Okay, maybe not sleepless. More of really, REALLY, bored.
A/N:
So, 10K views… I'm definitely pleasantly surprised, and thank you all for your continued support. I'm also surprised somebody got the Yggdra Union reference.
However, I don't have much to give back to you. This is going to be a filler/breather episode. The reason for this is twofold, because I need to incorporate the finer points of Pokémon X & Y; ergo, I need to work in Super Training somehow, and this chapter is summarily dedicated to their first exploits.
Besides, logic dictates that you shouldn't go out in heavy downpours. A light drizzle of rain works just fine.
(Writer's block, damnit…)
It was an ordinary day in Slateport City. The shopkeepers were setting up their respective stores along the bazaar stands, Captain Stern was accepting entry fee into the Oceanic Museum, and a Groudon stormed past the beach.
"KYAH! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! DON'T KILL US!"
…I said, it was an ordinary day in Slateport City. The Battle Tent was accepting Trainers, the members of the Pokémon Fan Club were opening their doors to one and all, and a Kyogre floated after the Groudon in hot pursuit.
"HOW DO YOU CALL SPENDING MY SAVINGS AT THE MAUVILLE GAME CORNER AN ACCIDENT?!"
Hold on. What's the meaning of all this?
Well, this is considered very much ordinary in Hoenn, my friend.
That right, Altair? Well, if you say so, then I'll take your word for it.
*cough* Okay, where was I?
Right. It was an ordinary day in Slateport City. The citizens were milling about, minding their own business. At least, they were.
Currently, all but one were watching the four-and-a-half metre long Sea Basin Pokémon chase down the smaller Continent Pokémon, and the shouting that went on between their trainers.
The one exception was an old man, who was still happily fishing on one of the harbours with his Pelipper.
"Mr. Briney?"
That same white-haired old man looked over his shoulder to see a girl, around fourteen or so. "Aye, lass?"
She pointed at the two legendaries. "What exactly is going on?"
He let out a long sigh. "The lovely couple are having another of their marital spats."
"Lovely couple? They don't seem so lovely to me."
"Aye, the charming Champion, Brendan, and his prancin' wife, May. Been together two years, and they're still working it out."
"This happens a lot?"
He leaned back in his chair. "More often than you'd think, lass."
"KYOGRE, WATER SPOUT!"
The blue leviathan roared.
"FLAK is currently looking into the cause of this violent rainstorm, and while reports say it may have come from Hoenn, details are still unclear. For now, all citizens are encouraged to remain indoors, because we are unsure how long the heavy downpour will last. Thank you for your time. This is Malva, signing out."
As the news bulletin came to an end and the pilot episode of Pokémon Rangers: Jungle Fury started, the seven people gathered at the sofa groaned for their own reasons.
Calem was the first to voice his thoughts. "Well, since we can't go anywhere, I guess we're stuck inside the PC, huh?"
"Well, *achoo!* better here and warm *achoo!* then out in the *achoo!* cold." Shauna half-said, half-sneezed, before grabbing another tissue.
Serena slid the towel from her hair to her shoulders. "There's really not much to do in the Pokémon Center, now is there?"
Tierno checked his watch. "Brighten up, guys, it's only 3 o'clock. If we're lucky, we'll be out of here after dinner."
"That's assuming the rain even stops by then, which is looking less likely the more we're talking." Trevor drawled, looking through the fifth of the current Pokédex entries that had been completed. "To put it another way, we'd best prepare to spend the night."
Roxie fingered the baubles in her hair. "Well, great. While Fantina's probably relaxing back home in Hearthome, I'm stuck here with you chums for company. And Arceus knows what those two are up to; I haven't seen them since this morning."
"Still can't believe they let Hugh become the Red Ranger."
Six pairs of eyes turned to the actor, who turned his gaze away from the TV to them.
"Why?"
Wordlessly, he thumbed the screen, which was now showing the Unova Champion knocking out a bunch of random mooks, with the accompanying caption reading out:
Rosa Kyoumei
AS
Hazel Knight
"Course, she refers to it as a Champion's privilege, such that she'd only act in the main role if her boyfriend got one too, which is why the agency decided to cut her a deal. Sometime during the negotiation, someone ran the idea of giving my lead role to him to appease Rosie, and next thing I know, we're forcing Hugh into a red jumpsuit."
Serena crossed her arms. "You're awfully calm regarding this."
He shrugged. "We're tight enough that I'm letting this one slide, though; besides, I have a different sort of role to play."
The screen was now showing him putting on a very magnificent coat and a masquerade mask, before turning to the camera, a devilish smirk on his face.
