"Best of luck, everyone!" Professor Oak offered as he ruffled up Raphael's and Felix's hair. The four teens stood in the lobby of the lab, morning light streaming through the wide windows. Felix automatically cringed, not expecting the hand as he fiddled with his Pokedex. But in any case, his suspicions were confirmed-the Pokedex didn't have anything he didn't already know. Shame. Felix pocketed the device.
"Thank you, Professor," Mal said, polite as ever.
"Yes, thank you," Raphael chimed in. Felix and Sonia stayed quiet.
"Now as a quick reminder, Route One is a straight path all the way to Viridian. It can get windy, but there won't be any branches or forks to worry about," Professor Oak said for the fifth time that morning. "Just follow the road and you'll be there by nightfall! But if not, I'm sure you're all prepared for your first night on the trail, right?"
"Yes, Professor, we're prepared," Sonia said with just a hint of annoyance. "Let's just go now." The girl walked out the front door without a second glance from her or Zorua from her perch on Sonia's shoulder. In turn the boys looked at one another, somewhere between surprised and confused.
"We should be going to," Raphael declared. "Thanks again for everything, Professor Oak!" The trainer walked with purpose out the door, Mal, Felix, and Cascade close behind. The three jogged at a brisk pace after Sonia and upon reaching her slowed to a more casual speed.
Felix took in the sight of dense trees marking the edges of the winding route, of patches of tall grass dotting the dirt road. He smelled the clean air, listened to birds sing, and felt each step, one after another. What a perfect day!
"Ah, I'm so excited!" Felix exclaimed. "Travelling all of Kanto, meeting so many new people and Pokémon, growing stronger and wiser… I've been looking forward to this my whole life!"
"I've been training for this my whole life, actually," Raphael spoke up. "Years of preparation, learning every battle tactic in the book, and working with some of the best trainers in all of Kanto… all for this journey."
"So I've read," Felix replied. "You really have it all, don't you?"
"Believe me, I've earned it," the boy claimed. "You don't work as hard as I do without reaping the rewards."
Felix grinned. "Hah! You're talking to a fully certified breeder, one who skipped a decade of classes to finish this early-if I didn't want to go on this journey, I'd be making serious cash with Pokémon breeding and caretaking commissions. But instead I chose to come all the way to Kanto and spend however long it takes to push you through the gyms… but if you're so high and mighty like you say, should I have bothered coming here at all?"
Raphael scowled. "Hey, it's not like I begged you to come along—"
Felix laughed heartily. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Actually, it'd be more accurate to say I begged to come along with how much work it took to get here, so thank you for tolerating my presence!"
"Uhh, you're welcome," Raphael replied unsteadily. "I'm… glad you're here, really."
"Not to mention, Cascade beat Sola pretty good back there," Felix said casually.
"That wasn't a fair fight and you know it!" Raphael exclaimed. "Reacting to your opponent's commands is a critical part of battling!"
"It's all part of your training," Felix explained. "How much better will you be if you can react to attacks or deception in half the time? Also, Sabrina's going to be a real pain in the rear with her telepathy unless we start practicing for it."
"She's the sixth gym leader!" Raphael complained.
"Don't forget Sonia! Hey, Sonia, you communicate with your Pokémon during battles using telepathy, right?"
"Hm?" Sonia replied, still looking forward. "Oh, yeah."
"There you go," Felix looked at Raph while gesturing to Sonia. Raphael only frowned. "Hey, is there a problem?" Felix asked.
"I…" Raphael began, then eyed Sonia suspiciously.
"I already know, d'Alcott; just say it," Sonia spoke up bluntly.
"It's… that!" Raphael exclaimed. "That and her other weird psychic powers. She has no respect for privacy or basic human decency. When we first met she read my mind and Mal's without permission, just to insult me for my private thoughts."
"It shouldn't matter if you've got nothing to be ashamed of," Felix commented.
"What, you've got nothing you're not willing to say out loud?" Raph retorted.
"'Course I do!" Felix winked. "But it won't bother me if it comes out." His heart lurching, he realized that Sonia hadn't ever spoken up about his… secret. Did she know? Why hadn't she said anything about it? He was good at not thinking about it, but certainly a psychic could find it anyway… right?
"Well, lucky you," Raphael grumbled. "But I still can't stand her."
"The feeling's mutual," Sonia spoke up. "So just stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours."
"Let's just move on," Felix advised. "So, in my research about the gym leaders, it seems the average number of attempts is around six to seven once you get to Surge and beyond. Even if they deliberately use weaker Pokémon to scale with a trainer's progress, they're all way harder than most people expect."
