Crasher Wake, Chapter XXI

The day ended, and I didn't hear from Diana.

As much as I wanted to believe what Kaitlin had told me, I found it difficult to keep calm about the matter that evening. After our lunch on that islet off the coast, we swam back to shore and hung around the beach the rest of the day. I'm not going to lie and say the entire time I was thinking about Diana, because I wasn't. I had fun with Kaitlin, the kind of fun I hadn't experienced since before my Pokemon Journey began. It felt like I was just a kid again on the beach.

But when the sun began to set, we realized our little vacation was over. The hotel had public baths, which we used to wash off the ton of sand after the day's events. We couldn't afford to stay in a room again, so a short ways off from the hotel grounds we set up a small camp. We weren't the only ones, either. The hotel knew that many trainers couldn't afford to stay (or chose not to) and went out of their way to offer small services to those camping nearby. You'd be surprised how great it is to be given a pillow for the night when you're sleeping on the cold ground.

I even wanted to visit the small festival in the plaza again, but Kaitlin advised against it.

"You go out there, you're going to spend even more money."

I had mentioned how light my wallet had gotten, especially after all the splurging we did for the room and the food. There was no Pokemart in the area, so anything we ate had to come from the hotel, and it was much more expensive than junk meals sold in those shops.

So as much as I wanted to go back out there, I stayed by the campfire that evening. Kaitlin and I talked about a few things, but by the time it got dark we were about ready to call it a night. Kaitlin had a long trip ahead of her, since she was headed up to Veilstone City. And that's what got me thinking about Diana again.

"She never called back?" Kaitlin asked me once I brought it up.

"No. I'm really worried now."

My friend didn't say anything at first. Somehow I expected her to repeat the whole, "She's fine" thing. I knew Kaitlin meant well by it, and I wasn't holding it against her. But it also felt like she was just saying it to get me to care less about Diana. At least, that's how it was going through my head.

I felt a nudge on my left, and I looked to Gible. I'd released him since we set up camp, and my pudgy Dragon type had been napping the afternoon away. He gave me a small growl, so I figured he was asking for food.

"Sorry, boy. I'll get you something to eat in a minute, okay?"

But Gible shook his head, and nudged my side again.

"What? What is it?"

Again he growled, but no matter how much I looked into his eyes I couldn't discern his meaning. What was he trying to tell me?

"Maybe he wants you to go back and look for Diana," Kaitlin chimed in. At this, Gible let out a small yelp as if to agree.

"Head back up to Veilstone and look for her?"

Another yelp from my Pokemon. Seems he was just as worried about Diana as I was. And he hadn't spent nearly as much time with her as I had.

"But..."

My voice trailed off.

I was on this quest to collect badges from all the gyms in the Sinnoh region. I wanted to prove to myself and my brothers and sisters that I was just as good a trainer as any of them. I wanted to be able to hold my head high and face them in the Pokemon League Tournament at the end of the season. And while I had time to backtrack to Veilstone City and look for Diana, to do so would detract from my mission. I still had time; the tournament wouldn't begin for more than a month.

So why did I feel so wrong about wanting to go back for her?

Did that make me a bad person? That I kept looking for an excuse not to go back? Is that why I kept wishing with all my heart that Diana would answer me? Not so much to know that she was alright, but that I didn't have to go looking for her and slow myself down?

"Mia," Kaitlin's voice reached me, and suddenly I was sitting back there by the fire.

"Huh?"

"Listen, I'll go."

"Go? Where?"

"Veilstone City. That's my next stop anyway, so I'll look for your friend."

It was the perfect solution. So why hadn't I thought about it?

"Are you sure?" I found myself asking.

"Just give me her Poketch number, and I can track her down that way. If anything, I can just talk to the police in Veilstone."

When Kaitlin mentioned the police, all I could do was worry more. But I knew that if she was with the police, she was at least safe. Team Galactic's goal was to capture the Lake Guardians and Giratina, not harm Pokemon Trainers. Well, except those that crossed them. My thoughts turned to the crazy grunt who kept bothering me, but she was after me personally. I doubt she'd just target someone else at random. If anything, she was more likely to attack Kaitlin than Diana.

It's funny, the more and more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that Diana had little chance of being directly involved with the incident.

"Yeah," I finally replied. "Here, this is her number."

After sharing the info, I picked up Gible and sat him on my lap. "Is that okay, boy? Can Kaitlin go for us?"

My chubby Pokemon nodded, growling his approval.