Nate River
AS
Apocalypse/Jack
"This is the first time they've actually decided on making the villain good-looking, huh?"
Once again, six pairs of eyes turned to the speaker. This time, Roxie visibly flinched as Nate's brown eyes, the closest in distance, bored into her; the same devilish smirk that was onscreen moments ago eerily replicated on his face.
"What was that, luv? I couldn't hear you."
Her cheeks reddened up. "I said it once, and nothing you can do will make me say that again, Nate!"
In one quick motion, Nate stuck out his right hand and lightly squeezed the area behind her left ear.
"Ah! N-No! T-That's cheating!"
With his free hand, he reached behind her and rubbed the small of her back, making her yelp in surprise and pleasure.
"You were saying?"
"T-This is a public place, you d-dense, dippy- ah!"
By now, the other five guests were in varying stages of embarrassment. Calem was looking away nervously, although his eyes glanced back at the two every now and then. Shauna had both her hands over her eyes, desperately trying, and failing, not to peek. Serena had her best scandalized face on, as if they had slapped her instead. Tierno was using a magazine from the rack to block out the two, while Trevor had outright fainted, the tiniest speck of blood appearing on his upper lip.
Fortunately for the whole lot of them, it was at that precise moment that Nurse Joy decided to come over.
"Hey, if you all have nothing to do right now, would you be so kind as to help me out with something?"
Nate immediately stopped, and Roxie collapsed to the sofa, panting.
Serena, currently the most level-headed of the people there, responded first. "Oui, Nurse Joy, we'll help."
"Truth be told, I haven't tested it out myself." Nurse Joy- Margie, as she asked them to call her, said as she gestured to the four choker-like objects on the beds. "I've either been slogged down with general work, or too preoccupied with the dunces who think lake-diving is risk-free."
Tierno walked up to the bed closest to the door and picked up the object. "AmuSphere?"
"The message I got from the FLAK says that they were imported from Silph Co. east in Kanto. Apparently, they're virtual reality devices, or something to that extent. They're supposed to help trainers bond with their Pokémon through sports."
Nate raised his eyebrows. "Sports? What are we going to do, play soccer?"
Margie shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know. It might be something along those lines, though; the manual says that soccer balls of different types are involved."
Serena moved to the bed furthest away from the doorway. "Well, we aren't going to achieve anything by standing around and talking, so let's try it out."
She proceeded to slip on the 'AmuSphere' around her eyes, before lying down on the bed.
What came close to a minute passed by, before Serena asked, "Is this thing on?"
She heard Calem, who had put on the AmuSphere on the bed next to hers, laugh. "It's voice-activated, Siri. All you have to do is say 'Link Start' and then…"
His voice slurred off, culminating with a crash onto the pillow.
"C-Sharp?"
"What he was trying to say is that you have to say 'Link Start' before you…"
Tierno's voice slurred off as well, as a proportionally louder crash was heard.
"Tio?"
A snarky laugh answered her.
"I'm not sure whether to be appalled or impressed. Your friends just managed to knock themselves out mid-sentence. Not the first time I've seen it happen, but still."
"What happened to them?"
To that, the sound of rifling pages followed, before Nate responded, "Well, those two words they said instantly trigger the release of a particular general anaesthetic that knocks you out happily. Afterwards, the virtual reality will start, and to wake you up from it afterwards, it will administer a light electrical shock, like what a Pikachu would give."
"I see." She closed her eyes. "Well, then, Link Start!"
A wave of calm washed over her.
When she came back to consciousness, she was standing up in pitch-black darkness.
Odd. I'm very sure I was lying down when I went into VR mode.
And then, she was blinded by a searing light.
"Let's give it up!"
The sound of thunderous applause filled her immediate vicinity as the light faded to reveal a large football field. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of cheering people were lined up along the bleachers, waving flags predominantly in red.
As for her, her outfit had mysteriously switched from her normal wear to a red jumpsuit, which complimented her hair nicely. She was standing inside a metal cage, with hexagonal mesh on every entrance, as if to prevent something from coming in.
Or her from going out.
Just as she was taking in the surroundings, a confused yelp came from above her, followed by gleeful chirping.
No way… Fia and Skye?
Indeed, if she were able to poke her head out and look up, she would see her Fennekin and Fletchling on top of the metal cage, which acted as a platform.
"Where in the world are we?!"
"Who cares? We have fans! Let's go say hi!"
A holographic popup screen popped up in front of Serena, from which, a mechanical, but distinctly male, voice sounded out.