"Yeah, I've seen videos," Raphael nodded. "They destroy trainers over and over."
"So it makes me wonder, what about them is so tough?" Felix pondered. "If they use Pokémon on par with the average trainer's, shouldn't they be on equal footing?"
"Don't forget, these guys have decades of practice battling," Raphael explained. "Superior tactics, better reaction time—"
"A closer bond with their Pokémon?"
"Everything," Raphael finished. "Most trainers eventually win by sheer strength; I want to do better."
Felix grinned. "Oh, really?"
"I want to beat them at their own game. I want to show them why I deserve to be the champion, why I was chosen to represent the future of Kanto. I'm going to win not because my Pokémon did more laps around the track, I'm going to win because I can outsmart them."
Sonia snorted. "Outsmart gym leaders? Really? I knew you had an inflated opinion of yourself, Raphael d'Alcott, but I'm surprised you haven't burst from your own ego yet."
Raphael glared at her and opened his mouth to probably say something nasty, but Felix stepped between them, saying, "Sonia, that was a little uncalled for, don't you think?"
Sonia merely walked on, saying, "Sooner or later he's going to end up humiliated in battle. Would you rather him learn humility now or after he's had his team utterly decimated? Because I know he's afraid of it. Failure's not an option for him, not with all the high expectations put on him. Losing means failing the Elite Four, your mother, and now Felix-isn't that right?"
"Shut up," Raphael growled.
"So you refuse to lose, even if that's completely impossible. The gym leaders are going to defeat you over and over—"
"I said shut up!" Raphael shouted. Felix frowned. Saying he looked tense was an understatement-he looked ready to kill the girl.
"Sonia, please, let me handle this," Felix said. "I think you've made your point." Turning to Raphael, he suggested, "Why don't we fall behind a few steps? That way we can have our conversation with a bit more privacy."
"Nothing's private around Sonia Darkin," Raph muttered.
Felix laughed. "That's very true! Ah, but we'll get used to it. If you're at peace with yourself, she shouldn't bother you."
Raph sighed in response, but slowed his pace with Felix until Mal and Sonia were about fifty paces ahead.
"Sonia's rather rude," Cascade commented.
"I'm tempted to agree, but I feel like it's just bad chemistry between them," Felix explained in the Buizel language. "Raph's rubbed the wrong way by Sonia's brusqueness, and Sonia's rubbed the wrong way by Raph's pride."
"And you?" Cascade asked.
The boy smiled. "Well, I think I'll be able to understand and get along with both of them. Sonia wasn't so bad last night, was she?"
"Felix?" Raphael interjected.
"Oh, sorry!" Felix switched to English. "Cascade just had a question is all."
"That's fine," Raph replied. His shoulder's slumped a little as he sighed. "So… what do you think, honestly? Is my plan stupid and prideful like Sonia said?"
"I think it's a great goal, honestly," Felix insisted. "But it's good to keep things realistic. The only time a Gym Leader has been defeated first try is if the challenger had already cleared another region's Gyms and had an incredibly powerful team. So here's what I'm thinking— since nobody in their right mind would expect a trainer to win first try, just don't expect to win! You're going to lose and it might even be hilarious."
Raphael gave Felix a disconcerted look. "You mean… Intentionally lose? Really?"
"Not intentionally lose, but… well, you can try your best to hold back a river even if there's no hope of succeeding. In the same way, try to win even though you have no hope of winning."
"I still don't understand," Raphael shook his head.
"Well, just hear me out. It's all the expectation; if you don't expect to win but you still give it a go, you won't get humiliated and angered! But you can make that loss count, too. You go in, you lose, but while you're losing keep track of all the Gym Leader's quirks and preferences. If you want to outsmart them like you said, watch carefully for any weaknesses. Then after some more practice, go in a second time and use those new strategies to learn how the Gym Leader adapts and any weakness they have in that. But then your third time, you should be nice and practiced against the Gym Leader, so as long as you keep your own strategy fresh and really watch for those weaknesses you found, I think you can consistently win third time! 'Course, this all depends on you being the tactical genius your reports say you are."
"I don't think all that's necessary," Raphael shook his head. "Why can't I just do all that in my first battle?"
"Because…" Felix deliberated in himself for a moment. "It just doesn't work that way. There's not enough time to learn and adapt in the heat of battle. You need some downtime to really work out a good plan."
"Felix, if there's anyone who can do it, it's me," Raph insisted. "I've been training my whole life for this, remember?"
