Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon but I do own my OCs.
Linoone slept by the door as I watched a replay of a matinee baseball game taking place in the Johto region. I did my best to not completely shut my brain down since mom would be coming through the door soon. I wanted to skip the talk for two reasons: Sadie knew more about the situation and I didn't know my status at the gym. Linoone's head perked up as footsteps approached the door. Mom was home at her usual time and Sadie ran downstairs before either of us could get a word out.
"Mom, I need to talk to you," Sadie mumbled with her head down.
"Honey, what's wrong?" We saw a tear streak down her cheek as she started to sniffle. "Let's sit at the kitchen table and talk."
"No. My room. I want to talk in my room." I felt a switch flip in mom's head and she knew this wasn't something small.
Whether or not Sadie intentionally left me out of the conversation, it saved me the trouble of answering questions I had no knowledge of. Their conversation seemingly started out normal because I didn't hear anything. As time went on, Sadie had frequent outbursts. Lucas came home in the middle of one only to go in the backyard five seconds later. Sobbing followed for another few minutes before her door opened.
"Ryan! Please sit at the kitchen table and have Lucas go outside. I need to talk to you," mom called down.
"Let me tell him." I walked to the back door and saw him relaxing in a chair. "Don't come in until we're out of the kitchen."
"What for?"
"Later. I'll tell you later," I sighed. "Linoone! Go outside with Lucas for a bit!" He did so without hesitation. Mom was on the phone when I came back into the kitchen.
"Do whatever you think is best. Sadie's very upset about the whole thing… she's in her room… see you later." She took a deep breath while motioning me to sit. "Your sister told me everything. I'm glad you kept her from getting hurt but why did you hit Shawn with a wet floor sign?"
I took a long pause then came up with something. "Yellow was an easy color to see so I went for the sign. I just wanted him to let go of her."
"Fair enough; I get that telling someone else about the problem wasn't really ideal in this case." Mom leaned back. "Still, what if you severely injured him? Then what? We're glad you stopped him, but you can't go overboard like that!"
"You're kidding, right? I was in a storage closet!" I snapped back. "A hammer, nail gun, harmful chemicals, a piece of thick lumber! I had so many items around me that could've killed him yet I picked the weakest one! He should be lucky that his ass isn't in the hospital or even the Pokémon Center."
Her eyes widened. "Don't you swear in this house!"
"Fuck that! We've got bigger things to worry about!"
"Ryan, I can worry about more than one thing at a time. I don't care how mad you are. Watch your language!" She'd probably have a heart attack if she saw me in the break room or when challengers weren't around. "Anyway, what's going to happen to you two?" Not what I wanted to hear.
"Wattson met with us individually and we'll have to wait until tomorrow for our punishments. Worst case, I go to jail. Best case, I keep my job and never work with him again. I go in for the morning shift tomorrow."
We sat at the table in silence thinking about every possible outcome. Mom eventually left but not before sniffling and wiping her eyes. Lucas came in with Linoone to fix himself dinner before turning on the television. I heard dad open the door an hour later and sprint upstairs. Sadie only had one outburst although it was drawn out. His feet thumped around in the master bedroom with mom walking around afterward. He then came into the kitchen.
I couldn't get a read on how upset he was at the situation but I could only imagine what he was like before. He cooked himself dinner and ate silently with a straight face. The moment I went to get a glass of water was the moment he dropped the fork on his plate.
"You had quite a day, Ryan," he casually stated.
"Yup. I could've made it more interesting," I calmly replied while bringing the pitcher over to the table.
Dad poured himself a glass of water. "I'm not necessarily mad at you for what you did. You mother isn't mad either. We were concerned that you did something far worse than how Sadie and you described it. Now that the initial shock is gone, everything is being put into perspective. Unfortunately, we have to wait until tomorrow before moving to the next steps. Do you have anything for me?"
"Please don't even mention the gym to anyone until I know more. It's bad enough Wattson made me wait. Although, he's willing to look over the security cameras."
"Waiting isn't going to be fun for any of us." He got up and hugged me. "We're proud of you guys for staying out of big trouble for this long but this was worth getting in trouble for. We love you guys and we love that you watch out for each other. Lucas and Sadie are glad that you walk them home whenever they visit the gym. Remember that mom and I aren't mad at you. Please, try not to swear in the house. Your mother didn't have the best family growing up and she doesn't want our house turning back into her old one."