"Then don't you worry!" Kaitlin announced with a strong determination. "I'll find your friend!"

Gible growled again, and I gave him a small hug as a result.

"Hey, Mia?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you travel with Gible at your side?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, out in the open at all times. A lot of trainers do that, you know."

I knew that. As I've already seen a good part of the Sinnoh region, I had seen a few trainers here and there who were on the march with their Pokemon in tow.

"Well, I always felt a bit bad about making Gible walk around all the time." I told her, looking down at my Pokemon. "He's kinda fat."

At this, Gible growled in an upset tone, and scurried from my lap so he could practically bark at me.

"Sorry," I apologized to him. "But it's true!"

"No it's not!" Kaitlin said in my own Pokemon's defense. "He's just… small-boned?"

It was an odd take on the oft-used "big-boned" defense for larger or fatter people. But in a way I guess it worked.

"So what? You're saying you want to travel by my side all the time?" I asked Gible directly.

My Pokemon nodded. And to further prove the point, he began to waddle all around the campfire at a brisk pace. He certainly had energy, and I knew he was tenacious so he wouldn't complain no matter how much we walked.

"Alright, then. You can walk with me from now on," I told him. "Sorry I never asked you. Just thought it would be hard for your little legs."

Gible seemed to smile (if that was even possible is up for debate), and nestled himself somewhere near my sleeping bag. He looked ready to call it a night.

"There is one bad thing about traveling with Gible from now on." I looked to Kaitlin, who was also preparing to slip into her own sleeping bag.

"What's that?"

"He's going to want to eat a lot more often from now on..."

And as if to confirm this, Gible yelped with his eyes closed.

With the morning sun I said farewell to Kaitlin.

She promised to keep in touch with anything she found out about Diana, so I promised her in turn that I wouldn't worry about my friend as much anymore. Whether or not I could keep that promise was between myself and Gible. He'd be watching me the entire time, after all.

From there, I began my march across Route 213 west towards Pastoria City. Most of Route 213 was beach used by the Hotel Grand Lake, so it wasn't a very eventful march. The sand did slow Gible down a bit, since his stubby legs kept getting swallowed up. In the end, I had to carry him most of the way. And he was a lot heavier than you might imagine. I actually had flashbacks to the Pokemon egg I'd gotten from the Pikachu Fan Club.

By lunch time, we'd gotten past the beaches of Route 213 and were on a straight path to Pastoria City. This was another coastal town, though not to the same extent as Sunyshore City or Canalave City. It was also a bit smaller than those, with fewer tall buildings and more homes for people. The city was on a slope of sorts, and from Route 213 I could see the majority of it quite well. The Pokemon Center and the gym were the highlights, of course. But there was another building nearby that caught my eye, so I went there first to check it out.

"The Great Marsh," I read aloud from the sign posted outside the building. "Come experience the wonder of exotic wild Pokemon."

Under the sign were brochures for the place, so I took one and packed it in my bag. I had to stop by the Pokemon Center first, so I'd give it a read there. As I got closer to the Center, I noticed something of a crowd down by the small pier. Despite being labeled a city, Pastoria had a small pier that looked a better fit for a tiny town. There were a couple ships docked, but not the kinds of ocean liners I'd seen back in Canalave City. I didn't have to get close to see why the crowd was there, though.

"Thank you, everyone!"

At the sound of her cheery, sing-song voice, the crowd erupted into madness. It was Lisia, the Hoenn idol whom I'd met weeks ago. Naturally she didn't see me as I was so far away, but it looked like she was doing a gig here. Or had just finished a gig, at least. I was certain my sister Iris would kill me if I got to see Lisia twice in a single adventure, so I made sure to steer clear of the crowd. Perhaps if they were all busy with her, the gym would be free for me to challenge Crasher Wake with little wait time.

After passing along my Pokemon to Nurse Joy, I sat down in the lobby and began to read the Great Marsh brochure. It turned out the place was similar to the Safari Zone, an attraction in Fuchsia City in the Kanto region. For a small fee, you were allowed to capture as many Pokemon as you wanted, since the zone (or in this case, marsh) was a preserve for exotic Pokemon. Exotic meaning critters not native to Sinnoh.

Tempting as it was, I decided against going in myself. My current team consisted of Gible, Mareep, Shellos, Ponyta, Mawile and Chimecho. Diversity was already in the bag, so I didn't see the need in looking for other Pokemon. At least not somewhere I'd have to pay for the privilege. There was still quite a bit of Sinnoh for me to explore on my quest, so I'd just rely on natural luck for future catches.

