Chapter 21 – You Are Not Alone!

"Hmmm…" Kay's teacher mused as he looked over her form, idly stroking his chin.

Kay was called by her homeroom teacher for counselling to discuss about her plans for the future – rather, what she planned on doing after high school. In a form handed out to all of the third year students, she was asked to write – in just a few words – of what she hoped to do beyond graduation or if she had an ideal career she wanted to pursue in mind. On her paper, Kay wrote:

"To help your father at your family's farm and become a Pokemon Trainer…" read her teacher. "Are you sure about this, Planer?"

Kay sat across from him, looking a little nervous, but she nodded her head – albeit softly. "Yes…" said Kay, lifting her head a little to properly look at him. "I'm… I'm sure…"

"Hmm… While I respect any decisions you make on this, Planer…" Gently, he placed her form back down on his desk. "… but have you considered on possibly furthering your studies? In fact, with your grades, you could enroll in any university here in Unova… and I wouldn't say it's not impossible that you could even apply for a scholarship to study overseas. You're still young, remember?"

Kay did turn sixteen that year.

"I know…" said Kay, but then she straightened up and faced her teacher directly. "But helping out my dad and Pokemon Battling are the paths I've chosen. I've really thought about it long and hard… and this is the decision I've made. I want to continue taking care of my family's farm… and I want to continue to work hard for Pokemon Battling. I want to focus on doing both… so I don't think I'll have enough room for school eventually." Then she lowered her head apologetically.

Her teacher looked her over, looking quite surprised. But then he sighed and smiled in relief. "It does look like you've made up your mind," he said. "As long as you're sure about that, then there's not much I could say anymore. Just remember that if you ever need help looking for some good recommendations on colleges or universities, you can come and talk to me, Planer."

Kay smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, sir…! I'll remember that."

Her teacher nodded in return. "You may go now."

Kay made sure to give her teacher a respectful bow of her head. As she walked out of the room, her teacher sighed and turned on his chair. 'She sure changed a lot…' he thought. 'During the first year I remember that she wasn't even sure what to do with her future… and now it feels like I was talking to a whole different person. Ah well… It's good to see that." He slowly stood up and looked down at Kay's form on his desk. "Pokemon Battling, huh? Who would have thought…?"

"And then she said 'you need to decide NOW on what you're going to do after high school'!" Nicky growled. "Agh! I'll worry about that after I graduate, okay!" She flailed her arms over her head in anger after.

"I'm sure she was just worried about you, Nicky…" Kay assured after sipping on her orange juice.

It was lunch time – and around a week since their group study - Kay was eating with Terry, Nicky, and Vicky on the school roof – a situation they each slowly adapted to. Like Kay, the three girls apparently started to occasionally bring their own lunch boxes now, and started making it a habit to meet together during lunch time. Of course, it didn't change the fact that Kay stood out among them in both appearance and personality – if not among other things.

"I told her that my big brother will take care of me until I find work," said Vicky. "But then she got all mad and stuff~."

"What about you, Kay?" asked Terry. "You said you were called in by your homeroom teacher too, right?"

Kay nodded. "Well… I told him that… I want to focus more on being a Pokemon Trainer, and… well… he said it was up to me in the end." She didn't think she needed to tell them anything more than that though – including the part where she wanted to continue helping out her family's farm. "What about you, Terry…? Did your homeroom teacher ask about what you want to be in the future too?"

Terry looked the other way. "Yeah…" she said. "… but I told him I didn't have any plans at all aside from taking over my father's business, which is probably still a long time from now anyway." She sighed, and then pointed her chopsticks at Kay. "You're lucky, Kay; you seem like you have everything you need to do well in Pokemon Battling. That reminds me… When is your next battle anyway?"

"Well… Leader Dempsey told me I shouldn't neglect my studies, but he also said that I shouldn't neglect being a Pokemon Trainer either. My next battle is… in two months. The last week…"

"Oh, so that's in November, right?" asked Nicky. "The last week of November…"

"The last week of November…" repeated Vicky.

"The last week of November…" repeated Terry, nodding her head firmly.