I hugged him back. "Thanks dad." He made a call before walking to the front door.
"I'm going back to work. My boss was willing to take a short drive and give me a longer break. Sadie just wants to be alone even though I offered to stay. Don't bother her for the rest of the night, okay?" He turned to Lucas as he shut the door. "Keep this to yourself. If anyone hears about it at school, it better not come from your mouth."
The rest of the night consisted of me sitting in my room reading to pass the time. Linoone trotted in and hopped in my lap so I pet him. He looked concerned and how could I blame him? The entire afternoon was filled with everyone shouting. I threw myself in bed the moment I started to zone out. Morning arrived a lot faster than I wanted it to. My only plan for the day was expect anything and go from there.
The walk to the gym was the same as usual although I felt like I was walking into a trap the closer I got to the entrance. What if Wattson was going to have someone from the league there and I got arrested? Did I really need the money or experience anymore? I could just run away as a trainer but then how would I go about challenging him for a badge? The more I thought about it, the more complex my life would be if I skipped the visit. I went straight for Wattson's office only to find out it was locked. The receptionist pulled me away from the door and told me that he was in a conference call.
"You have to understand that a group of investors from another region wanted to improve and expand New Mauville. He's been thinking about this over the past few days and is trying to get a better idea of what they want to do." Oh right, that didn't help his mood either.
"How long until he's done? I have an appointment too."
"He knows about that. When he's done, he's done. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait in the lobby until he calls me."
"Whatever works."
One hour later, I was finally called into his office. Papers scattered on his desk and a broken phone against the wall were the first two things I noticed. Magneton was floating around absentmindedly as he paced around the desk.
"Shawn has already been fired and banned from the gym for one year," he said after composing himself.
"So? What's my future looking like?" I shot back out of instinct as if I didn't care about what happened to him; I did care. He let out a deep sigh.
"After looking the film over, I have no choice but to fire you too." We looked at each other in silence for a bit as the words sunk in; it was like a punch to the gut when he sighed again and rubbed his forehead.
"Are you fucking kidding me!?"
"You swung a sign at his head! If he didn't throw his hands up, you could've killed him! That was beyond crossing the line!"
I pounded the desk and went nose to nose with him. "It's a fucking hard plastic sign! You're telling me that a grown man can die from getting hit with that!?" Magneton started discharging small amounts of electricity around itself so I backed off.
"Ryan, our heads aren't like the heads of most Pokémon. Humans aren't meant to take blows to the head. If I were to land one good hit to your head, I could kill you. There are a lot of factors to consider but the possibility exists."
"You know what? Fuck it! Now that you're done deciding my future, care to tell me what the league is going to do? If you think I'm going to let this slide, you're wrong."
"You'll be visited later today and I can imagine Shawn being put on probation for starters."
"That's it!? I know your punishment is different than the league front office, but really!? He slapped my sister across the face and then fought me!"
He pounded the desk. "Everyone involved knows that! But not everyone knows about the 'apology' you told me and I decided not to tell anyone about it. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you were saying it in the heat of the moment. And I said probation was for starters! I will cooperate with the investigation but as far as I'm concerned, it's out of my hands."
"Unbelievable," I mumbled. "Sounds like we're done here. Guess I'll just find something else to do!" I sarcastically yelled as I walked to the door.
"If you think the decision to fire you two and ban you from the gym was an easy decision, then you're sorely mistaken." I slammed the door and stormed outside.
The abandoned game corner on the southwest side of town was a perfect place to let out my frustration. Decaying planks of wood were readily available to throw against the wall or slam into other objects not taken out of the building. I fired off every curse word I could think of and started to get colorful with my phrases until I tired myself out. A construction worker and a man in a suit holding a briefcase noticed me climb out of a side window into the alley.
"Hey kid! What were you doing in there?"
I shook my head and laughed. "First off, I'm 22 years old. Second, I needed to vent. What could I possibly do to make this place look any worse than it already is without tearing it down? Hell, I probably improved this piece of shit." The construction worker took a step forward.
"Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you that you aren't going to just sneak in anymore. This piece of shit is opening back up."
My jaw dropped. "Didn't people wanted this shut down for good?" The businessman stepped forward.
