A/N: Merry Christmas Glac! Hope you enjoy!
Written for Glaceon Prince for the Xmas Secret Santa over at the Poke Write forum.
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Inspiring White
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Gigi might have been her driving force, but it was Black who was her main inspiration.
Some of the trainers noticed it as well. Trainers who Black had battled before. Trainers that she had met before, while travelling with Black. Trainers that remembered Black, and her, and the battle style she had inherited from him.
Because she'd only ever watched his battles so carefully, and there was no-body else she could inherit from as she learned. Learned to battle. Learned to find her own style amongst what she already knew.
And what she already knew of battling was Black.
And what the Battle Subway was slowly teaching her.
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She was picking it up. She didn't need to depend on Brav as often – Brav who'd been given to her by Black to help her on her quest. She didn't need to depend on Servine so often either. Servine who'd originally been N's. White still didn't understand why the female serpent followed her, and obeyed her commands. Whether she was under orders from N, or was helping White through her own free will…
It made White uncomfortable. Particularly because she'd been N's and Gigi had left because of him.
Or, rather, Gigi had left because White had never battled with her. Because she'd tasted both the stage and the battle arena and chosen the arena.
Either way, Gigi was gone. And to understand what Gigi had left for, White needed to learn to battle.
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Her first battle had gone terribly. Black was quick to spot things that would get him out of a pinch, but not White. She was good at spotting talent, but nothing that would help her in a battle. Or so she'd thought. Even Brav's experience hadn't been enough, and Darling – Darling had been knocked out in one hit.
But the Subway Masters were nice and they coached her. Gave her tips on how to train. Tips on how to watch battles, and what to look out for. Tips on how to know which moves worked best at what time – and she picked it up quickly.
And she found herself understanding Black's way of battling more.
Before, it was like dots connected somewhere out of sight. Now the map was slowly forming in her own mind. Crude and inaccurate in lots of places, but it was there. Forming.
Her next battle went better.
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Black had helped her catch Darling, and Brav helped her catch her next Pokemon: the Skunfisk Dorothy.
She'd tried Darling first. Darling who had the type advantage and who was the only Pokemon till that point she'd caught on her own. But Darling didn't have enough experience…or it was White who lacked the experience still. Either way, Darling collapsed and White had Brav or N's Servine left.
She chose Brav. Though she knew he had a type disadvantage, Servine had caught her first Pokemon. She needed to be less dependent on her. Especially if she went back to N.
She needed to be less dependent on Black as well. Black and Brav who she'd one day return to him.
But she needed one of them, and Brav was the lesser of the two evils.
And he beat the Skunfisk, allowing White to catch her.
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She won her first battle without using Brav or the Servine in a way she was sure Black would be proud of. The Subway Masters laughed as she said that, though they assured her he would be. The teasing carried on a little longer, but it was light-heartening. How White was growing. How she was getting the hang of battling.
How she could face Black one day and return his Brav to him. And how, one day further than that, she could meet Gigi and show her how she'd changed: how she'd learned the art of battling as well, to understand that desire Gigi had left her for.
And she was inspired. She continued to battle, understanding more about Gigi's desire and about Black's passion, and getting better at it too.
A few trainers joked that she was channelling Black's spirit.
She wasn't quite that good.