Chapter 13: Crushing

Not good enough. He doesn't like yellow! Ashley sniff through a bunch of flowers that she picked. After a long debate between a blue flower and a red rose, she chooses the red rose because it smells pretty and made her happy. She returns to the Pokemon Center where everyone is outside, enjoying the beautiful weather. Sophie naps on a bench while Nicole is eating her favorite food: twigs. Jack and Winter were chatting about something on another bench. Winter was grooming Wade. Not too far from them was David, sitting on the ground, bored. It was true that no one really liked him. Now and again he would instigate a fight with Wade or Jack purely for entertainment. This angered Ashley. The clown crisis at Vienna Cliff happened two days ago and everyone acts as if everything is fine. They acted the same towards David and refused to see that he is a courageous soul who would've sacrificed himself for Ashley if Sophie wasn't there to grab him. Ashley had to do something nice for him one day to repay his kindness. But all she could think of was picking flowers every day.

Ashley went up to him. He had a dull expression on his face. "Hi David!" He gave he a look. "I got you a present." She laid the rose on the ground in front of him. She made an awkward smile as he picked it up. "Do you like it?"

"Ashley…" He sighed.

"You don't like, do you?" Ashley stared at her paws. "I should've picked the blue one. I'm sorry."

"Ashley."

"I just wanted to five you something nice. Ever since you saved me…"

"Ashley!" He jumped up, very annoyed. He teeth seemed sharper than before. David threw the rose on the ground. "Just stop!" Ashley crouched on the ground and almost curled up into a fluffy ball. David calmed down because he could see that she was scare. "I'm sorry. I don't want any more presents. I don't want more attention."

Ashley held in her tears. "I liked you a lot. I wanted to be besties with you…" Ashley slumped away, her tail dragging on the ground and her ears flopped down. She went under the bench Sophie was on and curled up.

"Damn, David! Back at it again being a little bitch." Jack laughed.

Nicole walks over. "You should apologize." She tells David.

"She's annoying!"

Wade commented, jumping off Winter's lap. "I though you wanted the ladies?"

David glared at him. "I don't like all the attention." He whispered. "She's not that cute either. I'm not a fan of Eevee and its Eeveelutions."

"I think her crush on you is kinda cute." Nicole gestures towards Ashley. "I don't think she understands her feelings yet, but every time you two talk, Ashley has the happiest smile in the world."

"I SHIP IT!" Wade screams. "Right, Winter?"

"Don't bring me into this!" Winter gets up. "I'm gonna get some lunch." She goes into the building.

The lunch station opened and Winter took a plate and some eating utensils. Everything looked delicious and it was hard to choose. Two things caught her eye. The pizza was always good, but she always had it whenever she went to a Pokemon Center. Next to the pizza was the chicken tenders shaped like tiny Torchic. Her mouth watered just by the smell.

"Go for the chicken." A male voice next to her said. The guy brought her back from her daydream. He took a piece of chicken with his fork. "I like your hat." He said. "The heart button is cute."

Winter smiled. "Thank you." The guy had dirty blonde hair, not too long and not too short. He had a maroon and white shirt on and black jeans. His shoes were nice, brand new, and probably really expensive. Maybe $195 poke at the most. They were red and black with a Torracat symbol on them. Most likely a brand by the Melemele Torracats, a popular basketball team in Alola.

"I'm Edwin." He says.

"Winter." They shake hands. "Nice to meet you." She takes two pieces of chicken. "Nice shoes."

Edwin points to them. "These are my babies. Cost me $215 poke at a shop in Cyllage City in Kalos during a sale for the finals last year."

Close enough. "Cool. I guess you're traveling too." They head outside.

"Yup. I'm aiming to be the best trainer in Rorroh. I want to be the champion!"

"Champion?"

"Yeah. Haven't you heard of the gym challenge and the Pokemon League? Almost every region has one or has a challenge similar to it. Don't tell me you haven't heard of it."

"Nope."

Edwin explains. "Pokemon trainers travel around Rorroh to get 8 gym badges from around the region. Each gym is based around a specific pokemon type. Once a trainer has 8 badges, they can participate in the Pokemon League Conference. There's a competition where trainers enter to battle each other and the winner gets the chance to challenge the Elite Four. In Rorroh, if you lose even once to the Elite 4 or the Champion, you can't challenge them until you win the conference again next year to get another chance. If you beat the Elite 4, you can challenge the Champion, the strongest trainer in Rorroh. If you beat them, you become the new champion and live in a fancy palace!"

Jack comes over. "Another new friend, huh? I'm Jack. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about gyms."

"Have you challenged some?" Winter asks Jack.

"Well… I've had my fair share of experience." Jack scratches his ear. "I know a lot about it too. Only the most determined trainers can take this challenge on."