"That may have been the case, but business is business. A man that used to run the Joyful Game Corner in the Sevii Islands figured he could make more money on traditional casino games. Here's all the legal paperwork if you have a problem with it," he said while unlocking the case to show me a thick packet of paper.
I snatched the packet and skimmed through it. "Guess so. Opening in a few weeks though? Seems awfully fast to go from a dump to a fully functioning game corner."
The businessman lost color in his face. "You… you actually skimmed it? I thought you'd just look at it and give it back."
"When you outline the proposal with a table of contents, it's not that hard to find anything. Besides, looking between the lines goes a long way in this city. My mom deals with contracts and warranties all the time," I casually explained. The two looked at each other nervously.
"Only city officials know about this because they're trying to minimize the backlash of it opening up again. We need this to be kept a secret until the promotion period starts. Besides, the new owner has a large team ready to go which explains why the turnaround time is so short." I stood there with a blank expression before giving back the packet.
"Now do us a favor and get lost!" the construction worker barked before opening a blueprint sheet. I processed everything with a blank expression, but the businessman reached into his pocket.
"Here's the deal kid. In my pocket is 2,000 poké, also referred to as 'P,' to keep your mouth shut. If word gets around that this place is going up before we start promoting or if you step over caution tape in the future, you'll be in for a lot more trouble than you think. Be smart about this."
Money clearly wasn't a factor to this man since I gave no indication of spreading the news around town. I left without further incident and went straight home to add the money to my stash. Between working my janitorial job, my job at the gym, paying for my own things as needed, and helping the family in a pinch or two in my four years since graduation, I had about 12,000P. Adding the bribe brought the total to 14,000.
Was it a lot on paper? Absolutely; most trainers didn't have that much lying around ready to spend. Was it going to last an entire journey? Unless I won some battles, no. Necessities like healing items along with better gear for me was going to nail my wallet at the start. Linoone being my only Pokémon was going to keep costs down for a bit but maybe I would have to rely on Pokémon Centers to help me out with pity items from time to time.
Lunch rolled around before I realized that I had the house to myself. Dad had a morning shift because he usually sleeps during the day; my parent's door was wide open. I let Linoone out to roam around although he wasn't acting like himself. He eventually started to stare at me from across the room.
"What's wrong buddy? Hungry?" He shook his head and scampered to my feet. "Oh, who am I kidding. We're done with the gym. Fired. Gone. We can't even go back until the suspension is up. All because I wanted to teach Shawn a lesson."
"Noooooon," he angrily grunted after starting into space. I knew he remembered how upset Sadie was.
"Amazing how everything went to shit in a flash. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not formally registered as a trainer so that might complicate things. Don't worry though, we're still going to travel across the region. We'll just have a late start."
The next few hours were spent figuring out what my team was going to be like. Schools taught kids early on that a water type for trainers was a necessity because it would be easier to access more of Hoenn. Ferries existed across the region for anyone without a Pokémon to ride on, but they cost money and were generally slower.
In addition to water, I'd need a fire or flying type to deal with annoying grass Pokémon and their status inducing moves. An electric Pokémon to handle all the water types or zap other people if it ever came down to that would be nice. Aside from those three slots, anything else was fair game. My only concern was that I'd make a team full of glass cannons or slow walls; diversity in types and stats would come in handy the longer into my journey.
When the time came, I left the house to meet my siblings at school so that they wouldn't go to the gym. Sadie still looked down in the dumps while Lucas was adamant about taking the day off from training. I wasn't sure if they fully realized my situation because they didn't say a word on the way home. Dad was still in his uniform as we entered.
"Anything happen today, Ryan?" I looked at the floor as my siblings went upstairs. "Take a seat. Tell me everything that happened," he softly urged. A knock came at the door before we could get settled in and I went to answer it. A man in a collared shirt and dress pants was holding a folder.
"Ryan? I'm with the Pokémon League. Do you have a minute? I figured you would be home around this time based on your normal work hours."
I took a deep breath. "Sure, come on in. We're in the kitchen."
He quickly sat down and started organizing his papers after introducing himself to my dad. A quick phone call tool place to what we assumed was the league headquarters before turning his attention to us.
"The Pokémon League has looked into the incident at Mauville's gym a few days ago and has made their decision."
"That was fast. What's going to happen?" He looked over what looked like the formal letter that I was going to receive.