"Welcome, Trainer. This is the Super Training Arena, where your prowess is put to the test! If you are new to this, please select Training!"
The option labelled 'Training' lit up.
"If you are a returning player, you may select-"
Whatever the machine was planning on saying was interrupted by Serena tapping the 'Training' option.
"Splendid! A newbie has arrived to take the stage! Will she rise to the challenge? Let's find out!"
And as the hologram faded, the machine began to hum.
"We're going up!"
And shot up into the air.
As the machine came to a halt some ten metres off the ground, Serena's knees started to wobble. Assuring herself that this was just a virtual reality, and no actual harm would come to her, she managed to set her jelly-like knees, and stood up as straight as she could manage.
A white object materialized on the steel floor. She picked it up, and turned it over in her hands. True enough, it was a Nunchuk, much like the one Calem had at home whenever they came to his house for a sleepover.
Outside, on the Super Training Machine's platform, a pair of black soccer balls on identical stands popped up out of nowhere, surprising the two. When Fia nudged one off its stand, another identical soccer ball appeared on it just as fast.
"What are we supposed to do with these?"
As if on cue, which was likely, a massive blue Scatterbug balloon inflated itself. It dwarfed the small STM, taking up a large portion of the opposite side of the stadium.
"Oh. My. God." Skye's eyes widened. "GIANT JELLY SCATTERBUG!"
The stand on top and machine down below continued the pre-written spiel. "Can you see that? Right in front of you?"
I'd have to be blind not to see that.
"That giant right there is a Balloon Bot! Now, I'll explain what you'll have to do in order to defeat it!"
Unbeknownst to the three as a whole, it was at that exact point that the instructions branched off. While one set of instructions was given to Serena, a different set was given to her Pokémon.
For Serena, it went a little something like this: "The analog stick on your Nunchuk is your movement controller. Move in the direction you'd like to move by shifting the analog stick in that same direction. Press the small circular button, or 'C', to accelerate in the direction of movement, and the rectangular button directly below it, labelled 'Z' to slow down. Your mission is to dodge the incoming shots from the balloon bot. Your Pokémon will do the rest."
"Use your attacks to propel your soccer balls towards the Balloon Bot! The balls are shockproof, heatproof, waterproof, and any-other-kind-of-proof you can think of! Aim your attacks carefully, however, because that Balloon Bot is reaaaaaaaaaally far away, and these balls don't bounce! Keep your limbs inside the perimeter of the platform at all times, and be careful not to fall overboard when it moves! Your job is to wear it down with your barrage of attacks, and I suggest you look for weak points! Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour!"
The large screen fizzled to life, showing a timer, set to three minutes.
"BEGIN!"
Practice against Scatterbug! Scatter out and bug it!
"Ember!" "Tackle!"
While Fia's first shot went side, Skye's scored a direct hit, smacking the balloon in its eye. Fia's second shot went just as wide the other way, while Skye's next one smashed into its other eye.
"How are you so good at this?"
Another shot impacted the balloon squarely in the forehead. "Back in the forest, Mother taught me to use balls of dried leaves to knock Scatterbug off branches to eat! This is just a larger-scale version of it!"
"Any advice I could use?"
"Hit it just below the middle of the ball for best results!"
As expected, finally, one of Fia's shots actually connected with the balloon. True, it only hit one of its nubby legs, but it was a start.
Evidently, the balloon was not amused, as it reared back its ugly head, and spat four large soccer balls in their direction.
"Oh no! Brace yourself!"
Before the balls even came close, however, Serena's voice sounded out clearly from below.
"Hold on to something, guys! I'm going to try and outswerve it!"
Not a second passed before the STM swung sharply to the left. Fia managed to latch on to one of the stands, and was thus spared from falling over the edge, while Skye, who had wings of her own, took to the air, only coming back down when the STM was at a complete stop.
"You okay?"
Fia let go and got up. "Never better! Let's pulverize this bug!"
Round and round they went, dodging balls and flinging balls back at the Balloon Bot, which was starting to wear and tear under the immense barrage.
"On three! Ready?" "THREE!"
The force of both soccer balls punched a hole into the left eye of the Scatterbug. All was still for a moment, before the air inside rushed out, and the Scatterbug Balloon shot up like a rocket, propelled away by the air, and disappearing in a blink of light.
"We did it!"
"Hold on."
Fia lifted a paw and pointed it at the jumbotron. "Why does that screen say 'Bonus Round'?
A second balloon began to inflate itself. Rather than a Scatterbug, this one formed the shape of a Spewpa, its direct evolution.
But this one looked downright murderous.
