“So this is weird,” I declared within five minutes of sitting down across from Lance as he steeped tea.
“Ah? How so?” he asked.
“I mean, I won’t deny that I enjoy tea as much as the next guy, but doing a formal tea ceremony out of the blue just…” I waved a hand at the room. It was one of the traditional rooms of the Blackthorn Clan that had tatami mats, a beautiful view overlooking parts of the Silver Mountain ranges, and even a bit of route forty five, which as a valley with a small river in it meant we could peer a long, long way.
Dragon pokemon and flying types fluttered around, giving the place a mystical feel that I imagine couldn’t be found anywhere else bar perhaps Opelucid city.
Then again, from what I recalled, it was known as time’s dividing line, a city that was blending traditional values with the modern lifestyle.
“This might be you but for me it feels a little much..” I ran a hand through my hair. “I feel like I’m sitting for a job interview instead of relaxing with a friend.”
Lance nodded slowly. “For you formality is for business?”
“I guess? I never really considered it before now but… yeah I’m a pretty laid back guy… salt of the earth and all that.”
Lance’s lips twitched at that description. “Hmmm, fair enough. I should have perhaps considered it a bit more carefully. Most of the time whenever we meet up we spar or are meeting for some task such as integration of the Crusher Tribe.”
“Hmmm, true. How’s that going for the League by the way, Lawrence has mentioned he’s having to still fight off the corporations but he and the team he’s gathered for it seem to be relishing the task.”
“Hmmm, you don’t hang around with legal types much do you?”
Pursing my lips, I considered the times when I’d hung out with Lawrence. “Huh, his situation with me is much the same. I don’t really hang out with him beyond work, Gym meetings for legal considerations, or we’re at some Pewter gathering like the Mayoral parties. Honestly with me and the family around, he is rather.. chill?”
“Ah, that makes sense, well to let you in on the secret, those lawyers are salivating at the bit to set a precedent for laws and establish their names going forward. It is supposedly quite the feather in their cap to set up binding laws like this. It’s not often that new ground is trodden with laws after all.”
“That makes a lot more sense,” I remarked, nodding when Lance poured me a cup of tea.
From the few times that I’d sat in with Erika I knew I wasn’t to drink from it right away.
I might have already committed several faux pas with how I’d pointed out this wasn’t a good way to hang out with me, but eh, better to let Lance know right away.
“What do you do for fun?” I asked him.
“Fly on my pokemon most of the time,” waving a hand towards route forty-five he said, “There are some lovely valleys and twists and turns that can test both rider and pokemon when you stay low. We also have dragon races, and I enjoy reading.”
“What genre?” I asked, lifting my cup now that the indeterminate amount of time had passed while blowing on it lightly and taking a sip. I made a small appreciative noise. It was good, even if I’d had to sit and watch it for too long already.
“Historical,” Lance offered.
“Oh, same! I’ve been reading up on the new regions and histories they have, although I have to admit that I got quite sidetracked with Kitakami lore since encountering the Crusher Tribe.”
Lance, while he’d been sitting perfectly upright already, jolted and his eyes gained a gleam of interest. “Ah! Yes, I have been reading everything I can get access to about them! To know that they are perhaps a week to two week’s direct flight away is rather surprising.”
Running the math through my head I started to work out a rough estimate of how far he was talking only to pause. “Are you using standard Pidgeot speed or Dragonite…” I trailed off with a sigh. “You’re using Dragonite speed, aren’t you?”
“Of course!” he replied with a slight lift of his chin as though offended I’d suggest anything else.
“So that’s what… two to three weeks of flight time for most people?” I asked knowingly.
“Something like that, yes. It’s still theoretical but the Crusher tribesmen have been rather helpful in creating vague maps that we can build from. We have an idea of how long it takes them to reach specific locations so we have a road map to work off.”
“Any plans for the Graveyards of Giants?” I asked.
“I want to stay away from it, appease it and pretend it doesn’t exist,” Lance stated firmly.
“That’s probably the best policy I can think of for it. What are you going to do about Agatha investigating it?”
“I want her to never learn about it,” he replied.