But for some reason, Kay was looking the other way, and she wore a guilty expression. The three other girls, on the other hand, gave it some more thought… until they realized what was going on.

"What?!" Terry and her girls cried out, quickly turning to face her. "Isn't the last week of November when we're having our FINALS?!"

"I, I know…!" stuttered Kay. "But I…! But I didn't mean it to turn out that way…!"

Flashback to a few days ago, back at Dempsey's Gym…

"Kid," he called out to Kay. "We've found you your next Pokemon Battle opponent." Kay and Teppo, who were practicing with the punching bags, quickly stopped to look towards their Gym Leader. "It's a Trainer a couple of ranks above you." He then approached them, looking over the condition of the punching bag for a moment. "This one is ranked 24, and so far is the only Gym among those we've reached out to that accepted our challenge. I'm pretty sure you know what this means if you win, Kid."

Kay looked surprised, but nonetheless nodded eagerly. "We'll move up a lot in the ranking…! Wow… It's hard to believe someone that high in the ranking wants to battle with us." She turned to face her Pignite, giving it a smile. "Isn't that great, Teppo?"

"Nite…!" the Pignite cheered, raising its fist.

"Unfortunately…" Dempsey continued. "They can't make it for December… and suggested that we set up the Battle Date to be on November instead. That would leave you and your Pokemon just two months to train this time."

"Two months…?" Kay asked. "Will we be alright…?"

"Hmm… Well, it's true that you've had a hard time with Wally Bailey last time, and there's no doubt that he was a stronger opponent than any of us expected, but your Pokemon will definitely be in good enough condition in two months' time."

"Pignite…!" Teppo turned to face Kay, and clutched its hands into fists looking all fired up. "Nite…!"

Kay understood what it was trying to say. "Then we'll do it, Leader…!" said Kay. "This is a rare opportunity so… so we can't just waste it."

Dempsey nodded. "Nicely said. But… you don't have any important plans going on in November? If you don't, then I'll contact their Gym right away."

Kay gave it some thought. "As far as I know… I don't think so. Do we, Teppo?" Her Pignite, however, shook its head. With that, Kay smiled and then looked back at Leader Dempsey with a confident look on her face. "We can do it…!"

Back to the present…

"And two days later I just realized that the finals were happening that week…" Kay admitted, looking blue suddenly. "Leader Dempsey got really angry at me, especially since we've already made it official. We could cancel the battle but then it would make us look bad… Plus it would look like I either forfeited, or make me look bad as a high school student…"

The three other girls sweat-dropped.

"But I know it's because he's worried it might affect my performance in the finals...!" assured Kay. "That, or the other way around… But I told him that we'll be alright anyway…" Kay chuckled weakly, but it lasted for only a few seconds before she lowered her head in shame. "I can't believe I've made such a mistake…. Not to mention that the battle is just two days away from the end of the exams. I wonder if Teppo and I actually will be alright this time…"

Terry, Vicky, and Nicky looked at each other with concern.

"Good afternoon!"

Giving her usual greeting, Kay stepped into the Gym once more. She was still wearing her school uniform, but this time Teppo was outside its Pokeball and walking alongside her. Some of her fellow Gym mates even greeted her in return, having gotten used to the girl doing so in the last couple of months. But it was Tessa and Parker that she would first approach.

"Pignite!" Teppo was the first one to greet them.

Tessa and Parker were apparently in the middle of training their Pokemon, with Tessa's Toxicroak – 'Peaches' – doing push-ups on the floor, and Parker's Manectric – Shocker - running on one of the treadmills made specifically for Pokemon. Hearing Kay and then Teppo's greeting, they turned their attention to them while their Pokemon continued their training on their own.

"Oh, hey there, Kay!" greeted Tessa. "How's studying in school so far for you?"

It was a question either of them had started asking after hearing about her predicament on the date surrounding her next Pokemon Battle – though she couldn't really tell if they were trying to make fun of her for it or genuinely concerned for her.

"It's doing alright…" said Kay, giving them a little smile. She didn't say anything else though, and simply avoided looking Tessa and Parker directly.

Tessa and Parker, of course, noticed this.