Winter turns to Edwin. "Edwin, do you have any badges?"

"Not yet. The first gym is in Lodgewater City. It's a Water type gym so I'm still preparing and training as hard as I can." Edwin smiles. "How 'bout a battle? 3 on 3?"

Winter nods. "Well, sure. If it'll help you train." She returns Wade, Nicole, and Sophie. "David." She says. "Will you and Ashley cheer for us?"

"Sure thing." David says and sits on the bench Ashley is hiding under. Jack takes a seat there too. "Ashley, do you wanna sit by me?" He asks Ashley, but gets no response. Edwin grabs Winter's hand and they run to the battlefield. Jack and David give each other a look.

Edwin and Winter are on their respective sides of the battlefield. "Come out!" Winter sends out Nicole. "Let's do it Nicole!"

"You won't beat my first pokemon! Come out Rogers!" Edwin sends out a froakie. Winter takes out her pokedex.

'Froakie, the Bubble Frog Pokemon. Type: Water. The bubbles on its back and chest help reduce damage. Froakie are very happy pokemon, but are secretly vigilante about their surroundings.'

"Ladies first." Edwin says.

Winter nods. "Nicole, use Scratch!" Nicole uses Scratch, but Rogers easily dodges.

"Rogers, use Water Pulse!" Rogers launches a pulse of water at Nicole. Nicole uses Ember to counter it, but Water Pulse breaks through. Nicole is able to dodge it. "Use Quick Attack!" Rogers hits Nicole on her side as soon as she dodges the Water Pulse. It knocks her back a bit.

"I don't think I can do this Winter." Nicole backs away.

Winter speaks. "Just believe Nicole. We can do this. Use Flame Charge!" Nicole uses the move and is able to catch up to Rogers. The attack isn't very effective but Winter realizes that Rogers doesn't have a good defense stat. "Use Scratch!" Nicole is able to knock another Water Pulse from Rogers away and land an attack on him.

"Use Lick!" Rogers' tongue stretches out of his mouth and Nicole has a hard time dodging it. The Tongue sticks to her and her struggle ends up with her getting wrapped in the slimy tongue.

"Nicole, use Flame Charge!"

"Quick Attack!" Rogers lets go and speeds towards Nicole. Nicole doesn't have enough time to move, but surrounds herself with the fire from Flame Charge to weaken the Quick Attack. "Bubble!" Bubble hits Nicole as she runs and her speed gets slower. "Water Pulse!"

"Nicole use Psybeam!" Psybeam and Water Pulse collide. "Flame Charge!" Nicole uses Flame Charge and hits a defenseless Rogers. Rogers uses his frubbles to soften the landing. "Psybeam!" Nicole launches a Psybeam straight at Rogers who is unable to dodge it. Rogers faints.

"We won!" Winter cheers. Nicole and Winter hug.

"I can't believe it! I won against a Water Type!" Nicole barks. Winter returns Nicole to her pokeball.

Edwin returns Rogers. His face is red with embarrassment. "I can't believe that just happened. Are you sure you're not going after the badges?"

"I'm sure." Winter says. They send out their next pokemon. Winter sends out Sophie and Edwin sends out his chikorita, Natasha who Winter uses the pokedex on.

'Chikorita, the Leaf Pokemon. Type: Grass. The leaf on its head not only smells sweet, but it can tell the temperature. It swirls the leaf on its head around in battle.'

"This'll be interesting. Grass on Grass." Jack says.

David notices that Ashley lifted her head up to watch Nicole battle. "Ashley? I'm sorry about before. I wanna be friends too." Ashley doesn't acknowledge him.

"Sophie, use Tackle!" Sophie is quick, quicker than Rogers was and goes in for a Tackle.

"Reflect!" Natasha puts up a blue barrier that Sophie runs into. Natasha takes a little damage.

"Sophie's screwed." Jack says.

"That's a nice way to put it." David says sarcastically. "Why?"

Jack explains. "Reflect protects the entire team from physical damage. Physical damage is lowered. Tackle is the only non-Grass attack move Sophie has and Edwin just exploited that with Reflect. Reflect does wear off after a while.

"Use Growth!" Winter orders. Sophie's tail glows and a red aura appears around her, raising her attack.

"Nice Winter." Jack comments.

"Tackle!" Sophie goes in for another Tackle that hits and does some more damage to Natasha, but Reflect still weakens the attack.

David gets anxious. "Why isn't Edwin doing anything?"

"Well, chikorita isn't known to be very fast considering its future evolutions. Chikorita is more of a bulky defensive pokemon that can take hit upon hit." Jack says.

