If there was a singular trait that irredeemably distinguished Richard from Beatrice, it was that he was a born genius. Not the "oh, you're so smart!" bright-minded little child who faded into obscurity as he learned that he was, in the end, nothing more than another commoner; not the gifted artisan or the talented athlete who always seemed one step ahead of his peers, constantly striving for more. Richard was above and beyond all of that; he was a true genius who needed no effort, whose innate battling prowess had always proven to be more than enough, whose raw intelligence had never once been challenged—save by a single individual.
Having the title of valedictorian stripped from him by a "fatass loser" was the first insult Richard had ever truly experienced. He had lost—not to a world-renowned expert, but instead to a little girl who didn't even know how to eat healthily. And instead of taking the opportunity she had stolen from him, instead of choosing a powerful asset for herself, she had selected the single most awful handicap she could: a Bidoof.
So he crushed her. Utterly and totally, he crushed her. He would continue to crush her at every twist and turn until she acknowledged that he was, indeed, superior—that she had made a mistake. It infuriated him that someone could be so damn stupid. His anger was such that he didn't even really pay attention to his battle with Roark. Not that he had to; with his talent, the circuit was little more than child's play. Roark knew that—and, more importantly, Richard knew that.
He left, Coal Badge in hand, still fuming over Beatrice's insolence.
At that time, Beatrice was still preoccupied with training alongside Robert and Lily, and she wouldn't be prepared to battle Roark for another two weeks. When it was over, she thanked them for all they had done, took a day to recuperate, then headed to the Gym, with Richard already well on his way to Eterna City.
Every now and again, Beatrice would find herself thinking about Richard. She recognized his talent, and she was definitely envious of it, yet somehow, she was glad to not have it. Though she had been bullied and ridiculed, she had never once wished that she had been born with Richard's life; he had his own struggles that she acknowledged.
That's why she thought of him. She saw how his life had shaped his battling style and so sought her own battling form. A life lived shrugging off the mockery and abuse...what shape would that take?
She took a shaky breath, wiped the sweat from her palms onto her jeans, and pressed against the large double doors of Oreburgh Gym. Upon seeing Roark, she threw herself prostrate and offered up her measly savings, shouting apologies into the dirt for her stupidity.
He awkwardly laughed, stopped, then scratched his cheek before pulling her up. "You can keep the cash," he told her gently. He patted her on the head and added, "Though, thanks for coming back. You're the first Trainer who's ever straight-up run away from me, so I was a little worried."
An embarrassed but happy smile lit her face a pink shade. She pocketed the bills and swallowed down the nervous lump in her throat. "I'd...um, I'd like to request a rematch. A two-on-two single battle match, just like before."
In the silence, her words echoed. She glanced up anxiously, but Roark was just chuckling, a hand covering his mouth. Relief swept through her.
"My bad, my bad," he apologized, raising a hand. "It's not you. Well, it sort of is, but I'm not laughing at you. It's always nice seeing Trainers come back for a rematch. It's exciting—what kind of things have you learned? What new strategies have you come up with? I can't wait to see them."
His eyes had a glint to them, like that of a polished stone: a hardy yet refined look that sent a jolt down Beatrice's spine. She felt her blood begin to pump; was this what a real Trainer was like? Just their mere presence could excite you?
"I'll gladly accept your challenge. I am Roark, Gym Leader of Oreburgh Gym. And you are?"
"B-Beatrice! Beatrice Stacks."
He held out his hand. She looked up into his kind eyes, shared his smile, and took hold of it. They shook.
As he crossed over to the opposite end of the battlefield, Beatrice tried to shake the nerves out of her body. She checked the terrain of the field—just the same old dirt-and-rock field—and tried to recall what she and Robert had talked about. She fumbled with Justin's Poké Ball.
"This'll be, again, a two-on-two single battle match. You are allowed substitutions and items. Let the battle begin!"
Roark threw a Poké Ball high into the sky, and Beatrice tossed in her own. The two capsules clacked against the ground, bursting open as they ricocheted back to the two Trainers. Even before the two Pokémon had fully materialized, Roark was shouting commands that Beatrice struggled to keep up with.
"Geodude, Rock Throw!"
"G-get down, Justin!"