Once my Pokemon were returned to me, I set out for the gym. By now the crowd for Lisia had dispersed, meaning her gig was over. Now that I was closer to the pier, I noticed one of the small ships docked there was colored a crazy shade of pink. That had to belong to her, or at the very least whatever company was promoting the girl. As I began to imagine how cool it must be to travel around the region in your own personal yacht, I let myself and Gible into the Pastoria City Gym.

Crasher Wake was a Water type master, so it didn't surprise me that the arena was essentially a giant swimming pool. The gym wasn't empty, however. Splashing around the large swimming pool were various people, but not the kinds of people I expected, either. It was actually a bunch of little kids, with a few grown-ups here and there helping them out. It looked like a giant swimming class, making me wonder briefly if I had come to the right place.

"Can I help you, miss?"

Sitting near the entrance behind a desk was a man, dressed like a sailor of all things.

"Yeah, this is the Pastoria Gym, right?"

"Sure is. Are you here for a swimming lesson?"

"Umm, I was here to challenge the gym leader? I'm a Pokemon Trainer."

"Oh! My apologies, I didn't notice your Pokemon down there," he said, pointing to Gible who was indeed half my height and obscured by his desk. "I thought you were another girl here for lessons."

"Yeah, no. I just want to challenge Crasher Wake." I told him, a bit peeved he was treating me like some toddler.

"Well, you might have to wait a while. He's currently busy."

"I'll wait," I told him before he could offer any other options. "Can I sit down?"

"Pick a bench and I'll pencil you in. Name?"

"Mia."

With that done, the man let me go and I wandered over to a side of the gym to take a seat. Gible was delighted by the sight of the water, but I wasn't sure if he'd even be able to swim all that well. As it was, I didn't plan on using him this fight. Unless he threw me a curveball, I planned to have Mareep finish this match with minimum effort.

So for what felt like an hour, I watched a couple grown-ups teach a pair of kids how to swim. The whole show reminded me of just a couple days ago, when I'd tried to do the same with Kaitlin. In fact, the way the grown-ups were slowly easing the kids into the deeper parts of the pool showed me just how wrong I'd been to force Kaitlin the way I had the other night. One of the kids, a little boy with a large blue inner tube, was having a lot of trouble getting out of the shallow end. The grown-up helping him, a larger man who looked more like a body-builder, was very patient however. If ever the boy complained about it being too deep, the grown-up would just calm him down and lead him back to the shallow water.

I saw this happen plenty of times, and I just couldn't imagine how he kept doing it. I would have gone crazy after just a few times, so I concluded I wasn't a very good swimming teacher.

"Samson!" The body-builder instructor called out.

The man dressed like a sailor approached the pool, and the two men spoke for a short time. Once Samson the sailor returned to his desk, the instructor guided the boy out of the pool, as did the other instructors for their charges. Once out of the pool himself, the large man walked right up to me. It was only now that I realized he was wearing a mask for some reason, though his white hair was poking out from the sides.

"You Mia?" He asked me in a gruff voice.

"Yeah. Who are you?"

With a smile, the large man pointed a thumb to his chest. "You are now beholding the Pastoria Gym Leader!"

I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped at hearing this.

"You're-?"

"Crasher Wake!" He cut me off, booming loudly. "Sorry for the delay, but business before pleasure!"

Wasn't being the gym leader his business? As if he read my thoughts, Wake continued speaking.

"My Pokemon and I were toughened up by stormy seas. I dedicated myself to teaching others how to survive the perils of the ocean. It was the Pokemon League that asked me to become a leader many years ago."

"Wow! I didn't know they did that!"

"Not anymore they don't. Things have changed a lot since I became a leader." He pointed to his white hair as if to show just how long he'd been one. "So, you want to earn a Fen Badge, do you?"

I nodded.

"Alright! We will be having a special three-on-three Pokemon battle."

"Special?"

"In order for you to earn that badge, you'll need to prove you are as safe as you are talented at Pokemon battles. Tell me, can you swim?"

"Yes?" I answered, a bit confused as to what swimming had to do with the battle.

"Perfect! For this battle, you and I will be inside the very pool where our Pokemon will fight. Not only do you have to defeat me, but you must do so without bringing harm to either of us!"

It took me a moment to piece together what he was saying. But once I had, I realized that this small rule of his would make it difficult to use Mareep the way I wanted to win the fight outright. After all, if both of us were in the pool, I couldn't just use Electric type attacks all I wanted.

