Chapter 9: Dark Doubles

Ryoko steps up to the final platform where Erika stands patiently. "You've done quite well so far Ryoko. It's a pleasure to see such talented trainers coming to challenge our gym." Erika replies sweetly, knowing that Ryoko will be quite ruthless when battling her. A concept she's certainly not unfamiliar with.

"Thanks, before we begin can I make a request?" His question surprises Erika, but she nods and hears him out. "If you really want to see me at my best then can we have a double battle?" It's been a while since Ryoko's had a good double battle.

Erika smiles and nods, "Very well, I don't get many requests for double battles. This should be fun." She calls out her first two Pokémon: Jumpluff and Tangrowth. Erika smiles and patiently awaits Ryoko's choices.

Ryoko grabs his two Pokeballs and looks back at Mary who was watching closely. "Sorry Mary, but I lied about not holding back before."

She nods and smiles, "Oh I'm not surprised. I'm just interested to see you take a battle seriously." She has no qualms with this since she knows Ryoko wasn't taking her battle seriously. She just wants to know what he has up his sleeve.

"Alright, go Yanmega." He calls out his first choice. A very respectable Bug Type thanks to Yanmega's incredible speed, but he's hardly the real show stopper here. Ryoko smiles maliciously. "Go Metagross." He calls out his shiny beast of a Pokémon into battle.

Erika is initially unnerved by this, but she doesn't show it. "My, a shiny Metagross. How rare." She can't deny this was a very rare sight and she was eager to see it battle. "Let us begin."

She quickly regrets those words. As soon as the words leave her mouth Metagross springs into action with a devastating Meteor Mash to Jumpluff. "Yanmega use Air Slash on Tangrowth." With incredible speed Yanmega's wings flap and flutter in a blur of motion causing the air around him to lash out at Tangrowth.

"Rock Slide Tangrowth. Jumpluff use Sleep Powder." Tangrowth calls down a huge pile of rocks that surprisingly don't hit Yanmega, but instead protects Tangrowth from the Air Slash. While Jumpluff takes the brunt of Metagross's assault and gives the perfect chance to spray her spores all over Metagross at point blank range.

Ryoko's eyes widen at how quickly Erika shut down his usual winning strategies. Erika smiles cheerfully. "Do you really think I'd be so naïve as to come in without a winning team? As a gym leader it is my duty to offer up a suitable challenge to my opponents. One must earn their badges you see." She replies sweetly.

Ryoko smirks, "So you're not pulling any punches either. I guess my Metagross will have to idle until he wakes up. Not like it matters, he never listens to me anyway." That was the beauty in Ryoko's double battling strategies. Metagross's four brains and none of them listened to him. Metagross could calculate a winning strategy in seconds flat without any input from Ryoko. Leaving him to focus on his other Pokémon instead of dividing up his attention. "Yanmega go in quick with the Bug Buzz." Yanmega's Speed Boost kicks in and darts through the air. In a flash Yanmega is hovering over Tangrowth. Yanmega's wings beat rapidly and send a distorted buzzing sound towards Tangrowth and hits hard.

"Tangrowth use Power Whip. Jumpluff use Giga Drain." One of Tangrowth's many tangled vines lashes out from his arm and swats away Yanmega. While Jumpluff happily saps away at Metagross's health. "You know I could have just left Metagross a little Memento. A shame about Clear Body though. This works just as well I suppose." She responds sweetly.

"Well you've definitely proven to be sufficiently more terrifying than your girls." Ryoko has to think quickly. Does he wait for Metagross to wake up or switch him out now? He trusts in his Metagross and leaves him in to take a few hits and hopefully wake up. If there was something Ryoko could always trust in it was Metagross's ferocity. "Yanmega shift and use Bug Buzz, but keep your distance." His command seems a bit cryptic, but Yanmega happily obeys. Yanmega gets another Speed Boost and soars high into the air. This is when Erika is taken by surprise. The Bug Buzz strikes quick and hard, but hits Jumpluff who was still trying to sap Metagross's health. The attack takes Erika and Jumpluff by surprise and manages to take out Jumpluff's remaining heath.