The rock-with-features ripped up solid chunk of stone out of the field and flung it like a baseball straight at the still-glowing Bidoof. He ducked his head in a panic, and the rock missed his teddy bear ears by a sliver of an inch, crashing and shattering against the ground a dozen feet away.
Over the resounding thunder, Beatrice could barely hear Roark's command: "Rock Polish to Tackle!"
The Geodude spun around like a top once, twice, thrice, letting off a strange steel-colored glow. Then, with an astounding speed, he rushed forward towards Justin, tearing forward by grabbing at the field with his hands. He nearly barreled into Justin, but the Bidoof—with a quick "Jump!" command—did a clumsy front flip right over the rushing stone.
While the Geodude slowed to a stop, Beatrice called out to Justin, "Use a Defense Curl!"
The Bidoof tucked himself into a tight ball, sitting right-tight dead center on the battlefield. Roark didn't even hesitate as he called out, "Rock Throw, now!"
"Rollout!"
Just as the Geodude punched his open hands into the ground, Justin slammed into him, rolling so quickly that he tore a trail into the stone. Trapped by his own hands, the Geodude was smashed backwards into the ground, launching Justin into the air like a ramp.
As soon as the Bidoof landed, Beatrice followed up with "Rock Smash!" With an affirmative yelp, he jumped up with glowing paws, pummeling the dazed Rock-type into next week. When Justin pulled away, panting, it was plain to see the Geodude was unconscious.
Roark returned him with a smile. "Now that's more like it. You used my own moves against me—that was smart thinking. You must have done a lot of studying these past two weeks to get the timing down for that."
Beatrice shook her head. "It wasn't me. I just had a great teacher and've got great Pokémon. Right, Justin?"
She hugged the little guy to her chest, giggling as he licked her cheek. Roark chuckled.
"Either way, you've made tremendous progress. But that's only half the battle. I hope your teacher's prepared you for this!"
His second Poké Ball arced high into the air, and Beatrice lowered Justin to the ground for the second round. From the Poké Ball materialized a small, three-foot baby dinosaur-like creature. Its skin looked hard as stone and was a steel gray, though its round head and relatively short tail were shaded a shiny blue. Its hands and feet were both equipped with claws, and rounding the back of its head were four ivory spikes. Throw in its half-moon eyes with red pupils and the final product was...surprisingly cute.
Roark gave her no time to fawn over the little guy, as he shouted right away, "Cranidos, Headbutt!"
"D-Defense Curl!"
The blue dinosaur sprinted at the Bidoof. Like a rag doll, Justin was tossed up into the air, his limbs falling out of his defensive position and flaying in the air. He hit the ground with an audible thud!, trembling as he got back up.
"Stealth Rock."
The Cranidos stamped down its foot, etching cracks along the entire field. Razor-sharp shards began levitating off the field, hovering menacingly in the air, but they did nothing beyond that. Beatrice bit her lip, then spoke her command.
"Rollout, around."
Again, Justin began to roll, digging grooves into the already-messy terrain. He did circles around the Cranidos, who stood there calmly, merely watching as the trails turned into trenches. Roark, too, said nothing, studying not the field but instead Beatrice, who shrank a little under his gaze. Something about the look was piercing through her, as if he were peering into her very thoughts themselves, reading her strategy.
Flustered, she changed tracks. "Rock Smash!"
The deep grooves proved somewhat of a hurdle for Justin. He crawled up out of them and onto the little island that the Cranidos stood upon and bravely charged forward, paws glowing—only to drop to the ground like a rock from a "Smack Down!"
Before the stubborn ol' Bidoof could get up yet again, the Cranidos Headbutted him, sending him soaring. He crashed, skidded a couple feet, then stopped dead cold just a couple feet from Beatrice, who ran over to him.
He was very much unconscious. Beatrice held him for a moment longer before thanking the Pokémon and returning him.
She had set up her hand; now all that was left was to play the cards. She puffed out her cheeks, let the breath slowly seep out of her, and steeled her resolve.
Aria's Poké Ball weighed heavily in her hand.
"You want to fight...defensively?"
Robert gave the girl an incredulous look. Beatrice simply nodded.
