Pokemon Zirconium

It was spooky in here, but Voth had seen worse. Walking around the abandoned museum with a flashlight and Antonio's sword, her eye nervously flicked through the empty and yawning interior. The light never quite reached the walls, leaving long shadows over everything...

She'd been doing very well, under Inshabel's wing and with her house. She was starting to come out of her shell and leave it behind, and hadn't berserked in almost a month. It was a nice life, exploring the islands during the day and coming home to people who cared about her, although she still felt a little uneasy. She hadn't done anything to deserve all this... The only thing to do was be worth it.

There were more than a few Pokemon trainers around and about, and she'd worked hard to be the best she could. Since her first battle she'd learned a lot, devouring the guidebooks Inshabel bought for her and studying them on their computer. A pokedex was too expensive, so it was the best she could do. Once she'd been able to look up territory and habits, she'd started adding to her team in earnest.

Poking her head around a corner, she lit up and stifled a happy noise at the sight of what she was looking for. After seeing one on Google and then confirming they were real, she'd known she had to catch one of them. It was the coolest little friend she'd seen yet, and the wild one was sitting there, studying a flag on the ground.

She readied herself and got a pokeball in her free hand before walking out, eye narrowing and shoulders up. The sword immediately turned to her and drew itself, floating threateningly in the air. She smiled happily at it before tossing out her first choice; she knew it would be a tough battle, but she had a plan!

Fib the Shellder looked around and chattered before spotting the Honedge, it's eyes widening and the burbles turning panicked.

<H-hello, there, pal. It's->

<I will split you in half!> it thundered at him, before he Withdrew, clamping his shell tight. Voth blinked and swallowed, before she swung her arms and got into the battle.

"Fib! You can do it! This is what we trained for!" She cheered, the shell creaking open an inch for the  clam to stare in horror at the blade. It danced in the air, red waves briefly flickering around it as it's attack power increased, the blue eye in the crossguard narrowing in concentration. Voth saw it and pointed-

"Okay, Fib, use Protect!" She called, before a white orb briefly appeared around the Shellder and it's defense raised even higher. She knew what was coming-

<Your armor will not save you!> It thundered deeply, suddenly slicing upward, up to ceiling in an Aerial ace that hit like a thunderbolt. Fib went into the floor, the edge of the blade sinking in and then slicing a deep arc into Fib's shell. The Shellder quailed before it paused and looked up at the length of metal stuck in him. The sword jerked him around, trying to get itself out of the wound. Voth winced before she called out "Now! Water Gun!"

The jet hit the Honedge in it's eye and drenched the sash, the sword pausing to stare down at Fib unbelievingly. The clam made apologetic burbling sounds even as the sword seemed to vanish into the darkness, leaving it's place across Fib- only for a slash to ring out, once again slamming Fib down and leaving cracks across his shell. The Homedge reappeared after it's shadow strike, staring imperiously,

"Fib, you did great! Come back!" Voth encouraged, landing out his pokeball's beam. She pickedout another one and took a deep breath, tossing it out and revealing a Houndour. It barked and growled, embers spilling out between it's jaws.

"Okay, Killy! I promised you tough fights- here we go!" She cheered. After catching him in a junkyard, she'd worked hard to earn the little monster's trust and respect, eventually achieving a kind of understanding. He even listened to her most of the time, more than her pidgey did. She'd just had to show him she knew what she was doing.

<Be wary, beast, or your blood will stain->

 <I'm gonna bite you in HAAAAAAAAAAALF!> It Howled, so loud Voth almost put her hands over her ears. Killy's eyes glowed like embers as his attack power increased. The Honedge paused before it swung and slashed him across his flank, and then the dog lunged in a ferocious bite. Flames spilled out of his mouth from the Fire Fang, rushing across the surface of the blade; it tried to get out, but the Houndour bit down tighter, rills of blood from his gums mixing with boiling spittle.

The Honedge screamed like wind through reeds, once more using Fury Cutter, but Killy's mouth again lit up like a furnace as he used Fire Fang, jerking his neck around to whip the sword around. It's sash had caught fire and was burning around them. The sword hastened to end it and decapitate the Hellhound-

Killy used Torment, blocking the attack and slamming the sword to the floor, biting and trying to savage it while it chipped his teeth. Voth threw out a Great Ball and stood on her tiptoes, crossing both her fingers as it rolled, rolled, and then locked.

"YAY! We did it! Great job, Killy! You were amazing! Who's a good boy? Huuuh? Who's my good special boy~" she asked, ruffling his head and using a potion on him. He licked at her hands before snapping at her fingers, but not hard. She laughed and sent him back to his pokeball before taking chalk out of her pocket and looking for a door to go home.