I directed a flat look at him.
He hung his head and sighed. “Yeah, I knew it was naive to think I’d be able to slip it past her. There’s no way she hasn’t learned about it. She’ll be taking the lead on it, but I want to go in with the lightest of light touches as possible.”
“Agatha can do that, and she is the expert for ghost types, unless you really want to tweak her nose and that of the channeller society as a whole.”
“If I wanted to…” Lance tilted his head. “What do you mean by that?”
Ah… shit, me and my big mouth. A sigh exploded out of me. “Well… I mean, there are other regions that have ghost-type specialists. So if you wanted to open it up to an international cooperative, that might be a way to approach it. I know Hoenn doesn’t have the same type of interest in ghost type pokemon but Sinnoh, Unova, or Kalos?”
“They’d have to have their own experts,” he murmured thoughtfully. “Huh, that could work, but I’d never be able to have anyone but Agatha leading it, or else I’d have the society up in arms as you said.”
“Yeah, good luck getting Agatha to play nice with another expert in the field. They’d need to be at least as old as her,” I pointed out.
Lance pursed his lips and hummed thoughtfully.
I narrowed my own in response. “What are you thinking?... There isn’t another expert her age, is there?”
“Not… for Ghost types, but there is an older Elite Four Member from Sinnoh by the name of Bertha. She’s a ground type specialist but she has a lot of crossover with rock types, obviously,” he remarked. “You’d like her from what I hear, she’s a very down-to-earth individual.”
I snorted at his attempt at humour but still raised my cup of tea slightly higher in appreciation of the joke.
“Got yourself a solid five minutes there hmmm?”
Lance looked at me blankly and I sighed. “You need to get out more. When was the last time you went to a show or just watched some television.”
Lance didn’t fidget, so much as his lips firmed. “Those aren’t productive past times.”
“Hmmm, but they are humanising, no? Let you get a feel for what people talk about. You ever just talk with the people at the League, or you sit in your office on high?”
Again, the blank look came out.
“I suppose Bruno… and then there’s Koga on your Elite Four, so you can’t really talk to them about this sort of thing, but what about Lorelei or Karen?”
“Lorelie has been staying professional around me since the trick you and Sabrina played on us,” he remarked.
“Hey I didn’t make you bat your eyelashes at her afterwards. You made it weird, not us!”
He exhaled, and for the first time, relaxed a little. “Alright, you have a point,” he muttered.
“Oh I have a whole scoreboard at this point,” I teased back. “But don’t worry. You have a few points on there yourself like when you had me drink that varnish they call a beverage in the Crusher Tribe.”
That got him smiling and I chuckled at the trick he’d got over me.
For a while there was a peaceful lull in conversation and we both observed the view. I had to admit, it was growing on me.
Mystically peaceful even.
“Any chance I could borrow that Aerodact—” Lance began to ask only for me to shut it down hard.
“Not a chance in hell,” I stated. “We only just got it working, which let me tell you has been a task and a half with Don.”
“Hmmm, I have been searching through the old nests and known roosts for our Dragonite, but have yet to find a megastone, so I am still stuck with what I have.”
“Oh boo hoo, you have a mega stone. You know how many trainers don’t have even that?” I pointed out. “If another location presents itself with multiple Dragonite, I’ll be sure to have it investigated.”
He snorted. “Yes, because that’s likely to exist,” he remarked bitterly. I shrugged, knowing weirder things were possible.
He considered me for a moment. “Have you tried to chain them yet?”
“Chain them?” I asked, unsure of the wording he was using.
“Go from one megaevolution to another?” he asked.
“No… it was something I was considering working on, that or having them two or three active at the same time.”
“I’ll save you the nosebleed. It feels like going from a mere two way link, to a pump draining you dry rapidly.”
That got a look from me and he nodded. “While I had the Charizardite, I attempted it. It knocked me out for a few minutes each time I attempted it. The drain… it was too much. I also found that I struggled with moving from one mega evolution to another straight after each other.”
“Hmmm, so it is possible then?” I mused.
“Possible,” he nodded, “practical? That appears to be something else entirely.”