Erika frowns, "Clever, attacking while Metagross was being used as a decoy. Tangrowth get Yanmega down here." She calls back Jumpluff for her next Pokémon. "Go Bellossom!" She calls out her next Pokémon while Tangrowth stretches out more vines to grab Yanmega.

"Keep evading those vine and Air Slash." Yanmega rips through the air with Tangrowth's vines hot on his tail. With a quick turn Yanmega Air Slashes the vines away and speeds in from behind for another powerful hit. In that moment Tangrowth quickly whirls around and smacks Yanmega with a devastating Power Whip. Quickly following up with a mighty Rock Slide to hit Yanmega while he staggered to recover. Knocking Yanmega out. Ryoko calls back his Yanmega and goes to his next Pokémon. "Go Xatu."

"Swords Dance Bellossom. Tangrowth you too." Both of Erika's Pokémon power up while Metagross sleeps. Though they're both in from a rude awakening. Metagross wakes up and roar furiously. Training its sights on Tangrowth. The Swords Dance was a bit of waste when it decides to Hammer Arm Tangrowth to the ground. Knocking him out cold.

"Well someone got up on the wrong side of the arena. Go Victreebel, use Sunny Day. Bellossom use Drain Punch on Metagross!" Erika still finds time to joke even though Ryoko was now the one taking this battle all too seriously.

"Xatu use Psychic on Victreebel." He's definitely starting to feel the pressure in this battle. Metagross has already taken enough hits.

Victreebel casts up a radiance of sunlight as Xatu channels his psychic energy into a direct hit on Victreebel. The damage is brutal, but Ryoko notices something in Victreebel's mouth. It had eaten a Sitrus Berry to recover some of the damage. All the while Bellossom charged forward. Metagross charges at Bellossom with a Meteor Mash at the ready. All of a sudden the sunlight kicks in. Bellossom smiles confidently as she begins to glow. Suddenly her speed doubles. In a blur of motion Bellossom runs under Metagross and punches up. Sapping the last remain health from Ryoko's star fighter.

Ryoko scowls and calls back Metagross. "I can't believe you were out smarted like that. You should have known about Chlorophyll." He berates his felled Pokémon for underestimating their enemy and moves onto his fourth Pokémon. "Go Whiscash. Let's clear the battlefield a little with an Earthquake."

"Dual Leaf Blades you two!" Erika makes sure that Whiscash doesn't get this attack off.

However, Ryoko simply smiles. "Now you'll see why Double Battles are my area of expertise. Xatu use Ally Switch!" Xatu flaps his wings and suddenly teleports away. Whiscash too teleports away and is replaced with Xatu. Whiscash, now in Xatu's place, is free to unleash a brutal Earthquake knocking out Victreebel as the Leaf Blades connect. Surprisingly though, Bellossom still stands. "Oh god." Ryoko doesn't like the looks of that. "Psychic Xatu!" He's hoping the attack will reach before Bellossom hits, but Erika was smarter than that. Bellossom jumps into the air heads right for Whiscash.

"Leaf Blade for real this time." Bellossom speeds towards Whiscash and tears into Ryoko's Pokémon with a mighty slash. Only three remained on Ryoko's side. "Now go Exeggutor!"

Ryoko grits his teeth angrily. "Alakazam. Finish Bellossom, Xatu. Psychic!" Bellossom turns to see the second Psychic coming towards her and accepts her fate. Happy to have taken out two of Ryoko's power players. "Alakazam Signal Beam."

"Exeggutor use Solar Beam on Xatu and go Vileplume." Exeggutor doesn't need to worry about charging with the Sunny Day in effect and finally puts down Ryoko's Xatu. Though strangely enough Erika isn't worried about Signal Beam. Erika smiles while Ryoko growls.

"Let me guess, a Tanga Berry?" It perfectly explains why Erika wasn't worried about a Bug Type move from Ryoko. He calls out Absol at his last Pokémon. A move he was really hoping he wouldn't have to come.

Erika smiles, "Correct, you're quick on the up take. Now Vileplume use Petal Dance on Alakazam and Exeggutor use Moonlight." A rare move to see on Exeggutor.