"In addition to the punishment Wattson administered, your trainers license will be suspended one month." Laughter almost came out of my mouth.
"That's funny… because I'm technically not a trainer. I never signed up to participate in the Ever Grande Conference. Doesn't your database know that?"
"Is that so?" he said with a grin. "Well you don't have a tangible license like every other trainer. You are what we call a 'limited trainer' because you worked in a gym under certain rules whereas unrestricted trainers are the ones that usually collect badges. Before the incident, your record was 70 wins and 57 losses and the league knows that."
My dad leaned over the table. "How does that affect my son going forward?" he asked somewhat angrily.
The agent kept his composure. "Ryan will not be allowed to apply for the usual, unrestricted license until a month has passed. His face is in our database and a picture is required when receiving any type of trainer license. However, he will be labeled as 'terminated' so he does not try to take advantage of league perks. Our system will tell every Pokémon Center computer that he is suspended as a trainer until the period is up. However, he may still heal his Pokémon there or use them for shelter."
"So what you're telling me is that my son will have to put his journey on hold?"
"Correct in the sense that he's not allowed to collect badges. He is free to roam the region as he pleases or train on his own time."
"And what about Shawn?"
"Unfortunately, he left the city before we could reach him. Since it's technically an open case, we're not allowed to tell you what it will be. According to Wattson, he came in to his office before you did; we assume it was last night before the gym closed or just before dawn. There was a small struggle before Shawn ran away for good. Nobody knows where he is."
I was well beyond furious. It's bad enough he hit my sister, but to run away from it all? He's getting a beatdown if I ever see him again.
"He can't run for that long, can he?"
"Depends how smart he is," the man replied while shrugging his shoulders. "Any visit he takes to a league affiliated place will be a risky one, especially where his information is required. Until then, he's going to keep running until someone catches him. We already put out a region wide notice."
My dad took care of everything else until the meeting was over. Papers upon papers were given to us explaining the situation and how to handle my suspension. The one thing I got out of it was that I could still battle other people or participate in contests. Any money I won in those events could be withheld until my suspension was up or the party could refuse to pay me which added another level of frustration.
When mom came home, everything went back to chaos. We tried to explain everything to her as she interrupted us at every turn. Lucas and Sadie were told the whole story as well. The sun was finally gone when everything was out in the open. I thought about going after Shawn on top of the league but I'm not sure if I would have the money or time for it. I needed to get out of the house.
"Going out for a bit! Be back later tonight!" I yelled upstairs as a courtesy before running out the door. A pair of feet came downstairs as I put my hand on the knob.
"Don't do it, Ryan… please," Sadie said with tears streaking down her face.
"Come here," I whispered back. She threw her arms around me and buried her head in my chest. "I won't try to find him. I just need to go to my place to vent."
She looked at the floor. "I'm sorry about all of this. It's all my fault."
I rubbed her head. "You did nothing wrong. I'm not mad at you for this. We may not always get along, but you're still my little sister. I'll be damned if I just let someone treat you that way in front of me and do nothing about it. Are people at school bothering you about this?"
"Not to my face. Some people know about it though."
"Don't let them get to you if you can help it, okay? Use your resources. You don't take shit from anyone, understand?"
"Yup."
"Good." She walked back upstairs feeling slightly more confident about the situation.
I put the bribe money from earlier in my pocket and headed to the south entrance. Drunk people from all walks of life roamed the streets trying to find the next thing to try like kids on a new playground. My own playground required me to have a variety of items from the mart and be sober as possible. After hanging out by the Cycling Road docks looking at the ships and buying a ticket, a ferry carrying tourists approached its designated area.
"Thank you for using the Express Ferry to visit New Mauville. Enjoy the rest of the night! It's a beautiful one," a gruff voice yelled from the stern. I waited for everyone to get off before waving to the captain.
Vinny was a man who was passionate about sailing. He was 45 years old and in great shape because of all his time on the high seas. Mister Briney took him on as a cabin boy when Vinny was 15 before he retired a few years later. Captain Stern took him in after Briney recommended him and he worked his way up from cabin boy to captain. Whenever he wasn't on an expedition or home, he was ferrying people to New Mauville. Since I went there a lot and my dad talked to him during breaks, I was closer to him than the average person.
