Author's Notes: Well, there's not really much to say beforehand about this chapter, other than it's decently long.
Chapter Nine: Vs Pidgeotto!
Gin chewed on a slice of toast, bored, as she wandered around the Pokémon Center's cafeteria. She'd always been an early riser, and that day was no exception. She'd woken up well before Suishou, and had gone to get breakfast while waiting for him.
A couple other trainers entered the cafeteria as Gin lingered near the door. One of them, a short blonde girl, tossed her single Pokéball between her hands as she listened to the other talk. The brunette boy was grinning and talking quietly, and a Teddiursa sat on his shoulder. Gin sighed, watching the pair settle into one of the tables, wondering how easy it had been for them to start training.
However, she soon got irritated as she remembered her grandmother's incessant lecturing on the subject. Umi had been decidedly against letting Gin train until she finished school. Kuro had started training early, but afterwards, he'd gotten lazier with his school work.
Gin then decided to smirk and shrug it off. After all, she was already a better trainer than Kuro—he'd never even intended to earn any badges, and Gin snidely assumed that from her brief encounter with Falkner the previous day, he wouldn't be difficult.
"G-good morning, Gin…"
Turning around, she saw Suishou yawning as he entered the cafeteria door next to her. He smiled somewhat sleepily, reaching for a plate on the breakfast bar.
"Take some toast, kid," Gin responded testily. "You're up too late."
Suishou blinked but obediently took a pair of toast slices. He crunched on them as Gin turned and headed out of the cafeteria, arms folded over her chest. Suishou quickly swallowed as he tried to keep up with Gin. Her stride was a lot longer than his, whether she consciously was trying to walk fast or not.
Gin looked over her shoulder as they left the building. "Hey, kiddo," she called. "I know where the gym is—passed it a few times when I came here with my brother once. You'd probably be bored stiff watching, so—"
"No, no, I want to!" Suishou cried. "I've never been good at battling. I want to watch!"
"Hey," Gin muttered, turning back around. "We're not going to a movie. Calm down."
"Okay!"
"Oy," Gin sighed.
As she walked through Violet's somewhat familiar paths, Gin stretched and cradled the back of her head in her hands. She idly wondered if her father was still bothering sending his Pokémon out to look for her. It had been at least a week, after all, and Kaze wasn't "allowed" to go out on his own, on Mizu and Umi's orders.
Eventually, she and Suishou reached a white, pagoda-styled building with a sky blue roof and decorations. It fortunately wasn't very tall, and a smirk formed on Gin's lips as she turned the somewhat loose knob on the door. It creaked open, and Gin poked her head into a dimly lit room.
"Hey," she called, the echo of her voice bouncing back to her.
After a few moments of waiting, a slow creaking sound could be heard, followed by footsteps. Suddenly, a light clicked on, and Falkner was standing in the back of the room, resting his hand on the light switch and smirking.
"I thought you'd come. I'll be waiting upstairs."
With that, he turned back towards the door he'd just come through. Gin felt a vein twitch in her forehead.
"Wait right there! You're telling me you came all the way down here just to say you wouldn't be fighting me right away?" she shouted. "What's keeping you from battling me here and now?"
"Hm?" Falkner looked over his shoulder. "My birds are better in open places. We're battling on the roof."
Then he closed the door behind him, and Gin rubbed her temples. She didn't know what was giving her the bigger headache—Falkner's attitude or the fact that she simply didn't feel like going way up several flights of stairs.
"Gin?"
Suishou tapped Gin's shoulder, looking confused. Gin sighed.
"All right, here we go. I hope you're not afraid of heights, kid."
Kin tossed Cyndaquil's Pokéball from hand to hand as he arrived in Cherrygrove City. He'd jogged most of the way and had gotten there in under an hour and a half, and he grinned silently to himself. He still hadn't told his mother that he was going all the way out to Violet, but if he had before leaving, Ao probably would have insisted that he let Hikaru come along.
Of course, he still didn't know what was in the other Pokéball Professor Elm had handed him. He hadn't even actually touched it since getting it, but that was a matter of not knowing what to expect—with Professor Elm it could be anything from a Rattata to an Ursaring.
Kin's stomach suddenly growled, and he grinned sheepishly to himself. He wound through Cherrygrove's neatly trimmed paths, and sighed in relief when he spotted a small fast-food restaurant. A bell clattered as he entered, and a waitress scurried over to him.
"A table for one?" she squeaked, brushing her brown hair out of her mousy face.
"Yeah," Kin nodded.
"All right, sir," the waitress answered, curtseying slightly and leading him to a small, two-seated table near the front of the joint.
Sir? Well, she does look younger than me, but… Kin shrugged and then grinned. Hey, I could get used to that… Hm…
"All right, sir, I'll be back to take your order in a moment," she went on, and then set the round tray she was holding onto the table. "Water?"
Kin nodded again, and the waitress took the pitcher and a glass and set them on the table. She poured the water somewhat anxiously, as if she was expecting it to spill. When Kin had a glass of water without incident, she smiled, looking relieved, and then curtsied again before trotting away.
Then Kin took his two Pokéballs off of his belt and released Trap and Cyndaquil onto the seat across from him. Cyndaquil curiously poked his nose over the table, while Trap quickly jumped across it to stand on Kin's shoulders rather possessively.
