Mt Moon, and a Step Forward!

The ghastly move struck with super effective power on Slowpoke. Fortunately, it was a weak move to begin with, and its chance to cause flinching had failed this time around. Still, slowpoke felt it, which said something. Miku grit her teeth, she hadn't planned on them knowing attacks like that.

"Okay then, Slowpoke...use Yawn, then Scald!" Miku commanded, hoping to slow the enemy Pokémon into a slumber. Or at least take him out quickly. Slowpoke opened his maw wide, letting out a drowsy yawn, complete with tears in his eyes. He then did his best to take aim at the mole, though he now had some sand in his eyes. He spewed out copious amounts of scalding hot water at the enemy.

Slowpoke's naturally oblivious nature allowed him to be distracted when the growl came. It was a lucky break this time, though just barely. Diglett popped up right beside Slowpoke, managing to get in a little scratch on him. "Slowpoke," he groaned in protest, now reacting most likely to the previous attack.

"That's alright, Slowpoke!" Miku encouraged, devising a new strategy as quickly as she could. "Use your confusion!" She wanted to give Slowpoke a bit of an advantage with him being so sluggish. "Then wait until Diglett tunnels then shoot your scald into the hole!" She hoped it would do sufficient damage as well as flood him out. Perhaps she would even get lucky and burn the opponent, it was all up to happenstance. 

"Poke!" Slowpoke acknowledged in his usual derpy voice. He began to glow a purple hue with his psychic powers. He attempted to use it to confuse and damage the opponent through the telekinetic power. He tried to shift around, readying his Scald to blast into the hold Diglett would create by tunneling. As soon as Diglett would tunnel, he would shoot.

"Slowpoke, use curse again!" Miku attempted to order. As he went to perform his stat boosting move, the ghastly screech suddenly made him flinch. He winced, as did Miku at this predicament. She knew he would gain his bearings again though. She needed a move that would be quicker. "Quick, water gun!"

Slowpoke was able to gather the water necessary for this move much quicker than the moves previously. He was getting worn out, and needed to end this nonsense. He spewed out the pressurized water in a jet stream at the mole Pokémon.

Slowpoke had leveled up, it made him a bit tougher but whether he was up for this was yet to be seen. Miku figured she'd try to strike once or twice, but there was no need to let Slowpoke faint. She had a full team at her arsenal. Well, mostly. Seeing the Sandshrew reminded her of the team mate which refused to even emerge from his pokeball. She sighed softly before putting her battle face back on.

"Alright Slowpoke, Yawn then water gun!" Miku commanded. Slowpoke again yawned drowsily, hoping to slow the fast enemy down. Lulling him into slumber would help to make quick work of this battle, after all. Immediately afterward, Slowpoke readied his water gun and sprayed it toward the foe through puckered lips.

Miku grit her teeth as both moves seemed to have failed miserably. Even more so as she saw the unfurling plot against her. There was no avoiding the stars as they struck Slowpoke. He was weak, very much so. "Slowpoke, return!" Miku called, holding out his pokeball so the arc of light captured him. She couldn't bear to see him hurt anymore, and knew returning him would heal him some thanks to his special ability.

"Alright, I choose you, Psyduck!" The young trainer called out as she unclipped another ball, tossing it to the field. It popped open with an audible mechanical whir, the yellow psychic duck manifesting near where Slowpoke had previously been. "Psyduck, use Disable, then dampen the field with Water Sport!" It was an odd tactic, one she hoped would pay off.

"Psaiii, duck, duck, duck!" The feathered fowl whined and quacked, before she suddenly froze and began to glow a purple hue. She was attempting to disable Sandshrew's Swift attack! Immediately after, she began dancing around the arena, spitting out water like a sprinkler to dampen the field.

The poisonous needle shot into Psyduck's rear like a sharp pin prick, making her dance come to a sudden halt. She jumped around, rubbing at her rear with her flipper like wings as she cried out. At least it seemed to have given her momentary relief from her headache, anyway. Miku was just glad that she seemed to have forced a change of strategy on the gym trainer.

"Psyduck, shield your eyes!" Miku called, as she heard the other trainer's command. She couldn't really afford accuracy loss unless she switched to Clefairy. Psyduck did as she was told, turning her back to Sandshrew and shielding her eyes as sand was flung about. Miku had to shield her own a bit as well. Unfortunately, this left Psyduck open to the scratch attack, at which she griped about.

"Psyduck, use watergun to put some distance between you, then try confusion!" Miku hoped the psychic attack would disorient the foe and help Psyduck out a bit. Psyduck spun around, taking quick aim and spouting her pressurized water at Sandshrew. She hoped it would send him back aways, as she began to glow with psychic power, her Confusion attack!

Miku was ecstatic, trying her best to contain herself as not one, but both of her moves were a success. Still, Psyduck was still a relatively low level, so her Psychic powers weren't fully developed yet. This became quickly apparent as Sandshrew began firing off the little needles at Psyduck. A few pinged off her bill, rattling her skull and worsening her headache. Still, others managed to strike and irritate the duck. Miku could only hope they wouldn't poison.

"Psyduck, try to evade! Side step, dance, do whatever!" Miku was desperate. However, Psyduck's awkward attempt at dancing while concentrating was a ridiculous site. It was almost like a robot dance. Short, choppy movements as she slowly moved around the opponent. It didn't do as much to avoid the pins as she would have liked. "Drop the Confusion and go into a quick Water Gun!"

