"What's the matter?", I stand behind Leo.

  Apparently, I'm the only one who understands why he's reacting like this.

  It's a herd of superpowered elephants that crush rocks. I doubt they'd take kindly to us kidnapping one of their own.

  "Just pick a Phanpy, battle it, and catch it", Xander appears, slapping his friend on the back encouragingly.

  "Easy to say", Leo flies forwards, "Phanpy I can take, but what if the rest of them gang up on us?".

  "We'll deal with it, you have me here", Xander says, "and if that doesn't work out, Rory can always try punching them".

  I fight the urge to point out that these elephants are to short to be punched, so kicking them would be much more efficent.

  Of course, none of this would be as troubling as it was if only my gun was reincarnated with me.

  "Be serious", Leo hits back at him, "we can't risk that".

  "Fine then, I have an idea", Cassie jumps up, quickly grabbing her pokeballs and releasing Fennekin and Sprigatito. "There, you two make friends with these Phanpys and see if any of them want to come with Leo", the girl announces cheerfully.

  Fennekin finds the nearest rock and hides behind it, and Sprigatito is obviosly not interested in being our delagate here. Cassie loses her spirit quickly.

  "Looks like your plan failed", Xander taps her shoulder playfully.

  "Shut up", Cassie scoffs.

  Leo ignores them, taking a deep breath. "I guess I have an idea", he says, producing his pokeball.

  Piplup appears in front of us, immediately running to Leo and hugging his leg. The boy uncomortably separates the pokemon from himself and kneels down to talk to him.

  "Hey, Piplup, I need you to issue an official challenge to one of the Phanpys", the boy says quietly, and his pokemon tilts his head in confusion.

  I find myself confused as well.

  "Donphan and Phanpy tend to pride themselves on their strengt", Leo explains, "if we challenge one of them to 1 on 1 battle, they are certain to accept it, however, there's one catch".

  "And that would be?", Xander questions.

  "They are also sort of gamblers", Leo sighs, "we have to put something on the line, something a Phanpy would want".

  Gambling elephants that can crush rocks and are plagued with pride. Sounds about right.

  "Well, what does a Phanpy want?", Cassie wonders.

  "Uh", Leo seems to thinks about it for a second, "I guess they like cool looking rocks, for the most part, but I don't have that". He sizes the rest of us up, and we shake our heads, noting that none of us have cool looking rocks.

  "That makes this harder", Leo runs his fingers through his hair. "Well, Piplup, ask if there's any Phanpy here that's willing to take a bet, tell we want one of them to come with us if we win", Leo instructs, "then we'll see what they want us to wager".

  Piplup obliges, jumping onto one of the rocks he starts flapping his wings, chirping enthusiastically at the herd of elephants.

  The Donphans seem to grunt in dissatisfaction at the challenge but they let it slide. A few Phanpys seem to think about it.

  One of them runs up to Cassie, snapping its snout at her leg, making her wince in pain. Piplup immediately jumps down and starts conversing with it. It's the one Cassie was playing with, I realise.

  Piplup swings his wings around, explaining something, and Phanpy stomps its feet in return. I'm pretty sure they are bargaining.

  In the end, Piplup turns to Leo, giving him a short nod, and pointing to Cassie. Leo's face turns pale.

  "Maybe it wants more belly rubs", Cassie suggests.

  Piplup gives her an aplogetic look.

  "I think she wants you to stay here if she beats us", Leo informs her. Piplup confirms this by nodding.

  "What", Cassie jumps up, "Leo!".

  "Hey, Cas, I can take a Phanpy", the boy doesn't sound too certain.

  "I'm your friend, you can't wager me to a Phanpy", Cassie protests.

  "Why not, we're having rangers come over anyways, they'll extract you", Xander laughs playfully.

  "Don't joke about this, you two", she slams her fist into Xander's chest.

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  "Hey, Cas", I hear Xander say in a low voice, "it's just a Phanpy". He nudges his head towards Leo. The other boy has his fists gripped at his sides, and even though his face is pale, he looks determined.

  "Fine", Cassie's face softens, as she crouches down to pet Phanpy, "guess this girly likes me, huh, I don't mind it". Giving Leo a firm look she adds: "do it, Leo".

  "Alright, Piplup", Leo exhales, "tell Phanpy we accept her terms".

  Piplup chirps at the Phanpy shortly, and Donphans immediately move to create a path.

  Leo steps down between the two rows, and they follow along, creating a small circle, letting only Phanpy and Piplup pass. When I try to follow, one of the Donphans blocks my path with its snout.

  Two of the Phanpys stay close to Cassie as if to guard her.

  In the meantime, the three challengers take place in Donphan-lined ring.

  Piplup stands in front of Leo, who already seems to be fully focused. Phanpy opposes them, readily stomping her foot on the floor.

  The Donphans that encase them curl up, and start spinning around, affirming the circular shape and stopping anyone from interrupting. It all feels ritualistic.

  Leo braces himself, as Phanpy curls up without warning and hurls towards Piplup.

  "Dodge it", Leo says readily.

  His pokemon manages to jump out of the path of the rolling Phanpy. The small elephant loses speed, making a slow turn around before it heads for Piplup again.

  "Move to the side, hit back with Bubble", Leo says, his voice sounding only a little bit shaky.

  Cassie grips her fists, still guarded by the two Phanpy.

  Piplup manages to dodge again, firing of a small stream of bubbles towards the rolling Phanpy, but they prove to be too slow to keep up. Leo mutters something under his breath, as Phanpy turns around once more, heading for Piplup yet again.

