The four of us walked outside onto the sand and I clutched Nain's Pokeball in my shaking hand. "Brandon, why did you agree to it this?" I whispered to him.

Brandon shrugged. "I figure we can beat them and get a free meal. Plus it'll be fun."

The sailors both sent out their Pokémon. A Wingull and a Clamperl.

The Wingull flapped around, spreading its wide wings. The bird Pokémon seemed to glide in place without even moving once it got off of the ground. The sun shone off its white feathers and it cawed from its yellow beak.

The Clamperl rested in the sand. Its blue clam shell was opened enough to show off the tiny pink pearl resting inside of it.

I pressed the button on the Pokeball in my hand and Nian burst out. The Goomy looked back at me and grinned, then turned to face our opponents.

Brandon pitched a Pokeball into the air and it opened in the sky. In a flash of light, a Treecko appeared.

The small green Pokémon stood on two short legs. It had a large bushy dark green tail and a red chest. He had yellow eyes and two long arms.

The Treecko struck some sort of pose as he grinned at the Wingull and Clamperl.

"Alright, we'll all use one Pokémon. The winner is the last one standing. Let the battle, begin!" One of the sailors said. "Wingull use Wing Attack on the Treecko!"

The Wingull speed forward in the air at Treecko, ready to strike him with its wing.

"No worries, Treecko smack him with Pound before he can get close!" Brandon said. Treecko leaped into the air and slammed his tail down onto the Wingull, knocking it out of the air and into the sand.

Now would be a good time for me to attack. "Nian use Body Slam!" I tried to stand tall as I made my command to appear confident.

Nian leaped into the air and began to fall down toward Wingull.

The second sailor leaped into action. "Clamperl use Clamp and catch the Goomy!" The clam Pokémon suddenly leaped into the air and the shell closed on Nian, snatching him out of the air and trapped him in its grasp.

Nian struggled to break free but he couldn't seem to escape despite his slippery goo coating the shell. The clamp had caught too much of his body and the only direction he went when he would writhe was further into the Clamperl's clutches.

Meanwhile, Treecko landed to find Wingull ready to attack. "Use Peck!" The Wingull leaped at Treecko and began to rapidly peck at him with its beak. Treecko put up his hands to protect his face as he was bombarded with small attacks.

I looked to Brandon who didn't seem worried at all. "Soon as it's over I'll hit him back way harder than he hit me," Brandon told me.

I knew I had to think of something soon. Brandon's strategy could never work. The Wingull clearly wasn't tiring any time soon.

I recalled Nian's moveset and quickly formulated a plan. "Nian! Use Bide!" The Goomy began to glow white as the Clamperl continued to try and crush him.

"Clamperl! Let him go before the attack fires!" The sailor panicked. His Pokémon opened back up and freed Nian entirely. Nian perched on the bottom part of Clamperl's shell and turned to face the Pokémon.

I smiled to myself, he was completely exposed now. "Nian, fire!" Nian unleashed all of his energy in a blinding white light. When the light faded the enemy Pokémon had fainted from the blow.

The sailor sighed and returned his Pokémon. Nian appeared to be mostly fine from the battle. But we hadn't won yet.

On the other side of the battle, Treecko looked to be completely worn out. Wingull finally finished pecking him only for the bird to get one final command. "Finish this with Wing Attack!"

"Treecko dodge it!"

Treecko tried to move but he was clearly too tired. His arms and legs were covered in small scratches from all of the attacks. Wingull slammed his wing into Treecko's chest and the gecko went flying.

Treecko landed on his back and fainted. Brandon seemed like he wanted to say something but shut his mouth. He returned his Pokémon and looked to me. "It's all you now Wally."

I looked to him, internally I was a little nervous but I felt a strange feeling about how the battle would go. It wasn't determination...no it was... confidence.

I grinned at Brandon and nodded. "I've got this. Nian use Dragon Breath!" My Goomy opened his mouth and unleashed a draconian attack.

Wingull was quickly overwhelmed by the move and crashed to the ground. Wingull's trainer sighed and returned the Pokémon. "Looks like we lose. Well played lads, you two are quite strong."

