Episode 14: A familiar face
Niko spent the following day packing up and walking around Castelia City with his Pokémon. Around midday, they went to the Pokémon Center's battlefield and spent time training. For the most part, Snivy felt comfortable with her moveset, and spent most of her time working on evasion and speed. Rufflet was working on a move Niko discovered called "hone claws." Lastly, Niko spent most of his time with Roggenrola, whose battling style would be more focused on defense. However Roggenrola, like Rufflet, preferred to fight offensively, rather than defensively.
After working with his Pokémon for some time, he noticed Warren and Charlotte were standing outside of the door leading to the battlefield from the Pokémon Center. Smiling, he waved to them, and noticed that they both began approaching him.
"How's the training going?" Warren asked, slapping Niko across the back.
"Good so far. Rufflet's trying to learn a new move, and I'm trying to figure out where Roggenrola will fit in the team. He wants to be an offensive fighter, but he's built for defense, I think." Niko said, turning to the Mantle Pokémon who was busy working on improving his mud slap attack.
"He'll get it eventually." Warren said. "I'd ask if you wanted to battle, but my Pokémon are a little exhausted. They were running around a lot in Sydney's apartment, and nearly tore her curtains with razor leaf at one point." He said, to which Niko's eyes widened significantly in shock. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly. They were a little hyper, and I don't think they're up for battling right now."
"No worries, I don't think they will be either. But I could be wrong—they do nothing but surprise me." Niko said, thinking back to his gym battle with Burgh, where Snivy created her own strategy using leaf tornado as a protective shield. "So, you guys ready to leave tomorrow?"
"Yep! Got everything packed up, I think." Charlotte said with an eager smile. "Smeargle's pretty excited, too!"
"I'm ready. I don't think Sydney is, though. She's a little sad that she can't join us right now. But if you make it to the Unova League she will come and visit to watch!" He said excitedly. "And I promise I'd try to call her whenever we get to a new city."
"Speaking of…where are we going?" Niko asked just as Rufflet accidentally crashed into Roggenrola. "Oh! Rufflet…" Niko said, picking Rufflet off and rubbing some dirt off of his head feather. "You alright?"
Rufflet cawed happily, kicking his way out of Niko's arms and taking flight once more, again diving down towards Roggenrola. Turns out the first collision wasn't an accident at all.
"So if we go north we will eventually reach Nimbasa City." Warren said. "I think there's a gym there, too. But it's a great city supposedly!"
"Yeah, I've been there a couple of times. They have a lot of sporting events, and a ferris wheel, and this thing called the Battle Subway." Charlotte explained. "It'll be fun! We can do a lot of different things!"
"I look forward to it," Niko said with a smile. "And if there's a gym leader there, then we should definitely get ready for that. I can't imagine they'll be easier from here on out."
"No, they aren't." A familiar voice said from the doorway into the Pokémon Center. Niko turned his head to see the origin of the voice that he, somehow, seemed to remember. And he couldn't believe who it was. "Hey Niko, how're you?"
"Elliot?" Niko asked with a raised eyebrow. "What're you doing here?"
"I could be asking you the same thing…" He said, stepping forward. "You challenging the gyms here?"
"Yeah, I have three. You?" Niko asked, standing straight up as Elliot approached. He was still shorter than Niko, but it was clear he had gotten taller since the last time Niko saw him, two years prior at the Silver Conference.
"I just got my third. You said you're going to Nimbasa City? It's an easy enough gym, I thought, but it might have been type advantages, or resistance I guess." Elliot then turned to observe Warren and Charlotte. "Where is your usual group of people? I thought you were with—" Suddenly Niko grabbed Elliot's shoulder and pulled him aside, out of earshot from his new companions.
"They think I'm new to this trainer thing." Niko whispered to his former rival.
"Why? Are you lying to them?" Elliot asked.
"Yes I am. I'd rather not go into the details." He continued to whisper. "Just…if you're going to engage in conversation with them, please leave out our past."
"Geez Niko…whatever works for you." Elliot then straightened up a little. "I think Fay mentioned something about you leaving Pallet Town. He didn't seem very happy about it, but it seems you'd rather not discuss it, so I'll leave it at that." He then turned to Warren and Charlotte finally. "Sorry about that. I'm Elliot, an old friend of Niko's from Kanto." He said, approaching Warren first and shook his hand.
"Warren, roommate of Niko's. How do you know Niko?"
"He's friends with a relative of mine, so we've seen each other on occasion. But it's been years, right Niko? I had no idea he lived in Unova now." He said, glaring at his former rival. Niko nodded silently, confirming that the details Elliot was giving was correct.
"Oh, I see. It seems a few of Niko's friends from Pallet Town are showing up. We met this woman named Sabrina down in Virbank City. Guess Niko was popular back home!"