  "Piplup, try it again", Leo orders. Both attacks end up missing again.

  The colour finally returns to Leo's face, not in a good way.

  Phanpy rushes in again, only ever gaining traction.

  "Hell, Piplup, Bubble now", Leo hisses out the command.

  Piplup aims the bubbles straight at Phanpy. Hitting their mark, they explode, but it's not enough to kill the momentum Phanpy has going on for her. The small elephant ends up slamming into her opponet, sending Piplup flying back.

  I jolt back in surprise, my nerves getting the best of me.

  "Calm down", Xander leans in, "Phanpy took a water type attack, it's going to play out well".

  How he was so calm, I had no idea.

  But truly, the impact of the two attacks sent Phanpy flying to the side as well, finally making her stop rolling.

  "Piplup, get up", Leo yells out immediately, "use Bubble again".

  Piplup manages to find his ground, firing off another stream of water bubbles at the Phanpy, but the elephant has recovered as well, managing to step away from the attack.

  "Keep them coming", Leo urges, "don't let her gear up again".

  Piplup keeps sending bubbles at Phanpy, but his opponent keeps dodging them expertly. They are too slow, I conclude.

  Piplup also looks as if he's running out of steam, and Phanpy manages to find an opening. This time, instead of rolling, it runs towards the penguin, her head placed low, ready to land a blow.

  "She's going for a Tackle Piplup", Leo says, "grab her head and fire off another Bubble".

  Piplup plants his feet onto the floor, bracing for the impact. The moment Phanpy comes in, he reaches his wings, trying to kill the momentum. It fails. Phanpy sends him back flying.

  But not before Piplup manages to fire off another stream off bubles.

  As Piplup hits the floor, struggling to get up, the water spheres burst across Phanpy's skin, making the pokemon wince in pain.

  "There, it's over", Xander chuckles into my ear.

  I watch as Phanpy stumbles around, ultimately falling to the ground, her eyes shut.

  As soon as Piplup manages to stand up, looking batterred from the blows he had taken, the circle made out of rolling Donphans disperses.

  Leo's grip loosens, and the boy exhales sharply, his face returning to its normal colour.

  Turning around he gives us a thumbs up, trying to smile, but it's easy to tell he's not as happy as he is relieved.

  The Donphans stand firm, raising their snouts and letting out an array of deep screeches. The sound echoes against walls, surrounding us, making my head want to explode.

  The beaten Phanpy slowly stands up, toggling towards Piplup. She extends her snout in a show of ackowledgement, and Piplup accepts the gesture with his wings.

  Leo kneels down, producing a pokeball from his pocket. "We won", he says calmly, "that means you're coming with us". Piplup chirps along, as the Donphan council starts stomping their legs, making the floor beneath us earthquake.

  I really don't like these behavioural patterns.

  Phanpy gives a small nod, and Leo bupms the device against the creature's forehead. The small elephant dissapears in blue light, getting sucked into the pokeball.

  The device starts shaking on top of Leo's palm. Few seconds later, the rims flash in blue, and the ball stills.

  Leo rises up, almost victouriously.

  The first person he turns to is Cassie, managing to squeeze in a single: "thank you".

  "No issue", Cassie flashes him a smile, "I knew you could do it". Her statement is clearly a lie, but a good sounding one.

  "Guess I have my ground type now", Leo says, proudly displaying his pokeball.

  "And that means you're stronger now", Xander nods.

  "That means I can start crafting my team further", Leo points out, "let's see, what I need next...".

  "Oh, shut up", Cassie runs up to him, "for once, take your time with something".

  Leo's face reddens, as he slowly turns Phanpy's pokeball in his hand.

  "Come on, let her out, talk to your pokemon", Cassie urges him.

  "Right", Leo obliges, releasing Phanpy. She still appeares hurt from the fight, but she cheerfully raises her ears, bumping her snout into Leo's leg. "Ugh, it hurts", the boy protests.

  "Yeah, well, Phanpy pride themselves on their strenght, just like Donphan", Xander gives him a wink.

  "Right, that's right", Leo coughes up. Kneeling down to meet his new partner, he shakes Phanpy's snout. "I guess you and I will aim to get stronger", he says patiently, "I'll do my best".

  Phanpy props herslef on her hind legs, letting out a satisfied growl in repsonse.

  Cassie immediately appears next to them and starts petting Phanpy. "And I'll be there to play with you", she says, "you know, you could tell Fennekin and Sprigatitio that getting pets is great, and that I'm very nice".

  "My pokemon won't do your bidding", Leo informs her.

  "You owe me", Cassie informs him back.

  "Alright, alright, you two", Xander claps his hands to get their attention, "we gathered info for the report, and Leo caught a Phanpy, we should get back to the main path now".

  For once, I find myself grateful for Xander.

  "Or, we could take some more pictures", Cassie offers.

  "Oh", Leo says, as if he had suddenly remembered something, "did anyone record my battle right now?".

  The three of us shake our heads in dismissal.

  "Sucks", Leo draws out, "this was typical Donphan battle ritual, I could've done the report on this as well".

  "Hey, buddy", Xander rubs his shoulder, "I'm sure you'll get into many ritualistic battles with pokemon that like to gamble, so nothing's lost".

  "Yeah, but it would be cool to have this on video", Leo sighs.

  "I know", Xander says, "but we should really get going right now, we need to make it out of the tunnel before nightfall".

  "Right", Leo nods in understanding, looking down at his Phanpy. "Let's get going then", he says calmly.