"Oy!" A familiar voice soon caught their attention. Apparently back from doing his roadwork, Sodo entered while somewhat dripping with sweat. He didn't have his Pokemon with him, but people could easily assume he just returned them to their Pokeball for some resting time. Greeted by his peers, he then approached Kay and the others. "Oh, Kay! How's studying in school so far for you!"

There was that question again.

Kay flashed another little smile. "I, It's doing alright…"

"It must be hard on you," said Sodo, putting his hands on his waist. "Taking your finals AND taking a Pokemon Battle with someone several ranks higher than you… Most people normally pick one over the other because either one has high stakes on them." Kay lowered her head. "I mean, think about it… You've left quite the impression in your Pokemon Battle debut so people are pretty much expecting you'll live up to your hype in your second battle."

Kay lowered her head, looking worried.

Tessa and Parker flailed their arms around at Sodo to silently tell him to stop. Unfortunately, he didn't see them doing so.

"And then you have your finals…" said Sodo, closing his eyes and musing over it firmly. "If you don't do well in them, there's an actual chance that you could repeat a year! What will your teachers say…? People will eventually start blaming you taking up Pokemon Battling…!"

"W, What…?" Kay's eyes widened.

Then he tightened his hand into a fist. "And what if the Board of Education started bringing this up to the public and claim Pokemon Battling is bad for education?! They might start banning students from taking up the sport… or WORSE: they might vote to ban Pokemon Battling altogether! What will Inez or the Professor think about this?!"

"….?!"

But then Sodo suddenly grinned to himself and slapped Kay on the back. "Just kidding…!" he said. "Like something like this never happened before…! Gyahahaha! Don't you worry-… eh?" He looked down at the girl, and to his surprise, she completely whited out! "What the…? Why are you looking so pale so suddenly…?"

"THAT WAS YOUR DOING…!" Tessa and Parker shouted at him in unison.

"WHAT?!" Sodo retaliated. "I WAS OBVIOUSLY JUST JOKING! CAN'T YOU ALL TAKE A JOKE?!"

"That was a joke?!" Tessa snapped. "What kind of humor do you actually have, you Big Mouth?!"

"What did you call me?!"

But Kay turned to face them again. "I, It's alright, everyone…!" she said, flashing a weak smile. "Really, don't worry about me… I know I made a big mistake on the schedule… But…! But I promise that Teppo and I will be alright…! This sort of thing happened to others before anyway…" Her smile looked like it was on the verge to fading, but they could tell she was forcing herself keep it.

Tessa and Parker turned towards Sodo, giving him a glare.

However, it was Sodo again who stepped forward to Kay. "Alright, alright…" he said. "I'll admit that it's my fault for saying all that…" But then he straightened up. "Alright! I'll make it up to you…! Look!" Swiftly, he pocketed something out of his pocket: it was a ticket to the Battle Stadium! "I actually got this for you not too long ago."

Kay saw the date on the ticket, and she quickly realized what ticket that was for. "That's…!"

Sodo grinned. "That's right… It's a ticket to OUR Pokemon Battles next week!"

Tessa and Parker were actually surprised at that.

"Don't you remember?" Sodo asked. "At that night, Tessa, Parker, and I will be having our Pokemon Battles. Of course, this isn't about them at the least! Especially since I'll be in the main event." And Tessa and Parker glared at him once more. "So to make it up to you… I'll show you what a REAL Pokemon Trainer can do in the Battle Ring. Then I'll win by knockout just for you! Won't that cheer you up!"

"Eh…?" Kay looked up at him in disbelief.

But Parker quickly stepped forward and thumped Sodo in the back of his head. "What the heck do you mean by how this isn't anything about us!" Parker snapped. "You think YOU'RE the only one who gets to act cool to your junior?!"

"That's right!" said Tessa. "WE want to win to cheer Kay up to! I even bought a ticket for her…!"

"What?" Parker turned to look at Tessa this time. "What do you mean you bought her a ticket?! I bought her a ticket…!"

"You damn copycats!" Sodo barked. "Trying to steal my thunder, HUH?!"