"You nearly lost to a breeder and his lone Buizel!" Felix countered. "The gym leaders are way, way tougher than I am!"
"That's called a non-transitive game," Raphael replied. "Just like Grass beats Water beats Fire beats Grass, you lose to gym leaders, I lose to you, and gym leaders lose to me."
"That's not how it works," Felix said softly. "Tell me-are you really scared of failing, like Sonia said?"
Raphael was silent for a moment. Then he gave a short reply: "Yes."
"Then please. Learn to expect failure from fighting these guys. You'll be much happier that way."
"I'll be happy when I win," Raph insisted, sounding uncomfortable. "Can we just drop this for now?"
Felix shrugged. "Sure. Brock's not for another couple towns anyway." He jogged up to the rest of the main group with Cascade and Raphael.
"Welcome back," Mal said. "How'd it go?"
"Great," Felix said before Raph could speak. "We discussed some battle strategies, but we'll finalize things once we get to Pewter." After that, an uncomfortable silence followed. Raph and Sonia, while on opposite sides, kept glaring daggers at one another through Mal and Felix.
Which is why Felix was incredibly grateful when Mal picked a leaf off a small, flowering plant. "I recognize this plant. Its leaves cause terrible stomach cramps and are a powerful laxative; its effects can last for days. For whatever reason, though, it's marketed as a detox treatment in Kalos."
Felix laughed. "Nothing like poison to clean up your system, that's great! But then again, I recognize this leaf myself. Grind it up and dilute it enough and you'll get a popular homeopathic remedy for digestive problems."
Mal hummed. "If I'm honest, I've never liked homeopathy. It's just hyped-up water, isn't it?"
Felix shrugged. "Well, the theory goes that the aura of the substance stays in the water, then gets inverted further with each dilution. Then when you take it, it cancels out the bad aura of the ailment."
"Even though no aura seers claim to see anything different about the water?"
Felix grinned. "Conveniently, the aura is bound extremely tightly within the water molecules."
"So how does it spread to the other water molecules when you dilute it?" Mal countered.
"I have no idea," Felix admitted. "But you'd be surprised how many breeders swear by homeopathic remedies."
Mal only shook his head, leading to a break in the conversation. At least the situation seemed somewhat defused.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Sonia suddenly shouted from behind them. Everybody turned to look at her. "What?" she snapped.
Without warning, a woman was behind Sonia, causing everyone but Sonia herself to jump. Felix swore she wasn't there the moment before. "What do we have here?" she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Four little children, wandering around by themselves?"
Felix was so stunned by her sudden that he hardly followed what happened next. Raphael approached, then the woman snapped at him and named Felix and his companions.
"Uhh… do you know her?" Raphael asked Felix, obviously as confused as Felix was.
Felix shook his head. "No; Sonia?"
In response Sonia raised herself with telekinesis up to the woman's level. "Excuse me," Sonia said. The ice in her voice made Felix glad to have the girl on her side. "But who the hell are you?"
The woman shook her head. "Such manners," she tutted. Then she snapped her fingers, causing Sonia's legs to fly out from under her as she fell to the ground. Felix's heart started to pound. A psychic? This couldn't end well.
"Ooh, rare Pokémon!" a voice called from the trees. "I call dibs!" Two nearly identical men dropped down from the trees, scooping up Zorua before standing beside the psychic woman.
Felix's blood started to boil and it took every fiber of his being not to charge in recklessly. Sonia tried to run after them, but a pink haze formed between them. As she collided with it, it flared a dark pink and reflected her backwards.
"Uh oh," Raphael muttered. "This is bad…"
"Who do you think you are, treating a Pokémon that way!" Felix suddenly shouted. He couldn't help it, seeing them handle Zorua so roughly, clamping her muzzle shut. The poor thing pawed helplessly at the man's huge hand-she couldn't breathe!
"Who are we?" parroted yet another voice behind them. Felix and the others turned to see a short woman with blue stripes in her hair wearing a Team Rocket uniform. "I'm pretty sure the uniform speaks for themselves, kid." Sure enough, under the others' jackets was the Team Rocket uniform, giant red 'R' and all.
"Oh! Almost forgot my manners," the psychic woman giggled. "We know your names, so it's only fair that you know ours! "My name is Odette, that over there is Janet and these two here are Fred and Grant. Fred's the one holding your darling little Zorua. Seems we have you surrounded, doesn't it?"
Felix looked all around him. Thick trees to either side, each way of the road blocked by criminals. Could they escape into the woods? No, but they had to rescue Zorua!