“Huh., thanks for the heads up. I’ll make sure to do it with a spotter or at least my Chansey around to check up on me.”
That was honestly a nice gesture by him. “Have to admit I’m surprised that you told me. You’ve been…” I waved a hand. “Not hostile with me, so much as making sure to either keep me at arm’s length or to take what I give you and run off with it.”
Lance gave me a look only to snort and shake his head. “Talking with you can be rather refreshing, especially after having to deal with my own family for too long.”
“Urgh, family can be the worst… but also the best sometimes,” I offered.
He nodded and took a slow drink from his tea. When he set it down he stared out over the valley. “I came to realise that I was… going about things in the wrong way. I was chasing a good goal, but I was making things harder with my actions. I recently was humbled by another.”
I held back from saying, ‘what, again?’ and instead took a long drink of tea to hide my expression. I mentally patted myself on the back for not letting my mouth run off on me again.
“I decided that it would be a good idea to… link up with some of the Gym Leaders and people in positions of power, just to… get to know them, or make myself available.”
“Ah, so that’s where inviting me and the other Gym Leaders to tea came from. Erika’s going to love it,” I commented. “But don’t try it with Visquez, yeah?”
“What would you suggest instead?”
“... got any criminal raids you can take her on where she can just let loose?”
He blinked at me only to blink again when he noticed I wasn’t joking. “Oh, she’s like Surge then?”
“Yup!” I replied. “Also, dick move using him like that. I didn’t even know he was out of prison until I ran into him.”
Lance stilled. “Ah, he hadn’t mentioned that he encountered you.”
“Well he did, and having him running around as Hero Black is just… weird.”
“It’s effective,” he replied. “Doubly so considering his skillset.”
That got a huff out of me. I couldn’t really argue about that.
“You could also take Visquez to a sporting event, like boxing, wrestling or the pokemon martial arts league. She’d dig that.”
“That… would have connotations,” Lance pointed out.
It took me a moment to recall that a young man like Lance, being seen in public with any girl, typically caused the rumour mill to run wild. “Ah… well I’m pretty sure they’d be barking up the wrong Sudowoodo there if you catch my drift.”
Lance stared at me for a moment before nodding. “I see. Hmmm perhaps that is possible then.” I was going to meet with multiple female gym leaders at once to reduce the risk of there being any scandal,” he commented.
“Not worried, it will spark rumours that you’re looking to make a harem for yourself?” I teased.
Lance sighed and shook his head. “Some magazines might run such a story, but it would be fringe groups at worst.”
“Hmph, well if we’re doing this again, I’d be down for rock climbing, spelunking, searching through a lost ruin, playing video games on the couch, a book club, or surfing.”
Lance blinked at me. “Book club? Surfing? Those... aren’t quite like the others,” he commented.
“Eh, like I said, I don’t mind reading, and surfing… it’s something new I picked up.”
“Are you any good?” he asked, his tone dripping with doubt.
“Nope! But it’s fun! I’ve gone a few times with friends,” I remarked with a smile.
Lance nodded. “I think I’d like that then, it would be nice to do some different activities. Perhaps you can try dragon racing in future with your… Don, or we can go for a ride through the valleys.”
“Hmm, that’d be fun, but don’t think I still don’t want to spar and smack you around a bit,” I half-joked.
Lance set his tea cup down firmly, causing it to click sharply. “Yes, I’d be willing to continue that as well,” he remarked as he and I locked eyes.
Heh, good to see the Lance I knew was still in there.
Nodding at the same time, we both turned and regarded the view again as a Dragonair winged its way through the air.
Lance eventually spoke up. “More tea?” he offered.
I nodded. I might not have cared for the waiting initially, but the longer I sat here, actually relaxing with Lance, the more I found I was enjoying it more.
Funny how that happened sometimes.
“Got anything lined up for Cinnabar island?”
“Yes actually, although there might be some friction.”
“Friction?”