"Oh? Well look who it is! Ryan! How are you doing tonight?"
"Looking to train. I haven't been to New Mauville in a long time."
"Catching anything tonight?"
"Maybe. How long are you guys running before you're done for the night?" He went from cheerful to concerned.
"This trip and two other trips. Security will have to take you back if you miss the last ferry. Are you really planning to stay over there for three hours?"
"I need to escape the city for a bit. Battling clears my head."
A small group of tourists took the ferry over with the intent of exploring the island. I went straight into the facility and tried to find anyone willing to battle on the ground floor. When nobody wanted to battle, I was forced to go deeper underground past the now inactive generator.
New Mauville used to be limited to just the first floor, but Wattson slowly started to add more floors underground to lure in more adventurous people. There were 69 floors constructed but the public is cut off at the eighth-floor stairwell due to the lack of development past that area. An elevator was available for everyone, but very few were brave enough to go to the ninth floor or below. Most of the budget for the first dozen floors was allocated to structural integrity and the project stalled when funding stopped. The explorable floors were mostly just a series of storage rooms whereas the rest of the floors were open spaces as far as I knew.
Voltorb and Magnemite were the only two Pokémon that thrived in the environment so finding one wasn't hard. Unfortunately, the ones past the fifth floor were more hostile to visitors. Very rarely would they attack a defenseless human so they would use their numbers to force people back up the stairs. Security could be called with a simple device given to those who ask for it. The "enter at your own risk" approach was mentioned back at the ticket booth and not too many tourists risked the unknown.
"Go away! Shoo!" a woman's voice yelled on the third floor. A Magnemite was casually hovering over a man and a woman my age. "Cecil, call out Ninjask! Dig is our best choice!"
"Right! Ninjask, I need some help! Go underneath the floor!"
Magnemite stared ahead absentmindedly as the new foe in front of it prepared to attack. Its mood changed when Ninjask popped up to land a huge hit. To our surprise, it didn't faint. It then fired off a Spark attack that knocked out their line of defense.
"Linoone! I need you to distract it with Tail Whip!" My plan worked better than I thought because it showed no interest in fighting Linoone. It focused on the tail and then on Linoone as it ran around. "Go Poké Ball!" The ball wobbled a bit before coming to a stop; it was mine.
"Thank you so much," Cecil panted. "Dig was taught via TM for situations like this but I'm confused. Why didn't it faint? And where was security? We pressed the button on the device."
I stared at its ball. "Sturdy is a great ability. It prevents a knockout when Magnemite is at full health. And security takes some time to get to you. I'm Ryan by the way."
He shook my hand. "Cecil. And this is my girlfriend, Maddie. We're not really into battling so Ninjask and her Chimecho are the only things we have."
"Was Chimecho unable to battle?"
Maddie sheepishly looked away. "Yeah. We were trying to get out and it's more of a healer than a fighter. Thanks for the distraction. I think you should keep Magnemite since neither of us want it. Although… it looked cute for a bit."
She was right; it looked like it wanted to play more than battle. I don't blame them for going on the offensive since wild Pokémon are unpredictable.
"Hello? Everything okay down there?" a security guard asked from the stairwell.
"We're fine now. Could you escort them back to the first floor?"
"Hold on!" Another teenage couple came out from a pair of boxes. "We only have water Pokémon but we really need to leave."
Cecil shot them a dirty look for not helping as the security guard called out his Sandslash. I continued wandering around with Linoone out as I went deeper. He was on his game and didn't allow himself to get paralyzed. Magnemite was happy when I let it out despite being low on health; it got happier when I healed it back to full strength.
Some older teenagers made their way to the elevator where two guards slightly older than me were standing. After a quick talk, they allowed them to take the elevator down to the ninth floor which immediately piqued my interest. Security never bothered to stay down here so that was also a red flag. They didn't care about their appearance so acting professional wasn't the ideal option.
"Take me down to the ninth floor."
Both of them laughed my request off. "Good one! You should go to amateur hour at the comedy club." My patience was as low as it could go.
"I'm pissed off and need to let off some steam. Some underground battling would be nice. I have faith in my skill otherwise I wouldn't be so far down here this late at night." They weren't laughing anymore.
"Watch your language if you know what's good for you," one growled while reaching for a Great Ball.