"Duck!" Psyduck cried, the pins stinging with every prick. She released her frustration, trying to do one last burst of damage with her psychic abilities before letting the hold drop. The water streamed from her bill, an angry torrent aimed at the freshly released Sandshrew.

Miku held her breath as everything seemed to slow down. Her adrenaline made her mind rush, watching intensely as the attack struck for high damage. When the foe didn't get back up, she felt the warm rush to her head and the tension fade. She was almost shaking, but it somehow didn't feel bad. It was...exciting. She walked calmly as could be up to the snotty trainer to collect her reward money.

"That explains why you haven't defeated him, then," Miku snarled as she returned her dancing Psyduck who had been celebrating her glory. She hated people naturally, but attitude like that really bothered her. She smeared the kid as far as she was concerned, yet he had the audacity to say she stood no chance. Still, it was in the past. She won, and after a rest she would be back in action to take on Brock.

Without another word, Miku turned and headed back out the doors. There was no reason in her mind why she should take on such a formidable opponent at any less than her best. She headed back to the Pokémon center, giving the two Pokémon used to the Nurse to heal them. In the meantime she grabbed a newspaper, and began scanning for anything of interest. News bulletins, wanted ads, comics, and the like.

Miku swallowed hard when she heard the other trainers talking. It was a good thing she didn't have any fire types, lest she be mistaken for her brother. Still, at the very least she could deny things simply by stating she has a brother, and not a sister. Damn it, Mako, protecting you shouldn't be such a chore! Then again, something deep inside the girl knew it was wrong to protect her brother in the first place. He was her only family now, though. She felt it was a duty. 

Her stomach sank, and she felt sick. She folded up the paper, setting it back down. She stood back up, pale as a ghost as she began making her way to the restroom. Meekly she squeaked an, "Excuse me," as she passed by the main counter. She burst into one of the stalls, dropping to her knees and vomiting a copious amount of her meal just hours earlier right into the toilet. She sobbed a bit, wiping her tears on her kimono sleeve. 

Flushing she made her way to the sink, and began cupping the water in her hands and splashing it on her face. She sipped some, swishing it in her mouth and spitting it down the drain to try and wash the taste out. She then held her lips beneath the stream, slurping down water, panting between breaths. She turned off the faucet, slumping down to the ground. She hadn't heard of her brother doing anything like this before. Not since that night a year ago.

Back then, he had claimed to have done it for her. For them, even. It had taken this long for Miku to even begin to stop placing the blame on herself, now he did this? She only hoped nobody had been killed this time. Dragging herself back to her feet, she made her way back to the door to the main lobby.

Miku was still queazy, but looking up she saw the judgmental eyes of the trainers gossiping. To be rightly honest, it pissed her off. She felt a fire in her belly from it as she glared, and deep inside wished they'd been caught in her brother's fire. It scared her, and she was fortunately broken from her thoughts by the pink haired nurse. 

She blinked, almost surprised. "Huh? Oh, thank you..." She said meekly, heart pounding in her chest. She gently took her pokeballs, clipping them to her waist. "I'll be going now..." She left, head down trying to turn away from the sniggering trainers, before more thoughts filled the recesses of her mind. She exited the Pokémon center, needing to surround herself by nature for a bit to clear her mind. She intended to go south, maybe lose herself in Viridian Forest for a bit.

Miku wanted to enjoy the peace and ambient sounds of the forest, but it seemed she wasn't going to get that any time soon. The young boy was apparently a bug catcher, and desperate for the elusive Combee. Miku paused for a moment, debating whether to help the boy or not as she was still irate from earlier. 

"Hmph..." She huffed, though not loudly. It was more a gesture of the fight she was having with herself. "That doesn't seem very effective," Miku commented on the net, standing back with one hand caressing the handle of her blade subconsciously. It was a force of habit, like playing with a necklace at your collar bone when nervous. "Wouldn't capturing it by traditional means be more effective?"

"Weedle? Couldn't he have used string shot?" That seemed like a better plan in Miku's mind. Use the sticky webbing to slow and eventually immobilize the target, then capture it. Not that it mattered, Miku's Pokémon didn't know string shot anyway. Then again, with an arsenal of water types and psychics at hand she didn't think she'd be needing it any time soon.

"Attack?!" Miku was almost insulted, unti, she realized she had her hand at scabbard. "Tsk, I wasn't going to attack you, I carry it for protection!" She spouted defensively. She didn't even know why she was bothering with the child at this point. He was just infuriating her, as most people did. A twinge of the fire returned, making Miku nervous about her own thoughts now.

Miku wasn't even given the chance at snapping at the bug catcher before he was gone. She groaned, feeling her belly burn and her face turn hot with anger. "People are so frustrating!" She complained aloud, as she walked deeper into the forest. "Why do I even waste my time with them, I don't even- ARGH!" She only got herself more worked up as she gripped at her hair, messing up her ponytails to the point the ribbons came untied. 

Her hair fell gently onto her shoulders, her hands following the soft gesture down to her waist. She sighed, looking solemnly to the ground. Her heart still raced but now it was with disappointment and a sense of almost depression. She hated feeling this way, but it was inevitable. She found solace beneath a tree off the beaten path, where she sat with her back against the trunk. She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them and burying her face within. She had to calm down, to stop thinking such bad thoughts. This must have been how Mako started thinking, was all Miku could imagine as she felt tears well in her eyes.