“During the stint that we had the Gym occupied, there were numerous reports filed about thefts, supplies going missing or vandalised facilities. I suspect the locals that are still loyal to Blaire but I haven’t been able to catch anyone as of yet in the act. That might change once there is a Kantoian choice in the position as Bruce… well he was only seen as an extension of Blackthorn authority despite his suitability.”
“Hmm, do I know this new candidate?” I asked.
“Yes actually. Liza from the Charific valley has agreed to step in for a while. She thinks the Valley is in a good enough state with enough people looking after it that she can step in. She won’t start for another two months however. In the meantime, we will have another Ranger from Chraific Valley start setting things up as an interim Gym Leader. His name is Wayne.”
“Huh, neat.” I had to admit, using a specialised trainer like Liza would be good. I hadn’t known she was Kantoian but I suspected Lance was right, it would make a difference for the locals.
The only other choice was a local but… well Cinnabar Island had a frankly tiny population and it only held a major Gym due to heritage from Blaine.
“Any thoughts on these Alpha pokemon?” I asked, changing the subject.
“So far, only the one pokemon has been encountered but the Rangers are investigating it closely. Mt Moon was certainly a surprise but other locations are being investigated such as the deeper wilderness around the routes, and the tunnel systems… the oceans on the other hand…” Lance shook his head. “Those are simply too vast to patrol fully. Population centres are where the focus will be with rapid response teams for coastal regions.”
“Sounds reasonable,” I offered.
“It looked formidable from the video you sent of your fight. I’m rather amazed that any single pokemon could stand up to you and Sabrina at the same time, especially with the moves you were hitting it with.”
I leaned onto my hand and smirked. “You jealous of my Titan Cannon?” I teased getting into some friendly banter that Lance happily responded to, allowing us to enjoy the moment.
We might be rivals in a sense, but we could still be friends.
_____________________
“—and after my fight with A.J. I went into the reserve the next morning and sang to them. I wanted some of them to join me, especially the Poliwhirl or the Vaporeon but… well they left some nice trinkets instead!” Yolanda stated.
“That’s good,” I offered, observing how she had curled in slightly on herself. Was she feeling bad she hadn’t gotten such a good pokemon? I guess I’d be disappointed with myself as well if I missed a chance at such a pokemon early on in my Journey.
“Yeah… yeah it is,” she replied as though she was still convincing herself of that. “I decided to switch things up after a bit and sang while having my pokedex out and I got good recordings of how various pokemon dance.” She grinned at me. “Ever seen a Krabby dance?”
“Can’t say I have,” I chuckled as she sent a short video of Krabby scuttling around and around in circles while its pincers nipped the air.
“Huh, singing to bring in pokemon and then just asking them… damn. Wish I could have done that back in the day,” I replied. “Nice thinking outside the box.”
Yolanda bounced on her side of the call. Good to see she wasn’t too bummed out about not getting some pokemon to join her.
“Also! Are our fossils yet ready for pick up?” Yolanda asked.
“Hmmm, I’d need to talk to Crowley. He was pretty happy to have some new specimens, although from what you told me, there should have been another guy applying to have his pokemon resuscitated. Did you get a name or anything?” I’d been waiting to have a talk with said guy as a person of interest.
The fact that Butch and Cassidy were back in Indigo was news to me and the League Police force. I forwarded them the video of Yolanda’s day that, sure enough, featured the pair of internationally wanted criminals.
It had caused quite the ruckus on multiple fronts, with egg on the faces of the Orre police force, along with the border patrol not knowing about the two slipping back in.
Considering Orre just got done with a war ripping through them, I didn’t really blame them.
Our own border force however…
The fact that Butch and Cassidy had pokemon with them that appeared to be capable of fighting a Gym match at the third tier was slightly concerning, but better than if they had elite pokemon.
Still, the risk with such people was usually more in the trainers than the pokemon.
The fact that they’d been desperate only made them potentially more dangerous.
From what I’d heard, a task force was assembled and investigating all of their known haunts and contacts.
Three such contacts had confirmed that they’d had no interactions with the pair since departing Team Rocket months ago and I believed them.
“Brock! Kanto to Brock! Come in!” chimed Yolanda, causing me to blink.
“Sorry about that, I got lost in thought about something you’d told me earlier,” I murmured.