"Leaf Tornado!" Sophie uses Leaf Tornado. It lands a critical hit on Natasha. The Reflect doesn't show up either. "Growth!" Sophie's attack stats go up.

"What happened there?" David asks.

Jack explains again. "Growth raises the attack and special attack of the pokemon that uses it. Leaf Tornado is a special move so Reflect doesn't work in that case." Sophie uses Leaf Tornado again as Natasha uses Razor Leaf that doesn't do anything. "Unless Edwin can pull something out of his ass, Winter will destroy him with Leaf Tornado."

Suddenly, Natasha starts to glow. "What's going on?" Winter gets shocked by this since Edwin didn't say anything.

"It's her ability, Overgrow!" Jack screams. "He was waiting for it!"

"Yup!" Edwin smiles. "Grass Whistle!"
"Vine Whip!" Winter panics. Sophie's attack stops just before it can knock out Natasha because Grass Whistle puts Sophie to sleep.

"Use Synthesis!" Natasha's leaf glows as she absorbs the sunlight and completely heals. "Now, Razor Leaf, full power!" Natasha barrages Sophie with a powerful Razor Leaf. Winter keeps yelling for Sophie to wake up, but she doesn't. Eventually, Sophie faints.

Jack sighs. "Damn. That was smart on his part. In my opinion, he could've finished the battle way earlier, but I guess analyzing Sophie's battle technique first wasn't such a bad idea."

Winter somberly picks up Sophie and apologizes. She returns Sophie and goes back to her spot on the battlefield. "It's tied now." Edwin says. "Now you'll meet my first and strongest pokemon." He sends out his combusken, Tony. Tony makes a karate move as he comes out and cross his arms, mimicking his trainer. Winter uses her pokedex.

'Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokemon and the evolved form of Torchic. Type: Fire/Fighting. Its legs are its greatest weapon, able to make 10 kicks a second. In battle, it's body temperature increases and it makes sharp cries that are loud.'

Winter throws her pokeball. "Let's go Wade!" Wade comes out and tries to do a cool pose, but trips and falls face first on the ground. "Ugh."

Tony laughs. "This is what I have to go up against?"

Wade gets up. "I'm fine Winter!" He puffs up his chest. "I'm stronger than I look!"

Edwin calls to Tony. "He's a Water Type. Remember our plan for that!" Tony nods.

"This is even more interesting. Wade does have the type advantage, but it's obvious that combusken is stronger because it already evolved and has been with Edwin longer than Wade was with Winter." Jack says.

Ashley crawls out from under the bench. "Go Wade!" She cheers and jumps joyfully.

"Ashley! Are you okay?" David asks. "I'm really sorry. I did like the present."

"You did!" Ashley hops onto the bench and sits in between David and Jack. "Yay! Besties!"

"Use Peck!" Winter and Edwin say at the same time. Wade and Tony collide with Peck.

"Ember!"

"Bubblebeam!" Ember and Bubblebeam clash into a big explosion. Both pokemon are showcasing their strength which is equal.

Edwin cracks his knuckles. "Tony, Bulk Up!"

"Bulk Up?" Ashley asks Jack.

Jack sigh. "I don't wanna be the Brock of this…" He continues. "Bulk Up raises the attack and defense of the pokemon by a lot. It'll make Tony's moves a lot stronger."

"Use Peck!" Wade and Tony collide again, but Tony's strength has increased and sends Wade flying backwards. "Wade, use Pound!"

"Double Kick!" Tony uses Double Kick. The first Kick collides with Pound, but the second makes direct contact. Wade gets a face full of talons and claws.

"Wade! Are you okay?" Winter asks.

Wade gets up slowly. He's pretty damaged. "I'm fine. I'll be fine. Do it."

Winter hesitated. "But… Last time it missed."

"Not this time. We've been training." Wade looks back at Winter and smiles.

Winter has Wade use Bubblebeam to give him some space away from Tony. "Use Bide!"

Jack's eyes widen. "Um…"

"They're in a tight spot!" Ashley says.

Edwin questions Winter. "Bide? Really? We'll knock Wade out before he hits us. Tony use Bulk Up!" Tony strengthens up. Good. Power up. "Use Double Kick!" Tony unleashes a flurry of kicks on Wade who is holding on as much as he can. On the last kick, Tony pushes off Wade and does a backflip, then uses Ember. Wade's got this… we got this. Pretty soon, the fire from Ember goes out and Wade's body is gray and black from the attack. He can barely stand up. "Use Peck!" Tony goes in for one last attack.

It happens. Wade opens his beak and unravels a devastating Bide attack, stronger than the one he used against Logan. This time is different because Tony doesn't dodge, he can't. Tony is caught off guard midway through his attack that he is hit critically and blown back into Edwin. They both fly into a tree and a bunch of large branches break off and fall. When the attack finally ends, Wade is on one knee, taking in deep breaths. The smoke clears and Tony (and comically Edwin) have fainted. Winter is the victor.