"Language is an intangible thing you dipshit. How am I supposed to watch something I can't see?" His partner in the back started to snicker but the other one tossed his ball.
"Makuhita! Teach him some manners!"
Dammit! Well, one option is better than the other. "Go Magnemite!" It came out emotionless but it was aware of the situation.
I felt the confidence drain out of my body after his partner got out of the line of fire. What attacks did my new partner know besides Spark? A Pokédex would've told me if I had one. I could've battled with it before this point. Nope, I let Linoone do all the work since Magnemite battling other Magnemites or Voltorbs would be too tedious. Fuck me.
"Okay Magnemite, Spark!" Its body became engulfed in electricity before ramming into Makuhita as fast it could.
"Shake it off and use Vital Throw!" Fists flew before it grabbed a hold of my partner and slammed it into the ground.
Magnemite reacted on its own by emitting a soundwave that caused Makuhita to cover its ears. Light started to form at the end of its magnets before it was shot out as a beam. The concentrated attack landed a direct hit to the stomach and the fighting type instantly collapsed.
"Damn… good shit Magnemite," I mumbled in awe.
It's like a switch went off inside of it when it battled; it didn't look concerned about winning or showing off its strength. But why was it so happy after the battle? Battling out of self-defense usually resulted in a Pokémon wanting to get away from the problem yet there it was, just hovering in place. It wasn't hostile when I caught it and obviously wasn't shy about battling. What a weird Pokémon.
The man quickly recalled his partner and sprinted to the taped off stairwell. I went to chase him but was met with a grinning Sableye. Magnemite got between us with sparks coming from its magnets.
"Morons who designed this place didn't think to make the elevator go faster or put in another one," the other guard said with a hint of annoyance. "At least I won't be bored. Sableye, use Night Shade!"
Its eyes flashed before a beam of black energy nailed Magnemite. I didn't order a counterattack since my partner opted for Spark. Hitting it was hard because Sableye climbed on the boxes. Any momentum that I thought I had was gone when it started to throw empty crates. I ordered my Pokémon to charge ahead with Spark and got in a hit when it looked close to fainting.
"Finish it off with Shadow Sneak!" Sableye's body sunk into the floor and moved around until it was behind its target; Magnemite never saw it coming.
"Some security you guys are. All that for one Magnemite I caught a few minutes ago?"
He laughed and shook his head. "You don't want to go to the ninth floor if you're struggling this much. Just take the ferry back."
"I still have one Pokémon left. Go Linoone!" He went from surprised to confused.
"Won't do you much good, kid. You can't hit us with anything. Why bother continuing?"
"Night Shade and Shadow Sneak won't affect Linoone. I'll be perfectly happy to stall you out if it means I can battle other trainers here for some cash. I have all night."
"You can't stall me out. Sableye, use Fury Swipes!" he ordered with a smirk. I wasn't ready for the quick strike and Linoone couldn't escape the constant scratching on his own.
"Pin Missile!"
The smirk faded as Sableye took a beating from three separate rounds of needles to its body. Neither of us wanted to make a move after there was some distance between them. He didn't know that was all I had to hit him with and I didn't know his fourth attack.
"Baby-Doll Eyes!" Not only did my Pokémon put on a cute face, it put its two front paws together pleading for it not to attack.
"Don't fall for that fake look! Keep swiping at it!"
I figured messing around wasn't the way to go anymore. "Pin Missile! Fire away!"
Both Pokémon ran around trying to get their hits in. Crates were used as shields or a place to pivot before trying to strike. Sableye got creative and started throwing broken pieces of wood for a distraction or with intent to hurt Linoone. Unless there was a rusty nail involved, it wasn't a concern.
After using its superior speed, Linoone got behind it and fired at its back. Sableye was too tired to stand up or even defend itself. The guard panicked and tossed out a Voltorb which was immediately met with Headbutt. It fainted after another one and I started to walk to the stairs; the elevator came up with the first guard, a man with brown hair wearing a cloak with a blue undershirt, sunglasses, and a bodyguard was beside him as well.
"What do I see here? You're telling me that this trainer beat both of you with only a Magnemite and Linoone?" the cloaked man calmly asked.
"It was a fluke! We just have to heal up and he'll be running home scared!"