“I gathered,” she replied with an honest smile. “But still! Crowley?”
“I’ll go talk to him now,” I murmured as I tapped on my xtransceiver and transferred the call to Savladore. “Good talking with you.
“Wait no! Was the fossil a jaw or a claw?” she called right as the call blinked out.
Hmmmm, wonder how long I could string her along for what she’d found?
Payback could be fun as the older sibling!
My xtransceiver buzzed as Yolanda tried to shift the call back only for me to reject her and instead dial out to Crowley’s office.
“This is the Pokemon Fossil Institute. I’m Harriet, how may I… Oh! Hello, Gym Leader Brock!” chimed a new face on the screen.
I blinked. “Crowley got a secretary?” I asked rather redundantly.
Harriet nodded. “Yes! I was able to get the job. Crowley has me answering the phone, scheduling his calendar and reminding him of key events he needs to attend rather than just fiddling with his fossils.”
“Huh, he must like you to allow you to do that,” I muttered causing her to beam.
“Oh, everyone says that he’s a problem because of his focus but I never seem to have any issues with him!” she gushed. “He’s a real sweetie!” she chimed.
Huh, interesting. I knew the League would have vetted her heavily before allowing her to work there due to the importance of the fossil revivification method continuing to work.
“I wanted to ask about the fossils that came in. They were a Helix, Skull and what else?”
Harriet consulted her notes. “The final fossil was a Jaw fossil, which… appears to be one of the rarest fossils with only Sail, Plume and Cover fossils having less discoveries so far!”
That was the long way of saying two jaw fossils had been found to one of the other variants, I thought to myself. It was also a bit of a relief for me. It would be great news to give to Yolanda later once it had been revived and should pick her mood up from her previous failure.
“When will the fossils be processed? The trainers that acquired them are approved for handling fossil pokemon so I’d like to return them back to them soon enough.”
“Oh! That’s good luck! They must be quite skilled!” she replied only to tap something on her computer and a blarting noise to sound out. “Hmmm, it seems there’s an issue with the jaw fossil? The next one was to be assigned to Lance?”
“That was only if it was a Megarock or publicly acquired fossil,” I corrected. “These three are remaining in the care of the trainers that found them in the first place.” Would Lance be annoyed? Yes. but he could also deal with it. It was part of the agreement that only Megarock Inc, or publicly acquired fossils would result in him having any claim to them through the League support.
Now there might have been a bit of an argument with Yolanda still being a card carrying Pewter Gym trainer, but I’d fight them on that if they tried. Until then, the girls could enjoy their new pokemon.
“I’ll amend that then,” Harriet chirped. “Alright it looks like Crowley will be able to resuscitate them in the next few days.”
“Excellent, I’ll tell the trainers the good news, thanks Harriet,” I replied before ending the call.
Only for my xtransceiver to buzz again. I almost rejected it out of brotherly principle only to spot that it was from Rocko.
“Rocko, what’s happening?”
“Got an issue over with the stabled pokemon. One of the new trainers’ Spearow is trying to beat on everything and everyone it can. That thing is feisty. I’m surprised a newbie caught something like that and that they’re already at six pokemon!”
“... huh, that is an achievement,” I murmured, opening my logs to see who it was. “Huh, they’ve got a good team assembled here with the Geodude we gave them, Nidoran, Pidgey, Pikachu, Magikarp, and an egg that she found of all things.”
“Huh, bunch of overachievers this year it seems!” Rocko muttered only for a sharp. “Spearow!” to sound out behind him.
“You need me to sort it out?” I asked as something loud smacked into something and a much quieter chirp sounded out.
“Nah, I got this already,” Rocko replied, giving a look over his shoulder before smirking. “Bighead my Kangaskhan laid it out with a flick of his finger. That got them sitting up and paying attention, just thought I’d tell you that we’ve got some serious pokemon trainers and to give the newbie a warning she’s approaching her limit for stabling rights,” he stated.
“I’ll tell them,” I remarked. “Although she’s going to have to slow down some with another pokemon soon which will bring her up to eight pokemon.”