"No you don't!" Raphael declared, then charged at the non-psychic woman. But in one fluid motion, she grabbed his wrist, bent it at a painful angle, and knocked him to the ground. "Don't try that again. kid," she warned, finally letting go of his wrist. "I've been trained by the best."
"I'm sure we can all resolve this peacefully," Mal said, hands raised in a calming gesture. "Is there something specific you want?"
"Peacefully?!" Sonia shouted. Felix grew even more frightened. He hadn't ever seen anyone this angry before… he could physically feel the hate emanating from her. "They're trying to steal my friend! I'm not just going to sit here and take this peace talk crap! You are not getting away with this, you thugs!" Without warning, Fred flew backwards into a tree, crying out in pain and dropping Zorua.
And then Sonia was in front of Fred with her hand crushing his bare throat, having teleported before him. The man let out an agonizing scream as Felix, in horror, was reminded of Sonia explaining why one shouldn't make direct contact with a psychic. So stunned by Sonia's sudden display of horrible ferocity, Felix merely watched, dazed, as Grant threw her off, only to clutch his skull and scream in terror. Janet reached for a gun. Sonia snapped it in half from where she stood. Odette said something, and then Sonia stumbled back, her fury diminished. A few more words were exchanged, then Odette teleported in front of Sonia. They vanished together.
Raphael nudged Felix, snapping him out of his daze. Felix noticed Cascade was in his battle-ready stance, facing Fred's Rattata. Seeming reluctant, Mal released Su Lin to battle against Grant's Zubat.
"We'll double team them," Mal said, steely determination in his voice. Felix envied him for that.
"I'll handle Janet," Raphael said, confident as ever.
"Let's do this." Felix tried as hard as he could to keep the fear out of his voice.
Fred and Grant snapped out two Poké Balls, identical smiles on their faces. The two called out their Pokémon in sync, throwing their Poké Balls in time with practiced ease.
"Go, Doku!" Fred called.
"Go, Tobu!" Grant cried.
A pair of Zubat materialised with a violent screech, beating their wings harshly in the air.
Together, the two Rocket grunts raised their arms and called out "Supersonic!"
Felix cried out, stumbling back. "Cascade, quick, use Sonic Boom!"
Cascade jumped, lashing his tails. The Sonic Boom caught one Supersonic head on, the two moves colliding with a violent eruption.
Mal leapt out of the way of the other one, his two Pokémon falling beside him. The teen looked to the bears, his expression grave. "Su Lin, use Tackle on the one on the left!"
"I'll get your silly bat faces!" Su Lin screeched, pushing off from the ground. The Zubat easily evaded, winging out of the way as though they did this sort of thing every day.
Felix turned to Cascade. "Back Su Lin up with Quick Attack! Aim for the other one!"
The Buizel nodded and launched forward, a blur in motion. The two Pokémon leapt and jabbed at the bats, but the Zubat just flew maddeningly in circles above their heads.
"Enough's enough." Fred smiled genially.
"Wing Attack!" The two Rocket Grunts called.
"Counterattack!" Felix cried.
"Dodge it!" Mal directed, sweeping his arm.
Cascade set his jaw and leapt at one Zubat, but crashed into the evading Su Lin. The two Zubat caught them in a pincer and struck, violently smashing into the two Pokémon and knocking them together.
"Bite!" Called the two Rocket grunts.
"Dodge it!" Felix yelped.
"Counterattack!" Mal called.
Cascade rolled out of the way, his movements fatigued and awkward. Su Lin tried to use Arm Thrust at the Zubat in front of her, but the two caught her in a pincer once more. Su Lin cried out, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Cascade, help her with Sonic Boom!" Felix cried. He regretted it a moment later.
"Dodge it!" Cried the two grunts.
As Cascade's tail lashed out, the two Zubat flashed upwards in one great downstroke of their wings. The Sonic Boom smashed into Su Lin, sweeping her into the tree beside Felix with a crash and a yell.
"They keep on using the pincer tactic!" Felix shouted to Mal, raising his voice with panic. "We have to avoid it! Keep Su Lin and Cascade separate—"
"What are you saying?!" Mal cried back, almost frantic. "You're speaking in Buizel!"
Felix stared at Mal, confused for a moment. When what the other boy had said caught up to him, he felt a sudden wave of heat flush through his cheeks. He hadn't even noticed.
Fred turned to his fellow. "Man, they sure are out of sync, huh?"
Grant nodded. "Yeah. Maybe we could teach 'em a little lesson?"
Fred rolled up his sleeves, and Grant crossed his arms. "Let's." the two said together. "Wing Attack!"