"Silence! You two got complacent. Not many are willing to come down here aside from the ones I invite. Then when you finally get tested, you lose!? When you have a clear advantage in numbers and typing!? Pathetic!" He turned to me. "Tell me something, boy: why are you down here? I'm genuinely curious."
"You want to know why? I'll tell you why," I whispered with a fake smile. "I lost my job at the gym! I'm suspended from anything involving the league! I'm pissed off! This is my city and I know where all the underground battling is to blow off steam and make some money. Now are you going to let me through or do I have to battle you too?"
"Such anger," he noted to his bodyguard before turning back to me. "You are very adamant about moving on. How would you like to go to the next floor?"
"Finally! Let's go."
His bodyguard patted me down before I took the elevator down to the ninth floor. It was a wide-open area with a portable healing machine far away from the field. Eight other trainers were sitting on folding chairs. All of them shot me a look as if I was prey and they were going to gang up on me. This wasn't some average battle ring out of a back alley. These trainers looked too refined for petty gambling.
"This man has earned the right to be here with his performance on the eighth floor. I don't want any harm to come to him. Are we clear?" Everyone solemnly nodded. "Excellent. To test his limits, I will battle him and then we will go from there." Nobody saw that coming. Even the bodyguard was surprised.
"What are the rules?"
"You may use all of your Pokémon while I will use only one. If either of us recall our Pokémon at any time, then it is considered fainted for the rest of the battle."
My anger rose exponentially. "Don't mock me! If you brought six Pokémon, use all fucking six of them!"
He remained steadfast. "As you wish. Heal up first."
Mumbling from the crowd started to get louder as the bodyguard moved everyone to a safe distance. The words "crazy" and "idiotic" were frequently used but I didn't care. Obstacle after obstacle kept me from reaching this point. Now was the moment I was waiting for.
"How do you want to start?" I asked seeing everything was in place.
"You can have the first move but let me make my choice. Go Alakazam!"
The bravado and anger drained from my body when it materialized. Psychic types were hard to deal with if a trainer didn't have their own or a dark type. Steel types were the third best option, but Magnemite was far too weak to stand a chance; Linoone wouldn't fare much better. Sturdy could allow me to get off a hit so I had that going for me.
"Here we go Magnemite! Use Spark!"
He mocked me by not ordering it to dodge. Magnemite did its thing and a few sparks came out of Alakazam's body. My opponent frowned although he didn't let the paralysis of his partner to get to him.
"Fire Punch!" It shook off the paralysis and jumped forward to land a powerful punch on the top of Magnemite as opposed to square in the eye.
"Quick! Use your sound attack!" I sounded like an idiot for not knowing the attack name; every other trainer tried to hide their laughter. It responded by emitting a frequency that made Alakazam uncomfortable.
"Strike back!" Paralysis took effect forcing Alakazam to stay put.
"Use your beam attack!" Again, it wasn't an accurate description but I got the point across. All that mattered was the attack found its mark.
"Psychic! Slam it against the ground!"
My luck finally ran out since Magnemite was no longer in control of its body. A few collisions into the ground were all it took before it fell unconscious. I felt bad about how much I asked it to do despite owning it for just under one hour; I wouldn't be surprised if it hated me when I called it out next.
"Next up is Linoone! Tail Whip!" Alakazam as a species has awful defenses but I thought it could live a hit from my strongest Pokémon.
"Psychic!" Luck favored me as it went down on one knee from paralysis.
"Charge in with Headbutt!"
His calm demeanor started to fade. "Dammit Alakazam! Psychic!"
Linoone wasn't halfway there when he was lifted off the ground. Like Magnemite, it was tossed around the field or spun around. I noticed the hold wasn't as strong as before and it was laboring.
"Pin Missile! Break the hold!"
Small needles were fired as fast as Linoone could get them out. A few found their mark while others forced the audience to run away from the field. He was eventually dropped and I noticed how heavy his breathing was. My opponent had five other Pokémon in reserve so I did the one thing that I swore I would never do.
"I forfeit. Linoone, return," I solemnly stated as the beam brought him back to safety.
"Do you have any more Pokémon?"
"Nope. Just these two."
He silently pointed to the healing machine while personally tending to Alakazam. After I healed my partners and turned around, he was standing by the elevator while the bodyguard stood by the stairs going back up.
"Don't think you can simply leave."
Have a good day and I will see you next chapter :)
-W4f