“Well with the team you described they’d do well to slow down and train up their team.”
I gave a nod and signed off.
I didn’t call Yolanda but instead sent her a message warning to call in any more sightings of Butch and Cassidy. Those guys were going to be trouble.
… or they might be an opportunity. If the new iteration of Team Rocket made contact with them and we could trace Butch and Cassidy… hmmm food for thought,” I mused as I headed into the Gym and met with Alexa.
“First challengers are ready,” she remarked, causing me to raise an eyebrow and glance at my xtransceiver.
“But the Gym hasn’t opened yet?” I pointed out.
“Well they’re at the front door waiting,” she replied, bringing up her tablet to show the security camera that showed a trio of kids with their faces mashed up against the glass trying to stare through the one-way glass.
On the reception side of the glass, Bethany the old receptionist was watching the kids without any of them the wiser as she slowly drank her coffee. Sitting next to her was the large button to unlock the doors.
I continued to watch the slow siege play out with Bethany not at all worried about keeping the kids waiting.
“Well, that’s amusing. Who are the kids?” I asked, having not recognised them.
“Those are actually the winners of Oak’s own sponsorships. Each of them has one of the Kanto starters!” declared Alexa.
I gave the kids another thoughtful look.
“The Blue has a Squirtle, mr Green has Bulbasaur, while Red has Charmander?” I guessed, surprised in that they were all boys this year. Usually girls did better on the written test on average so there was typically at least one of them. For it to be all boys was a bit outside the norm, but oh well.
Alexa sighed and nodded. “Yes, that’s pretty much it.”
“Wow, those kids are going to need to learn about rookie crushers fast, or they’re going to be in for a world of hurt,” I muttered, shaking my head at the idea of colour coding your outfit.
I gave my own outfit with browns and dull oranges a slow look before shaking my head. It wasn't the same.
I bounced on foot to foot, finding myself looking forward to the prospect of getting started with the challenges for the coming circuit. A week of cooling my heels had been nice but I’d gotten used to dealing with long, tense days.
To suddenly start things over again with nothing on the horizon for the first week just seemed weird to me.
Clapping my hands I almost skipped to the podium. “Alright! So what do we have from them? Gauntlets? Second or third tier challenges?” I asked.
“No… they just want to face you and collect their badge before moving on,” Alexa replied.
I stalled.
“What?” I asked. “Just challenge me?”
“Mhmm,” she replied. “Just that.”
Slumping, I marched towards the podium. Damn. My expectation of kids these days had gotten too high, I was going to have to reset quickly or find myself counting down the hours each day.
My malaise lingered right up until the kids stepped into the lights of the gym.
I blinked and took them in.
Yes, they wore colour co-ordinated outfits that all but screamed what they had, but there was a wide eyed innocence to them that made me smile. I perked up.
These weren’t dumb kids lacking in motivation.
They were kids looking to experience the world and the wonders therein.
And I was one of the first Gyms they’d come to.
Standing tall I crossed my arms and drew upon my aura.
“Welcome to my Gym, are you here to Challenge me?” I rumbled, causing them to go still.
The first boy stepped forward with a determined glint in his eyes.
“Ah, a red trainer? Let me guess? You got yourself a Charmander, didn’t you?” I mocked, while subtly teaching him that colour co-ordinating wasn’t a good idea.
He blanched. “How did you… oh you checked my trainer profile.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t have to once I learned you were Oak’s sponsors for this year.” I gave each of them an unimpressed look. “All of you only have two pokemon to your name, including your starters. I’d advise watching out for kids coming on a bit too aggressively with you or trying to charm you in when you go to the training fields.”
“Got any more advice?” the first boy growled.
I enlarged a pokeball and held it out to him. “Yeah, fire type isn’t effective against rock type,” I stated firmly.
He enlarged his own and stalked forward to the podium. “I know that,” he muttered as he flicked his pokeball out revealing none other than Charmander.
Well, at least it was ostensibly a better choice than his Caterpie, I thought to myself as our referee ran through the usual pre-match spiel while I set out Geodude.