I returned Nian and we all walked back into the restaurant where the sailors paid for our meals.

"So where are you two lads off to?" One of the sailors asked us.

"We're going to catch a boat to Lilycove," Brandon answered, putting his arms behind his head.

The other sailor chuckled. "Well, we just came from the shipyard, if you're hoping to catch the ship you best hurry. It's leaving in the next hour if I remember correctly."

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "Oh wow, thanks a bunch! We totally would've missed it otherwise. We best get going then." We waved the sailors goodbye and jogged over to the port.

Various boats were sitting in the docks on the west side of Slateport. The wonderful smell of seawater flooded my senses as I purchased my ticket.

Brandon got his ticket and we boarded a large cruise ship. The trip would take about a day so we both stopped at our rooms and dropped our stuff off before meeting up again.

I was really happy to have Brandon around since it meant somebody could do all the talking instead of me.

It was also nice to have somebody to travel with other than my Pokémon. Most of them couldn't talk and the only one that could tended be really irritating.

Brandon seemed to notice how deep in thought I was as we walked around the boat. It wouldn't be disembarking for a little while longer so we were on our way to the deck.

"Hey Wally, whatcha thinking about?" Brandon asked.

"Oh, n-nothing." I sputtered. "I do have a q-question though."

Brandon shrugged. "Ask away dude."

"Since you have a Treecko that must mean you've met Professor Birch, right?" I asked. Brandon seemed to flinch when I mentioned the professor's name.

"Uh y-yeah." Brandon stumbled.

I was confused but decided not to comment on it. "What's uhm the professor like? I always wanted to go meet him but I never got around to it."

Brandon seemed to have recovered his cool demeanor. "He was pretty chill. He actually gave me two starters. Someone had already taken the fire type and he thought it'd be better to give me both remaining Pokémon than have one stay in the lab forever."

I was fairly taken aback. "R-really? So you have a Mudkip too?"

Brandon nodded. "Yep! We'll have to battle each other at some point because I've got a pretty good team and you seem like a smart trainer."

I felt my face partially go red. "Y-you think so?"

"Of course!" Brandon grinned at me. "The way you won us that battle just a little while ago is proof enough! Are you taking on the gym challenge?"

I shook my head and Brandon exhaled. "Thank goodness, I would not want to have to go up against you in a battle for the Championship. I'll have my hands full enough with how many powerful trainers there are out there."

I chuckled. "I think you'll do fine. At least until you meet up with May. She's pretty strong herself."

"May?" Brandon raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, she's the gym leader Norman's daughter. May is also the one who got the Torchic." I explained. "I'm surprised you never met her."

Brandon thought about it for a moment. "I'm pretty sure she might've been the girl who moved in right before I set out on my grand adventure."

We arrived on the pool deck as the boat began to pull out. I grabbed onto the railing to keep myself from flying when the boat lurched forward.

The wind blew through the deck of the ship as we sped off. Brandon grabbed hold of his hat to keep it from flying off of his head.

I looked back at Slateport as it slowly faded away from us. It was definitely a beautiful sight.

Eventually, the city faded over the horizon and Brandon went back inside the boat. I decided to just stay for a little while and stare out into the horizon.

That battle before I had felt confident for maybe the first time in my life. Even when I battled Wattson I barely won. But maybe I wouldn't be half bad of a trainer if I kept at it.

I wasn't entirely sure but I didn't have any more time to think about it as Ralt's Pokeball broke open in my bag and the Pokémon appeared in front of me.

Wally! I can't believe you've kept me in that magic prison for, like, three hours! What happened after I lost? Where even are we? I demand answers! And a rematch! That stupid chicken is going to get fried and then I'll eat him! Just like what people did to his family! Probably!

He could get out of his Pokeball whenever he wanted. Oh no.

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Hello everybody! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Confidence! Let me know if you did!

I'll have another chapter out for you all soon so get excited for that!

I know this chapter was a little shorter but I wanted to just focus on this little journey.

For today's QOTD: What is your favorite Pokémon game?

That's all for today folks! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day! Bye!