Without even waiting for a cue to start, the Spewpa opened its mouth. Tens of footballs spewed out, creating a deadly arc of black destruction, all aimed at the miniscule Super Training Machine.
"SWEET ARCEUS, HANG ON!"
It was a testament to her natural reaction time that Serena managed to dodge the first ball. It was a similar testament to her skill that she dodged the next fifty.
Skye had already disappeared in the black and white flurry, and while she feared for her friend, Fia had more to worry about, being thrown left and right, just barely managing to hold on to the stand-
BAM!
That is, until a lucky hit smashed into the STM.
"Woah!"
Serena was thrown to the floor by the impact. Shaking her head to rid herself of the spirals in her eyes, she turned to the left, to witness her Fennekin fall over the side.
"Fia!"
"Not on my watch! Galeforce!"
A red blur shot past the STM, latching onto the fennec fox, and lifting it up, and out of her sight.
"Wow, you're heavy!"
"I'm over five times your weight; how in Lord Xerneas' holy name are you able to carry me?!"
Skye set her down back on the now-stationary platform. "Ne moi sous-estimer, Fia! We can carry humans, if we wanted to! Now, let's crunk that bug!"
"Yeah! I'm not going to let some 8-bit balloon get the batter of me!"
Her body burst into flames.
"Flame Charge!"
The ball, now wreathed in flames, punctured into the Spewpa Balloon Bot like a meteor.
For a moment, all was still. Then, just like the Scatterbug before it, the Spewpa Balloon shot up like a blazing firework, disappearing into the far horizon.
Success!
Serena breathed a sigh of relief. They'd managed to take down the Training Bot-
Her eyes widened. Mon dieu. If that was the training bot, then I have no chance against the regular ones. I need to train the two of them, and fast.
"Congratulations! You have successfully cleared the Training mode! Do you wish to continue?"
The same holographic popup screen came back up, this time, showing only a 'Yes' and a 'No' option. Predictably, she chose the 'No'.
"Alright, then! Au revoir!"
*BZZT*
Serena blinked once more to find herself looking at the lightly shaded, reflective screen of the AmuSphere. Taking it off, she smoothed down her bed hair (electricity and lying down tended to do that), stood up, and stretched.
"There's a whole lot more to be done before I can challenge it again. Until then…"
She took out the two Pokéballs from her pocket. "Let's get stronger. C'mon, I have half a mind to challenge Shaunee."
A/N:
Oui – Yes
Ne moi sous-estimer – Don't underestimate me!
(Fun fact: Fletchling can learn the HM Fly. I haven't seen anyone using it that way, though.)
Mon dieu – my god
Au revoir! – Goodbye!
Pokédex count:
Central Kalos – 31/150 seen.
(Coastal Kalos – 1/153 seen. – Rhyhorn – Unregistered)
(Mountain Kalos – 1/151 seen. – Ditto – Unregistered)
(National – Koffing, Misdreavus – Unregistered)
Serena's Team
Name: Fiametta 'Fia'
Species: Fennekin
Approximate level: 14
Ability: Blaze
Moves learnt: Scratch, Tail Whip, Ember, Howl, Flame Charge
Name: Skye
Species: Fletchling
Approximate level: 12
Ability: Gale Wings
Moves learnt: Tackle, Growl, Quick Attack, Peck
Bonus scene:
So, Serena and her team definitely enjoyed their little stint. But, how did the others fare?
"Vine Whip!"
As the balls struck the Spewpa, tearing a hole into it and sending it flying, Almond swore he heard the air that rushed out whispering, "That's not a whip!"
Probably just my imagination, he thought, as he went and joined a recovered Oberon and Blair in their rejoicing.
"Hit it into the net!
I don't dance.
I say you can!
Not a chance, no, no!"
Eugene, ignoring his trainer's singing and dancing, shot the last few balls towards the Spewpa with a careful Bubble.
"In the goal, you score,
I'll swing it on the dance floor.
I don't dance, no, no…"
Tierno struck a pose as the Spewpa launched itself. "Yeah."
"Why're you hitting yourself? Why're you hitting yourself? Why're you hitting yourself?"
With each Counter, Laura sent each and every ball the Spewpa sent at her right back at it. Clearly, a large ball does more damage than a small one, and in no time at all, one steamrolled Spewpa balloon lay on the ground.
Nate, who had been resting against the side of the STM's interior, heard her tapping impatiently on the ceiling.
"Alright, alright, Laura, what do you want to do next?"
In Morse, she tapped her message back.
"You want to challenge the hardest difficulty?"