"Well, I guess so…" Elliot said plainly. "Hey, Niko, since we're here, and both challenging gyms, how about a battle? Just to see where we're at. You game?"
Niko deep down would have said yes in a heartbeat, since Elliot was the one rival besides Hunter that he had a need to defeat. Unlike Hunter, though, Niko and Elliot had a mutual respect for one another. And Niko couldn't blame anyone but himself for losing to Elliot way back at the Silver Conference. He was also a far more experienced trainer than Niko was, but not outside of the realm of potential victory. With that said, he accepted Elliot's challenge.
"Sure, why not?" Niko said with a smirk. "I've never gotten a chance to battle you. Let's say a two-on-two?"
Elliot nodded. "Fine by me. I'll use some Pokémon that I've recently caught. I'd like to try them out against different Pokémon, and I haven't really seen any of your Pokémon before."
Warren and Charlotte, suddenly excited by the prospect of a battle, sat down on the benches near the middle of the battlefield as Niko and Elliot took to opposite ends of the battlefield. Niko had returned his team to their pokéballs, and waited for Elliot to choose his first.
"Mienfoo, I choose you!" Elliot shouted, summoning a small yellow mustelid-like Pokémon with round ears, red eyes, and a pink nose with a whisker on each side. Its red arms look similar to flared sleeves, and the paws are yellow.
"Mienfoo, the Martial Arts Pokémon. Fighting type. It takes pride in the speed at which it can use moves. What it loses in power, it makes up for in quantity."
"Fighting type, huh? Rufflet, let's go!" Niko shouted, summoning the Eaglet Pokémon, who was eager as always to fight. "Use wing attack!"
"Mienfoo, use swift!" Elliot commanded. The Martial Arts Pokémon then thrust its palms forward, shooting bright yellow stars from the palms at Rufflet, who endured the attack before crashing into his opponent. "Force palm!"
"Fury attack!" Niko shouted, but it was unsuccessful, since Mienfoo took hold of Rufflet and tossed him into the wall separating the Pokémon Center from the rest of Castelia City. The Eaglet Pokémon slumped to the ground, but quickly got back up again, ready to continue fighting. "That's the spirit, Rufflet! Use wing attack again!"
"Mienfoo, drain punch!" Elliot shouted. It was then Niko realized that Elliot, who had been previously a stickler for type advantaging, wasn't letting up here, even though he had the disadvantage. It confused Niko.
"Rufflet, swerve to the side and dodge it, and then follow up with peck!" Niko shouted, forcing a change in his Pokémon's attack. Rufflet attempted to swerve, but Mienfoo lowered her free hand under the one with drain punch and used force palm to quickly take command of Rufflet, holding the Eaglet Pokémon in place.
"Now, drain punch!" Elliot commanded. A brown and white swirling aura surrounded Mienfoo's fist as it slammed into Rufflet's face, instantly absorbing his energy. "Now, finish Rufflet off with swift!"
The Martial Arts Pokémon, while still holding onto Rufflet with force palm, shot the Eaglet Pokémon with a round of yellow stars, launching him across the field and to Niko's feet, where Rufflet rolled for a little before landing in the dust.
"Rufflet, can you continue?" Niko asked, crouching down. Rufflet nodded, but Niko knew that he couldn't. So he returned Rufflet, and the Eaglet Pokémon didn't protest. Looking up at Elliot he nodded, indicating that he was ready for the next round, and pulled out a second pokéball as he stood up. "Snivy, let's go!"
"Mienfoo, return." Elliot said, exchanging Mienfoo's pokéball for a second one. "Deino, I choose you!" He said, summoning a small quadrupedal Pokémon with black fur covering its head and neck, concealing everything but its mouth from view. It was roughly two feet in height, and Niko thought it looked deceivingly adorable.
"Deino, the Irate Pokémon. Dark and dragon type. Lacking sight, it's unaware of its surroundings, so it bumps into things and eats anything that moves."
"Woah…" Niko said. "Just like Fay, I guess. This is something he'd get." Niko then smirked.
"I guess so. He is a dragon trainer, that is. Deino, dragon rage!" Elliot commanded, thrusting his hand out as he did so. Deino opened its mouth and unleashed a burst of purple and orange fire at Snivy, who protected herself with leaf tornado hoping to minimize the damage. This time she failed, and was knocked off of her feet from the fire. "Interesting tactic…but you should know dragon rage is literally a burst of fire, Niko. Deino, use headbutt!"
The Irate Pokémon charged forward, albeit slowly, which gave Snivy a chance to get back up and prepare for her next move. Niko then commanded her to wrap Deino in vine whip and throw him, similar to how they dealt with Cheren's Lillipup back in Aspertia City. Snivy obliged, dashing forward and, when she got closer to Deino, quickly into the air and wrapped her opponent around the torso. She then proceeded to flip Deino, but found herself letting go and spinning wildly through the air before crashing into the ground.