But Kay and Teppo just stared at them. 'Everyone…' thought Kay. 'Were they… actually worried about us…? They have their own Pokemon Battles and yet…'

"Huh?" Tessa turned to look at Kay, and suddenly gasped at what she saw. "H, Hey, Kay…! Why are you crying? Sodo, this is all YOUR fault…!"

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!" Sodo retaliated. "I told you I was joking…!"

Kay sniffed, trying to hold in her tears. "N-No, it's not that… It's just that… I've caused all of you to worry… and you have your own Pokemon Battles to be worried about… But I don't know why but…" Her eyes were obviously watering. "I-I can't stop… feeling happy…"

"…"

The three of them quickly stopped bickering, but instead smiled at each other.

Teppo patted Kay on her leg, giving its Trainer a smile. "Nite, nite…"

Tessa stepped forward, and gently gave the other girl a hug. "There, there…" said Tessa, idly rubbing her hand on her head. "Come on; we're all friends, right? Of course we'd be worried when you're down! You and Teppo worked real hard, didn't you? So come on, stop crying already – it's not a good look to show everyone else here, you know?"

Kay's cheeks turned red at both the hug and at what was said, but nodded meekly and rubbed the tears off of her eyes quickly. Putting on a straight face, she stepped away from Tessa and gave them a confident smile.

"There we go," said Parker. "That's the face we're used to."

"You really are a kid, aren't ya?" asked Sodo, grinning mischievously. "For a while there, I thought you were going to bawl your eyes out."

"Sodo…!" Tessa hushed.

Kay could not help but smile now. 'Thank you…' she thought. 'I'm really glad I joined this Gym…!' Just like that, she felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders, knowing that she had her 'friends'' support.

It was then that Charles came walking down from upstairs. Spotting Kay, he approached her with a smile on his face. "Oh, Kay!" he said. "I was waiting for you to come by at the Gym. Leader Dempsey and I talked over it and we agreed that you probably need some cheering up. Look what we got for you!" And he held up… a ticket to the Battle Stadium. "We think that it'd be a good idea for you to see your fellow Gym mates battle next week! So we- … eh?"

It was only then that Charles realized… that Sodo, Tessa, and Parker were holding up the exact same ticket in their hands. The three of them each gave Charles looks.

Kay and Teppo, on the other hand, looked completely dumbfounded and guiltily looked the other way.

Charles said nothing at first, until he pushed up his glasses and muttered, "… copycats."

And Sodo, Tessa, and Parker's voice were heard across the Gym:

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING COPYCATS?!"

The week after, Kay had invited Terry, Vicky, and Nicky with the three extra tickets to watch the Pokemon Battles at the Battle Stadium.

The second to last Pokemon Battle was a Team Battle between the team of Tessa's Toxicroak and Parker's Manectric, against their opponents, who had a Gloom and a Charmeleon as their partners. The battle began with their opponents taking the initiative, but Tessa and Parker managed to fight them off until the end of the first round. The second round had Tessa and Parker taking control, only for Parker's Pokemon missing an attack at the last minute that almost led to his Manectric to go down.

"That was so close…!" Nicky said. "That Gloom is stronger that it looks…!"

Tessa and Parker's Pokemon battled it out against their opponents, shifting in dominance back and forth for the next third and fourth round. During the fifth and last round, Tessa's Toxicroak managed to land its attack against the opponent's Gloom, knocking it out completely. The bell was rung, and Tessa and Parker were declared the victors!

But Terry, Vicky, and Nicky weren't so satisfied with that.

"The battle turned into a slugfest…" said Terry. "I'm glad your gym mates won but still…"

Kay chuckled weakly at that. It was true that the battle didn't turn out as smoothly as they had hoped, but… 'Congratulations, Tessa! Parker!' she thought. 'That was still an incredible match…!'

Then it was time for the main event…

"Hey, Kay?" Terry asked. "This… 'Sodo' guy… He's your gym mate too, right? He's in the Full Battle Division so he should have three Pokemon. What are they?"