"It's okay, Trap," Kin grinned. "Cyndaquil… I mean, how about Spark?"
"Quil!" Cyndaquil peeped, sounding all right with the suggestion.
"Great. Okay, Trap, Spark's gonna be fine with us, right?"
"Key," Trap responded, agreeing somewhat reluctantly.
"Good," Kin answered, patting Trap on the back.
A few moments later, the waitress hurried back to Kin's table, and blinked when she saw the two Pokémon. Kin scratched the back of his neck, grinning as he tried to come up with something.
"Uh, they'll be fine," he said brilliantly.
"O-okay," the waitress stammered, looking a bit apprehensively at Trap. "Um… What would you… like to order?"
"Cheeseburger's fine," Kin replied. "And extra fries for these two."
"All right," she said, jotting down Kin's order on a notepad. "I'll back as soon as possible, sir!"
She dashed away again, hastily tying a loose strand of her apron. Kin smiled slightly, taking a sip of his water, and then looked back at his Pokémon.
"So… Should I ask her out when she comes back? She is kinda cute."
"Cynda?" Spark asked curiously, and Trap sighed.
"Falkner!"
Gin huffed slightly as she and Suishou arrived at the top of the gym's staircase. The roof sloped up around them, and there was a large, square opening above them. Falkner was standing across the arena from her, smirking.
"All right, you're finally here," he responded confidently. "Let's get started."
"Great," Gin grinned back, taking a Pokéball off of her belt. "Go, Theriolt!"
"Gin?" Suishou asked. "Um, why not Midnight?"
"I think you expect me to go easy on you," Falkner interrupted. "Should I start by mocking you, then? Come on, Pidgey!"
Falkner tossed out a Pokéball of his own, revealing the small, brown bird Pokémon. It chirped curiously at the large Scyther, and Theriolt stared back at it.
"Heh," Gin chuckled. "You call that mocking? More like obliging."
"You—!"
"You're the one who wanted to get started. Theriolt, use Fury Cutter!"
Theriolt dove forward, slashing Pidgey with one of his blades. He then turned around and slashed it again with his other blade before it had the chance to react.
"P-Pidgey! Use Tackle!" Falkner forced.
Pidgey tumbled backward after another slash, and tried to dart back towards Theriolt. Before it could pull off its own attack, however, Theriolt struck again. This time, Pidgey didn't hop back up.
"See?" Gin called as Suishou grinned. "Too easy."
"You have such low expectations," Falkner replied, recalling Pidgey. He then released another, larger bird Pokémon. "Pidgeotto will knock you down a few pegs."
"I don't think so," Gin replied disdainfully. "Fury Cutter."
"Wing Attack!"
Theriolt lifted his blade again as Pidgeotto rose into the air. The Flying-type dove towards him, wings outstretched, and Theriolt reached forward slightly. However, Pidgeotto shifted just as Theriolt was about to slash at it, and then struck his torso with its wings. Theriolt cried out in surprise and stumbled backwards, losing his balance.
"Aw, man," Gin mumbled. "Hey, Theriolt! Try Slash."
"Wing Attack again!"
Theriolt regained his footing and tried to strike at Pidgeotto again. However, Pidgeotto dodged just in time again and once again hit Theriolt with its wings. The Scyther glared as he skidded.
"This is getting nowhere," Gin muttered. "I'm switching."
She withdrew Theriolt and reached for Midnight's Pokéball. The Sneasel appeared beside her, cocking her head slightly.
"Midnight, give it an Ice Punch."
"Keep up the Wing Attack, Pidgeotto."
Midnight's claws glistened as ice formed around them. Pidgeotto dove towards her, and just before it hit, Midnight lashed out at it. Pidgeotto nearly squawked as Midnight's freezing claws struck its wings, and it tumbled to the floor. It tried to get back up in the air, but small ice crystals had already formed in its wings.
"Now finish it with Faint Attack!"
Midnight nodded and seemingly vanished. Then, she suddenly reappeared next to Pidgeotto and rammed into it. The Flying-type fell to the floor, panting and laying its head down.
Falkner sighed and wordlessly recalled Pidgeotto. He then looked up at Gin.
"Well, it looks like you're better than I thought," he said. "You don't fail horribly, at any rate."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gin demanded.
"Oh, never mind…"
Falkner reached into a pocket in his jacket and pulled out a wing-shaped badge. He reluctantly handed it to her, and Gin grinned as she clipped it to the inside of her own jacket.
Gin chuckled again. "Well, hey, the next time you fight someone, you might get lucky. They might get too tired from walking up all those stairs and make a wrong decision."
"Wh-what?" he cried.
"Oh, nothing," Gin tossed over her shoulder as she turned around. "Later."
Gin ignored Falkner's shouts, laughing under her breath as she and Suishou headed back to the stairs. They were only wide enough for them to walk in single file, so Suishou filed behind her. The redhead tapped her on the shoulder after a few minutes of silence.
"Hey, Gin?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think you could fight me sometime? I want to try…"
"No way. It would be no fun."
Gin smiled to herself, silently adding, And too easy. Suishou, however, simply sighed and continued following her down the winding staircase.