"Snivy!" Niko shouted just as Deino spun back around and unleashed a dragonbreath attack on Elliot's command. Snivy spun back onto her feet and rolled to the side to evade the attack. Watching this, Elliot smirked.
"You've seen Fay practice with that evasion technique of his. Well done, Niko. Deino, use headbutt!"
"Snivy, offensive leaf tornado!" Niko shouted, finally distinguishing between the two types of leaf tornado that Snivy could use. The Grass Snake Pokémon somersaulted through the air and shot a tornado of green leaves at Deino, halting the already slow Pokémon in its tracks. However, it didn't stop the Irate Pokémon, who shot out a dragon rage while Snivy was landing from the leaf tornado, catching her off of her feet and forcing her to crash onto the battlefield.
"Use dragonbreath!" Elliot shouted. Deino launched a final attack that hit Snivy directly in the face, keeping her down. Elliot returned Deino and looked back at Niko. "Your Pokémon are strong, that's for sure, but you've got a lot to work on, I think. Keep it up, though."
"Snivy, return. You did a great job." Niko said before turning to Elliot. "Thanks, Elliot. I appreciate that. Your Pokémon are really strong. You should be proud of yourself."
"I am. They make all of this worth it." He said, smiling down at Deino's pokéball.
"Do you still have Scizor with you?" Niko asked. He got a nod in response.
"Yep. I don't use him as often since I'm trying to raise new kinds of Pokémon, but Scizor is certainly travelling with me." As Elliot said this, Niko noticed him grabbing something on his wrist, but he couldn't identify what it was. "Deino at first was a handful to train, and so Scizor helped me put the little guy in his place."
"I'm glad Scizor is doing well. It was impressive at the Silver Conference."
"It was. That's for sure. That was an interesting Pokémon tournament. Scizor fondly remembers battling this one trainer's Feraligatr and Venusaur. They put up a fight." He let go of the thing on his wrist before looking up at Niko. "Hopefully we can face it again in the future."
Niko tilted his head in mock confusion. "Well, I hope you get that chance."
"I hope so too. Catch ya later, Niko." Elliot said. "Nice meeting you two as well. Keep him in line, will ya?"
"You got it." Warren said with a smirk. "It was great meeting you as well!" He continued with a wave.
After Elliot left, Niko healed up his Pokémon and then got lunch with Warren and Charlotte. The three finalized their plans for leaving, deciding to meet up at the northern part of the city in the late morning the following day. When he got back to his apartment, Niko surveyed the area—how empty it looked, bar the furniture. Everything was now with Sydney—the few personal possessions Niko took with him from Kanto to Unova.
Before going to bed that night, he took another look at the Basic, Toxic, and Insect Badges. He then watched Snivy, Rufflet, and Roggenrola all sleeping on, next to, or at his bedside.
The next morning, Niko approached the northern border of Castelia City, only to find Charlotte, Emily, Warren, and Sydney all standing there, waiting for him. They all looked relatively well-rested and ready to go. The same air that consumed his surroundings when he left on his two previous journeys from Castelia City was present once again. This time, it didn't make Niko feel anxious. He felt happier; satisfied. However, he couldn't help but think about what Elliot told him. Did he truly make the wrong decision in leaving Pallet Town? If he ever got to challenge Elliot in another official battle, could he still count on the Pokémon with whom he had the closest relationship? If he ever went back to Pallet Town, would Venusaur and Feraligatr forgive him? Would the others?
He also knew that one day, sometime in the future, he would eventually have to tell Charlotte and Warren about his past. He felt uncomfortable at the thought of it—he was afraid of how they might react to him lying. How do they react to lying under other circumstances?
Shaking his head, he turned his neutral expression into a positive one. Charlotte and Warren responded in kind.
"You both ready?" Warren eventually said.
"Yeah!" Charlotte said excitedly, Smeargle responding happily at her side. Then all eyes turned to Niko.
"I'm ready when you both are."
"Be careful, you three." Emily said, hugging Warren and Niko. When she got to Niko, she spoke quietly to him. "Please watch out for Charlotte for me."
"I will. I promise." Niko said. Emily nodded with a satisfied smile before Sydney approached him. "Thanks for helping us out, with the moving and all that."
"Don't worry. Just make sure you get to the Unova League."
"Oh yeah, Warren told me you'd come to watch it." Niko said, nervously scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, I'll be there to see you win it all!" She said confidently before hugging Niko. "Best of luck."
Niko then let go of Sydney and walked forward, with Warren and Charlotte flanking both sides. They all waved to their friends and family and then turned northwards towards their first destination—Nimbasa City.