"Eh…?" Kay blinked. "Well… I know he has a Machop, but now that you mention it… I don't think I've seen his other Pokemon before. I've asked but… they kept telling me that I'd see them eventually. His training schedule is different from mine too so… a lot of times we hardly ever see each other in the Gym. But I always see him with only his Machop though…"

"Shhh!" hushed Vicky. "It's starting! It's starting…!"

"Alright, ladies and gentleman! And Pokemon Battle fans everywhere!" The announcer's voice was heard all across the stadium. "It's time for the maaaaain event!"

As the crowd cheered, the two Trainers that will close the night start to make their way to the Battle Ring. Sodo was the last to step out of the entrance, and Kay noticed that he was still wearing one of his dark singlets that he normally wore during training. But what surprised Kay more was the fact that the crowd was very much cheering for him.

"Go, Sodo!" a fan shouted. "We came here to see you!"

"Give us another win!" another cheered.

"W, Whoa…" said Nicky, looking around her. "Your Gym mate is kind of a fan favorite, huh…?"

"I know he's strong…" said Kay. "… but I didn't expect him to be this popular."

Terry, on the other hand, was looking attentively at Sodo from her seat. 'He seems awfully familiar… Wait a minute.' That was when it hit her! And she quickly whispered her realization to Vicky!

When Vicky herself realized it, she would pass on the message to Nicky. Finally, all three of them looked down at him, with sweats dripping down their heads. They had just realized who Sodo was: it was the 'scary man' that scared them off several months ago! During when they were still picking on Kay! 'HE'S one of her GYM MATES?!' they thought in unison.

"Hm…?" Kay – while she noticed the worried looks on her friends' faces – didn't catch on what made them suddenly look that way. "… everyone…?"

"And finally…!" the announcer continued after introducing the first Trainer. "On this side… SODO REEEEID…!"

"YEAH!" Sodo roared, and surprisingly his voice was on par volume with the announcer's own!

And the crowd cheered even louder!

The Mr. Mime Referee threw its arms sideways; the ring bell was rung!

"Go, Freddy!" The opposing Trainer shouted, throwing his Pokeball towards the Battle Ring!

"Go, Champ!" And so did Sodo!

As the two Pokeballs hit the ground, they snap right open, unleashing flashes of white! The opponent's Pokemon was a Sandslash, and Sodo had started the battle with his Ma—

"…!" Kay and several others were surprised.

Sodo's Machop was now a Machoke – it had evolved!

It tightened its fists and planted its feet firmly on the ground, and started flexing all of the muscles of its body by doing a Most Muscular pose. Even for a Machoke this one looked big and brutal, especially around its upper body where the traps, pectoral muscles and biceps bulged with intensity. It slammed its fists together before going into battle stance, glaring at the Sandslash several feet away from it. It stomped its foot once, and that alone was enough to cause the Sandslash to flinch.

"S, Sodo Reid's Machop has already evolved into a Machoke!" shouted the announcer. "To think that it was a Machop just a few months ago…! And it looks like everyone – including their opponents – are just as surprised as I am!"

"Hey, Kay!" Vicky called out. "Use your Pokedex!"

"R, Right…!" Kay quickly pocketed out her Pokedex to search for any information on a Machoke. Finally finding it, she pressed on the screen to allow the Pokedex to reveal a short description on the Pokemon: "Machoke, the Superpower Pokemon… The muscles covering its body teem with power… Even when still, it exudes an amazing sense of strength. It always goes at its full power, but this very tough and durable Pokémon never gets tired. Its muscular body is so powerful; it must wear a power-save belt to be able to regulate its motions."

"M, Monster…" muttered Nicky, slowly looking back down at Sodo. "It fits him completely…"

"And the Machoke in the Pokedex doesn't even look as terrifying as the one down there…" Vicky pointed out.

But Sodo's opponent refused to be intimidated. "F, Freddy…!" he shouted, pointing at the Machoke. "Use Rollout!"

The Sandslash quickly rolled into a ball, and the spikes on its body straightened up. Like a speeding tire, the Pokemon rolled itself with intense speed right towards the Machoke! But strangely… Champ did not move a bit and simply raised its now open hands up. The Sandslash closed in…! But to the surprise of everyone in the Battle Stadium, the Ground-Type Pokemon stopped!