"You bred it for that purpose didn't you?" He notices something else strange too. A Tanga Berry pops out from Exeggutor's leaves too. "And it has the Harvest ability?" Erika's Pokémon was proving to be quite formidable. "Well now he's completely fresh." Full health and a new berry. "Damn, Alakazam use Teleport! Absol use Razor Wind." Vileplume's Petal Dance misses Alakazam as he Teleports behind Vileplume. "Psychic!" A double hit from Razor Wind and Psychic fells Vileplume and Exeggutor didn't seem to enjoy that attack too much either.

"Very good," Erika accepts Exeggutor's fate as he takes a Razor Wind and a Signal Beam finally knocking it out.

Ryoko wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Finally. I never would have imagined a gym leader being so strong."

Erika giggles, "I suppose I did make a special exception for your battle."

Ryoko cocks his head, "What are you saying?"

She giggles once more. "I'm saying this was a team I was testing to use in the next Pokémon World Tournament. It's still a couple of months way though so I thought now would be a good time to experiment with my team roster. It could use work, I can definitely replace Jumpluff with something with a bit more kick."

Ryoko couldn't believe what he's hearing. "Wait so this was like practice to you?" He clenches his fist.

She shakes her head, "No, I took our battle quite seriously, I just figured some of my Pokémon would be a bit too challenging for you."

"Let me fight them then!" He points to her accusingly.

Erika frowns for the first time, "You'd lose. Plain and simple. You're arrogant. I will award you your gym badge, but you'd best adjust your attitude or you'll never grow any stronger."

"What do you mean I'm arrogant?" He step closer to her as she produces the gym badge.

Erika shakes her head and hands him the badge. "If you have to ask you'll never know. Congratulations on the victory, I wish the best in your future endeavors. I'm sure you'll come to understand in time what I mean."

Ryoko takes the badge and puts it in a small badge case and turns his back to her. Without a word Ryoko walks off. "Hey Ryoko, stop by the Game Corner tomorrow we can hang out then." Mary offers sweetly, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Ryoko is too lost in his thoughts to really notice what's going on around him.

The word arrogant just continues to ring in his ears making him more and more frustrated. He had no idea what she meant. Ryoko was strong and he knew it, sure there were trainers stronger than he was. He accepted that, but still he isn't really to expect weaker trainers to put up a challenge. Maybe he did underestimate his opponent? Clearly Erika was strong, but Ryoko was confident that he'd win and he did.

He returns to his room where Mika is reading through documents. "Did you stake out the Game Corner?"

Ryoko pauses as he comes too. Right to business of course. "Yeah, the place is riddled with cameras. I'm sure this was to stop people from cheating, but I noticed guards regularly guarding the door. It's probably where they store prizes now that Rocket isn't using it."

"I thought the same, we still need another day. I'm sure you can stall a bit more. How did your gym battle go?" Mika's mind is calm and calculated. She makes sure absolutely everything is going according to plan.

"I won it. Nobody suspects a thing if that's what you're wondering." Ryoko knows that's all she really cares about.

"Good, just keep up the act and don't get too close to anyone." Little does she know, it's already too late for that.

Ryoko rolls his eyes and pulls out his PD*A and calls up Haruka. He steps into the other room to have a more private chat with her.

Haruka on the other line was hard at work when she gets the call. She quickly answers. "Hey Ryoko." She responds happily.

"Hey babe, how are you doing?" Ryoko sits on the bed and relaxes a bit.

"I'm good. I miss you." She says having not even been twenty-four hours since he left yet.

He chuckles, "I miss you too Haruka. Anything interesting going on with you?"

Haruka looks to the walkie-talkie she took from the Snagem grunts. "Nope, nothing exciting going on here." She lies without skipping a beat.

"Alright, I figured I'd just check in with you. Our mission's going smooth too." Ryoko does think of something though, "Hey Haruka, be honest. Am I arrogant?"

She's a little surprised to hear this coming from him. "Where is this coming from?"

"The Celadon City gym leader said I was. Do you think so?" He wants an honest answer. Something he knows Haruka is always good for. She may be his girlfriend, but she's not afraid to point out his faults or her own.