As soon as the flags dropped the kid snapped his hand forward. “Close in and use Metal Claw!” he called.
And just like that, relief flooded through me as my hope that he wasn’t a clueless kid was validated.
I still didn’t make it easy for him. “Duck low with Defense Curl!” I called, making his attack whiff before he tried again only for it not to knock my pokemon out thanks to their sturdy nature.
“Roll out,” I commanded, causing Geodude to rocket right into Charmander’s stomach and launch it backwards.
Charmander tumbled end over end before digging its claws in and glowering at us.
I smirked. “One good pokemon hit isn’t going to be enough to earn you a badge,” I rumbled while internally I thought. Yeah, it’ll at least take two!
Geodude swept around and Charmander tried to lash us with Ember but it both wasn’t very effective, and at the speeds we were traveling it wasn’t able to connect, making it all the more useless.
When we struck we came in from the side and Charmander had to whip around only to take another solid blow.
“Grrrr!” growled the kid as he realised this wasn’t going to be so easy. When he smirked I felt like raising an eyebrow, but didn’t instead sticking to my stoic expression.
Kid would need to learn to school his expressions, but that could come later.
When I had Geodude make another Roll Out from the side, instead of taking the blow the kid had Charmander drop to the ground, causing Geodude to sail over their head and skid out.
Then they pounced and landed a damaging Metal Claw to end the first exchange.
I returned my Geodude and gave the kid a nod before bringing out my next pokemon.
Onix, the traditional second pokemon of gym challenges emerged with a roar that had the kid backing up.
He tried to stick to his guns with Metal Claw, which was a good idea, but one hit from Onix was enough to knock Charmander out, revealing that he’d taken too much damage earlier in the fight.
When he sent out his Caterpie the match was all but finished, despite his attempt to drag it out with String Shot.
I had Onix Rock Throw past it and end the fight, causing the kid to slump and slam a fist against the railing while his friends called encouragement.
I was starting to lower the podium to approach the kid and talk with him over his mistakes when he punched the railing again and leapt off the back only to run from the arena.
Ah… damn. I watched him go with a sigh.
“And sometimes you get kids like that,” I murmured to myself.
The blue kid darted after his friend while the green boy locked eyes with me.
“You’re going to pay for that!” he declared. And I just nodded.
“Probably, but make sure you don’t take it out on my pokemon, or… well you might prove you don’t deserve the badge, rather than the opposite.”
The kid blinked in confusion, working through what I said before nodding. “Alrght, but this one’s for Jason!”
I blinked. Who?. Oh, right, the kid that ran off just now.
The next trainer, Trent, I learned, was very aware of his typing effectiveness against my own and had no issues earning his first badge. Nor did his other friend who returned with Jason.
By the end two of the three had badges and I approached Jason with a careful gait.
“Hey, you were a lot closer than you realised, it just took you too long and you pokemon wasn’t able to handle the extra hits that I got on it. If you’d had a different pokemon than Caterpie as well…”I considered him. If he’d had a pokemon that could stand up a little more, or hadn’t run off at the end there…. He had proven that he knew about typing effectiveness with Metal Claw… but… no.
I opened my hand towards him. “Come back in a few days, challenge again, and I think you’ll have it locked in,” I stated.
“Arlight,” he murmured, still not meeting my eyes.
I patted him on the head. “Believe it or not, you’re ahead of most kids. They wouldn’t have considered using Charmander with a move like Metal Claw, so good work there, just make sure you can go a few rounds before you step into the arena.”
That got a chuckle from him and he departed with his friends, vowing to return. I watched him go, recalling my own attempts at bashing my way past Brock on the runs where I’d chosen Charmander.
Kids just didn’t know how easy they had it, having options like steel type moves to deal with rock pokemon. Gen one kids would know my pain with having to grind up a pokemon like Charmander, or else use something like Mankey, or Nidoran to get past Brock.
I stepped back into the trainer lounge feeling rather upbeat, having completed my morning's work.
When I was informed I had another two this afternoon my mood stayed that way.
It was good to be back into the swing of things. Now I just had to hope it stayed that way.
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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!
It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!