"Edwin!" Winter picks Wade up and runs over to Edwin and Tony to help them up. Edwin's clothes are covered in dirt, except for his shoes because he protected them somehow in the blast. Tony tries to stand, but keeps falling down. Edwin returns tony to his pokeball and they go into the Pokemon Center to heal up. After getting their pokemon back, Edwin, Winter, Jack, and the other pokemon are eating.

"My head still hurts." Edwin has a bandage on his head that slightly messes up his hair. "That was really embarrassing. I lost…That was the first battle I ever lost…" Edwin finishes his soda.

Winter smiles. "I had fun! I've been training with my pokemon. You see, we're gonna enter in pokemon contests.

"Seriously?" Edwin asks in confusion. "No offense, but… Your battle style and the way you handle your pokemon are exactly like a pokemon trainer like me. You think through different strategies and put them to use. I mean, I could see that they use contest combinations in battle I guess…but I think you should consider going for the gym badges."

"Actually…" Winter gets serious. "I'm not sure what I want to do anymore." She glances at her pokemon and Edwin's pokemon getting along, except Tony and Wade who refuse to sit by each other. "I mean; I guess I want to be a Coordinator… but I feel so forced into it because of my family legacy that I don't enjoy it like I should. Maybe I should try other things instead of contests."

Jack smirks. "You should. I'll be behind you no matter what. What else am I gonna do?"

Edwin smiles. "Well, if you do decide to enter the Pokemon Gym Challenge, you have to register at a Pokemon Center first. After that, it's all up to you with what pokemon you want to catch. The main goal of a trainer isn't just to enter in different facilities and such, or to even catch every single pokemon in existence, but it's to raise your pokemon." Edwin puts his plate to the side. "You'll see soon that your pokemon become your family and your best friends. They'll always support you no matter what. You don't have to do what I like or what your family likes; it's all up to you. Hell, you can just travel all over for the journey like a lot of people do."

Winter stares at her reflection in the window. My family, my life. "I understand Edwin." She looks at Edwin again and smiles.

Edwin lightly blushes. "So, I was wondering if you… wanted…to um…" He stops himself. "Nevermind.

"Ask!" Winter urges him.

"Do you wanna travel with me? It'll be fun." He asks nervously.

Winter smiles. "Thank you Edwin…but I have to decline. You see, I have a lot I have to figure out on my own and I don't want to slow you down on your journey."

"Oh." Edwin frowns. "I understand. But we'll see each other again…right?"

"I guarantee it. I mean we're going to the same places, so it's inevitable." Winter scoots out of the booth. "I'll be right back." She takes the dirty dishes and goes to the bathroom.

Edwin stares at her as she goes out of site. "I knew it." Jack smirks.

"Knew what?" Edwin asks, focusing on Jack's face.

Jack giggles. "Nothing."

"Well, I know that you're a Zorua." Edwin smirks back. "When you took your coat off I saw your tail sticking out."

"Ugh." Jack frowns. "I want it to go away." Jack sips his coffee. "Winter has secrets too y'know."

"I bet." Edwin says.

"No like real secrets that only her closest friends know." Jack says. "Don't worry, she'll tell you soon enough."

Edwin smiles. "I hope so. You guys done?" Edwin returns his pokemon. Tony glares at Wade before going into his ball. "Tony does not like Wade."

Jack laughs. "They must be enemies now after that battle."

Winter returns. "I'm back." Edwin grabs his backpack. "Where are you going, Edwin?"

"I'm leaving. I have to train harder to rebound from my lost. I'll see you around!" Edwin leaves.

"Bye Edwin!" Winter's communicator rings. "Hello?"

Casey appears on the screen. There's a Scatterbug on her head. "Hey-o!"

"Casey! What's up?"

"Nothin' much, Winter. Listen, are you almost at Marina City?"

"Yeah, we should be there early tomorrow morning. We're at the last Pokemon Center stop. Haven't decide if we should stay the night or camp out though."

"Well, tell me when you do arrive. I'm already here and it's amazing! I wanted to give you a tour of the hotspots starting with the TV station. Deal?"

"Deal."

"WHOOPIE!" Casey jumps and Scatterbug falls off her head behind the chair she's sitting in. Casey doesn't even notice. "Awesome. I'll be waiting!" Casey hangs up.

Winter and the others decide to travel through the forest for most of the night before stopping to campout. They get up at dawn to head to Marina City. It doesn't take long for the scent of the sea to come about. After walking through a plain field, they finally see Marina City from the distance in all its glory.