"Dear, I love you, but she's absolutely right." Haruka doesn't mince words. "The admins have tried to make you realize this for years."

"Well she's the first one to outright say it." Ryoko groans.

"Well they thought it'd be for the best that you figured it out on your own." Haruka was privy to a lot of admin level knowledge since Ein has never been worried about speaking on such matters around Haruka.

"She said the same thing. So what should I do?" Ryoko hopes for some clue.

"Seriously? You've been told you have to figure it out on your own." Haruka knows it's harsh, but it's for the best.

He sighs and lies on the bed. "Fine, I'll have a lot to think about. Well I'll let you get some sleep."

"I'll be up for a few more hours don't worry about me." It was considerably later in Orre than Kanto.

"Go to bed Haruka." Ryoko has been known to keep tabs on her sleep schedule since she refuses to do it herself.

She sighs, "Fine, good night."

"Put down your gadgets, device, or whatever else." Ryoko knows her saying good night and actually going to be are two different things.

She groans this time, "Fine." He hears the sound of her dropping whatever she had on the table. "I'm going to bed."

"That's not your room. You're in your little office space, I know it." Ryoko couldn't help smile at this little routine.

"Jesus, you don't give up." Haruka steps out into the hall and walks to her room. Ryoko hears her footsteps echoing in the hall and counts the appropriate amount of time it'd take for her to walk to her room. "There, I'm in my room."

"Turn off your computer." He had to eliminate every distraction.

"Are you my boyfriend or my mom?" She complains once more and powers off her computer. "There, no distractions. Good night."

"Not until you're actually in bed." He tries not to laugh, but he takes every precaution. If even one thing is missed she'll most likely go right back to what she was doing.

Once more she groans, "Seriously?" She sets down her PD*A and changes before climbing under the covers and grabbing it again. "I'm in bed. If you make me do one more thing I swear to god, Ryoko."

He laughs, "No, you're too lazy to get out of bed now. Good night." Haruka was like a Snorlax. Once she laid down to sleep she won't get up until she's good and ready.

She rolls her eyes, "Good night. I love you."

Ryoko smiles, "I love you too Haruka." He hangs up and steps back into the main room where Mika was on a call.

"Yes, everything is proceeding well. Mission's going smoothly and no one suspects a thing." To Ryoko it seemed she was having so sort of debriefing. "Alright, love you." She hangs up the PD*A and looks back at Ryoko.

"Who was that?" He didn't expect her to be in a relationship given her line of work.

"My husband." She pulls a wedding ring from her pocket. "I don't usually wear it in the field."

Ryoko nods, "I never thought you were married."

Mika smirks, "Yeah, not a lot of people do. Still Haruto and I have been married almost ten years. We first met on a field mission ironically enough. We posed as a couple to fool a fancy party full of diplomats. We fell in love not long after that." She smiles nostalgically.

Ryoko smiles too. He's glad she shared this with him. He is getting to know his partner better and honestly, even if many would tease him for this, Ryoko too thinks about marriage. He never brought it up, but marrying Haruka just seemed inevitable. Which is of course what he wants and he's sure she does too. "That's cool. I'm happy for you two."

"Thanks, I've heard you and Haruka are quite the item too." She smirks and makes him blush. "She's a handful, kid."

He nods, "I know, I wouldn't want it any other way." All her quirks aside Ryoko wouldn't change a thing about Haruka. This Haruka's said many times to him.

"That's good, well get some rest. Tomorrow we will do more recon. Just act natural and do whatever you want. Just make sure to check on the Game Corner a couple times throughout the day." His job wasn't too difficult thankfully.

"Alright, Mewtwo's data will be ours." Ryoko is confident in this goal.


Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed. Please don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter, the series, and the Pokemon Sagas universe as a whole. Well this was a shorter chapter. I feel like not all chapters need to be upwards to 4,000 words, because frankly some of the chapters don't really have enough going on to justify it without adding in fluff and padding. Plus, it makes writing the chapters faster without a restriction. The same goes for Tia's Tales. Plus, if the chapters are short people may be more inclined to read them.