwork-related, possibly including a lawsuit to this Tarek.

The last thing I sensed was the Flygon sparkling some Sleep Powder on me, making me lose consciousness.