But it was the way it was stopped that made them gasp.

The Machoke caught the Sandslash by two of the spikes on its body during its spin with its bare hands! The Sandslash tried to force its way through, but the Machoke did not budge once.

Sodo grinned, baring his fang-like teeth. "Alright, Champ…!" he said. "We got 'em! Use Vital Throw…!"

The veins on the Machoke's arms started to bulge, and it lifted the Sandslash off the ground with ease. The Sandslash unrolled itself and struggled to get out of the Superpower Pokemon's grasp, kicking its claws and legs but to no avail. In one quick motion the Machoke swung the Sandslash downwards and…

*WHAM!*

… slamming the mouse Pokemon straight on its front! The impact was so loud that it could mostly be heard across the Stadium!

"F, Freddy…!" its Trainer cried out.

The Mr. Mime referee stepped forward check on the down Pokemon, but before the human referee could even start counting… the Mr. Mime waved its arms!

The Sandslash was unable to continue battling!

"With just one move…" gulped Terry. "Did you all hear how loud that Sandslash hit the ground…?"

"A, Amazing…" said Kay. "That Machoke… is on a whole other level."

The Sandslash was returned to its Pokeball, and the Trainer quickly brought out another. "Go, Jerry…!" He threw the Pokeball onto the ring, and this time out came a Raticate, another mouse Pokemon! "Raticate, use Quick Attack…!"

The Mouse Pokemon was quick to move! But then its Trainer's eyes widened in surprise; the Machoke dashed right at it at the same time showing its own incredible speed! Before the Raticate could properly react, the Machoke had already thrown a straight right into its face! Its powerful fist slammed against the mouse Pokemon with unmatched authority, and it followed through by continuing to push its arm forward, until the Raticate was slammed into the ground onto its back!

And Sodo didn't even need to say anything.

The Mr. Mime once again was quick to wave its hands to signal that the Raticate was unable to continue battling!

The crowd went wild, and Sodo's opponent dropped his jaw wide. In just under two to three minutes into the first round, TWO of the other Trainer's Pokemon were soundly defeated without so much as scratching one of Sodo's!

The opposing Trainer held onto his last Pokeball with trembling fingers… but seeing the glares from both the Machoke and Sodo forced him to do the only thing he could think of. The Trainer pressed the button on his Podium, which sent out the word 'Forfeit' under his name on the screens surrounding the ring. And the ring bell was sounded again.

"His opponent had forfeited the battle…!" exclaimed the announcer. "The winner is… Sodooooo REID…!"

"YEAH!" Sodo roared.

"MACHOKE…!" His Pokemon did the same, raising its arms powerfully in the air.

Terry, Vicky, and Nicky were speechless. All they could think about was how they almost got into a fight with him once and even more mind boggling to them was that Kay was training in the same gym as he was. Kay herself, however, was all smiles.

'A, Amazing…!' thought Kay. 'He must have trained his Pokemon a lot for it to be that strong…' Then she saw Sodo looking up at her direction – though she couldn't tell if it was just coincidence. Then she remembered: he did say he was going to win his battle to cheer her up. And that got her smiling again. 'Thank you, Sodo… and thank you, Tessa… Parker… everyone.' She tightened her hand into a fist, and looked on over the Battle Ring with determination.

'I'm going to do my best…!'

FazzEagle:This one took a little while, but only because I had other things to do. Anyways, this chapter we look at how things have changed since twenty chapters ago before Kay even started getting into Pokemon Battling - especially in her relationships with several characters in the story. Plus, we get to see Sodo's Pokemon in battle! He only uses one of his Pokemon here though - I'm saving the revealing of his other Pokemon for some other time. This battle of his was just to show just how strong his Pokemon is - in fact, even looking overpowered. That just means that anyone who could give him a challenge would have to be strong Trainers themselves.

Also, just a reminder that Kay's real Pokemon Battle will begin in the East Unova Rookie Trainer Tournament. To think that it's already about to reach the next year in the story...

Also, Kay is sixteen now. Let's just assume she celebrated her birthday with just her father and Teppo.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you all think!