The two Zubat dove forward, wings angled, fangs bared.
"Attack!" Mal cried out.
"Which one?!" Felix and Cascade both cried back.
"Doku!"
"Which one's Doku?!"
"The one who listens to what Fred says!"
"They get commands and react at the same time, how am I supposed to tell which one's Fred's?!"
The two Rocket grunts glanced at each other and shrugged. The two Zubat screeched to a halt in midair to give each other a look as well, raising their wings in a shrug-like gesture at the arguing humans.
"Kids." The Rocket grunts nodded solemnly.
Felix felt humiliation rise up again. "They attacked and they would've hit because of us arguing. We just have to stay focused."
"Right, then." Mal set his jaw. "Su Lin, Arm Thrust!"
As Su Lin leapt forward, Felix took a moment to catch up. "Uh, Bui bui buizel zel— I mean, use Quick Attack!"
Cascade rushed forward, ready to fight, but Su Lin had already leapt up, poised for action.
"Leech Life!" Grant called. The Zubat Su Lin hadn't been targeting suddenly swept at her, smashing into her midair and throwing her off course. As the pair tumbled into the ground, the Zubat on top, the Zubat's move did its job; already tired, Su Lin fell limp.
Panic was making Felix's breath come quickly, his head light. As Mal fumbled for a Poké Ball to get Su Lin to safety, Felix changed gears. "Change of plan— protect Su Lin!"
Cascade's Quick Attack changed direction, flashing at Grant's Zubat, Tobu. Tobu screeched in shock as Cascade hit, sending the bat flying away. Cascade spread his arms and planted his feet, standing firmly in front of Su Lin.
Mal finally got the Poké Ball out and recalled Su Lin. He turned to Teddi, breathing hard. "Teddi, can you do this?"
The Teddiursa nodded hesitantly, but moved forward, baring his claws.
"Scratch!" Mal commanded.
Teddi's eyes narrowed, his claws extending. Running up to gain momentum, the little bear jumped, his claws glinting.
"Quick Attack again!" Felix called. Cascade flashed to Teddi's side, the two Pokémon set to hit their marks.
"Astonish!" Fred directed. One Zubat let out an ear-piercing screech, diving at Cascade. The Zubat struck the Buizel in the jaw, knocking him back and into the ground. Fatigued, Cascade's muscles shook as he tried to push himself up.
"Remember that one," Mal called. "That's four moves from each of them, and the point of divergence is Astonish and Leech Life; I'm willing to bet these two haven't trained their Pokémon for more than four moves." He raised his voice, speaking to Cascade as well. "Now we can get better strategies going! Just keep your eye on that one and you'll be attacking Doku! Teddi and I will take—"
The corner of Felix's eye caught Cascade dodging out of the way of an attack. "We don't have the time!" He turned back to the battle. "Cascade, use Growl!"
Cascade took in a deep breath and let out a loud and sharp bark, his aura flaring and twisting. It hit the two Zubat, making them recoil and shudder as their aura was attacked.
To Felix's shock, Fred nodded, seemingly pleased. "Yeah! Now you two are getting some strategy going!"
Grant grinned. "Heh, observant and finally using tactics? You may actually have a future!"
Dismay flashed across Mal's face. "Must we really battle? I'm sure we can sort this out without conflict!"
Grant glanced at Fred, a look of mock confusion on his face. "Oh, can we, Fred? D'you think we really could?"
Fred's features also twisted in exaggerated confusion, the grunt tipping his head to the side. "Hmm, I dunno, Grant; you think Janette'd let us?"
The two shook their heads together.
"Sorry kids." Fred raised his hands, palms to the sky. "Not an option."
Grant pointed at Cascade. "That Buizel's on his last legs; let's get 'im!"
Fred grinned. "Got it! You keep the Teddiursa occupied with Supersonic; Doku, Bite!"
While Teddi ran in circles with his arms over his head, dodging the Supersonic attacks, Cascade raised his arms to block Doku's bite. Doku hit hard, making the extremely tired out Cascade fall to his knees. Doku terrorised him with moves over and over until Cascade fell to the ground, trying to push himself up. A Supersonic finally struck Teddi, sending him stumbling and falling, blinking and shaking his head.
Mal had managed to somewhat keep his cool the whole time, if a bit flustered. But now he was frantic, panicking. "Oh, Arceus; Teddi, please! I know you can do it!"
Felix simply stood, frozen, not knowing what to do. His heart beat loudly in his chest. All he could think of was the terrifying possibility that he almost didn't want to consider.
What happens when we lose?