"That's...the way I've always dealt with things. Enduring them, never letting them know they were getting to me… It was my way of proving to myself that I wasn't losing to them. The moment I let them know that it was bugging me, they were winning, and I would have hated that."
"But to fight defensively… Y'know, that might just work." Robert scratched his chin, looked to Lily, who was playing with Aria and Justin, and smiled. "Enduring until you get the chance to serve up a nice slice of revenge pie, right?"
"Y-yeah. That."
"I like it. You could beat Roark with that, if we do it right. All we've gotta do..."
...is play the cards just right.
"Let's finish this, Aria!"
The softest of melodies filled the Gym, a string of notes dancing along the air like the faint scent of flowers in the breeze. At a couple inches taller than the Cranidos, with a red exoskeleton and furled black wings, blade-like arms at the ready, Aria the Kricketune entered the fray.
The Stealth Rock surged forward at their target, their points like daggers, only to be broken apart with one arching Rock Smash. Roark's eyes lightened at the sight.
"What a gorgeous Kricketune. Is she…?"
"She evolved just a couple days ago. I had always read about how quickly Bug Pokémon evolved, but I was super surprised." Beatrice laughed, though her voice sounded awfully high-pitched. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, um, shall we?"
Roark pantomimed an apology. She smiled, then called out, "Aria, Rock Smash!"
The Cranidos waited for Aria to close in. She jumped over the gouges in the ground and raised a glowing-white arm. With a trill, she swung—
"Zen Headbutt!"
—and collided with Cranidos's head, which let off a pink-purple light. She was blown back, though she caught herself in midair with her wings, landing gracefully on her feet.
"Take Down!"
The Cranidos lowered its head and lunged at Aria. The Kricketune cast a look back at Beatrice, who nodded, watching as Aria took the blow. Her feet dug into the ground, and though she slid back a couple inches, she managed to push the Cranidos away. Her body flickered white for a second.
"Hm...Headbutt, then!"
Swinging its head like a sledgehammer, the Cranidos rammed into Aria's left arm, and she was thrown to the ground by the impact. She rolled onto her torso, trying to push herself off the ground with her body, one arm cradling the other. Another white shock lit Aria's body.
"Finish this—Stomp!"
"Aria, Bide!"
The Cranidos's Stomp met its target—sort of. Aria stopped it with an arm, white energy pouring out of her like spilling fire, and she batted the Cranidos away. It stumbled, tripped, and fell right into the trenches Justin had dug. Stuck, it could only watch as Aria raised her arm high into the air, its edge glistening. She brought down the blade, and everything around her exploded into dust and rubble.
Beatrice felt a cold sweat chill her skin. As the dust cleared, she could see Aria on one knee, only just barely conscious. She was kneeling in front of the Cranidos, who was in its own little crater, completely and utterly knocked out.
Roark returned his Cranidos and traversed the cracks and trenches to reach the still-stunned Beatrice. He smiled at her.
"Congratulations," he said, holding out his palm. On it was a little Badge, shaped somewhat like the helmet on his head. "You've officially won your first Gym battle. This Coal Badge is yours."
Beatrice opened her mouth, closed it, then blinked. "We won?"
"Well, I guess we're one-to-one at this point, but I think I can confidently say you've got this one down pat. And speaking of pats..."
He patted her on the head with one hand, dropping the Badge into her open palms with the other along with a couple bills. "You did well. Go thank your Kricketune, too."
She looked up at Roark once, gasped, then rushed over to Aria. She was practically screaming: "Aria, Aria, we did it! We did it!"
Her joyous shouts echoed in that space. Roark smiled to himself, opened up the doors to let some air in, and stretched as he gazed out into the gray streets of Oreburgh.
And though neither of them could possibly know, it was out there. Far away, beyond the grimy coal, beyond the bustling city, beyond the rugged caves and worn paths, in the gentle town of Floarama, it was there, all right. In that town of flowers and honey, of fragrant teas and warm company, was the darkness.
It sensed the approaching Trainer and hid itself, cloaking itself with the shadows of overgrown trees. Richard turned, feeling its eyes upon him, but not knowing what to look for. He frowned to himself, picking up Giselle and holding her to him, worried for no reason.
He continued along his path, oblivious to the trailing shadows that threatened to choke his own.