"Thats-" I started to say, but couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence. But I did want to say it was a form of cheating.

Wake laughed. "Don't tell me you expected to just pull out one of those Pikachu and spam Thundershock until you won?"

Well, not a Pikachu. But that was the extent of my strategy, to be sure.

"We shall see how good a trainer you are! If you don't want to get your outfit wet, Samson will show you to the back room where you can borrow a swimsuit."

I had a swimsuit of my own, but that wasn't the point. I had to come up with a whole new strategy on the fly if I was going to earn this badge.

Once I'd changed into my suit, I slowly submerged myself on the challenger's side of the massive pool. A number of the kids that were taking lessons had chosen to remain on the sidelines to watch, so I had to admit I was feeling just a bit self-conscious. Not just because I was doing this battle in a swimsuit, but because I had to make sure I won without any real foul-ups. Unlike myself, Wake had something of a throne built partially submerged in the water. I figured his rule was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but clearly he was prepared for this kind of match so it might have been his thing.

"Three-on-three," Wake reminded me with his booming voice across the large gym. "Battle begins once both our Pokemon are out there!"

He released his fist Pokemon, a sizable blue thing with the dopiest looking face. I tried not to laugh as I scanned it (my bag was close to the water's edge for this reason).

"Quagsire, the Water Fish Pokemon. A dim-witted Pokemon. It doesn't care if it bumps its head into boats or rocks while swimming."

Even I thought that was a bit mean of the Pokedex, but I wasn't about to argue with the red device in my hands. However, the fact that Quagsire was part Ground type meant I had very little to work with. I didn't have a clear advantage, and if I wanted to be fair, I was even at a disadvantage. I could feel the tension from the crowd as I delayed in picking my first Pokemon.

A small growl sounded in my ear. Gible was there, willing to go out for me. I knew it would be risky sending him, since he probably couldn't swim if Quagsire knocked him into the water. But it was certainly worth a shot.

"Go, Gible. I'm counting on you!" I told him.

The pool didn't have many places for Pokemon to stand on, but there were plenty of flotation bars scattered about the surface. If Gible was knocked into the water, he could probably latch onto one for safety. After sending him out there, he hopped aboard one of those very bars and paddled himself to the first available island.

"The battle begins!" Wake announced loudly, to some applause from the kids around us. "Quagsire, start with a nice Yawn!"

"A yawn?!"

Wake's Pokemon was standing on an island himself, and let out a hearty yawn that even had me doing the same. Such was the power of the yawn. Gible was usually full of energy, but even he couldn't resist the allure of a mid-afternoon nap. The battle had hardly begun and already he looked unsteady on his feet.

"Gible snap out of it! Use Dragon Rage!"

With a bit of effort, Gible shook off the drowsiness and blasted Quagsire with the dark flames. Wake's Pokemon made no effort to dodge the attack, and he was pushed back into the pool, sinking like a rock. For a brief moment, I thought that was all it took. And then I realized what a mistake that had been.

Across the pool, Wake remained with his smug smile. All he had to do now was bide his time. I looked to Gible, who yawned again as the drowsiness began to overtake him. Any second now he'd fall asleep, and then Wake would be free to finish the battle in a single shot. The worst part was, I had nothing to work with here. As Gible began to close his eyes, I forcibly returned him to his Pokeball, just so I could get him off the field as quickly as possible.

"What's this? Quitting already?" Wake asked.

"Just changing Pokemon!" I announced, before picking out Shellos' Pokeball. I released my small pink Pokemon, who immediately took to the water. But I knew she wasn't going to be safe right away.

"Shellos, Water Pulse! And follow me!"

I knew that while I remained on the surface, I wouldn't have a clear view of the battle. After hearing my command, I took a deep breath and plunged myself into the water. Opening my eyes, I could make out Quagsire in the distance, resting on the pool floor with his attention turned towards Wake's feet. Not long after Wake went under himself, and I knew he was wise to my plan. As he made signals to his own Pokemon, Shellos effortlessly swam towards Quagsire, who turned just in time to see the beams of water energy crash into him. With surprising force he slammed against the wall, but that wouldn't be enough to finish him. Just as I was about to rise back to the surface, I noticed the bottom of the pool actually had a small bit of dirt or sand of some kind.

Back above the water, Shellos followed me. Wake was still under, and I didn't know how well he worked with his Pokemon. He could be issuing orders wordlessly down there, so I had to be quick.

"Shellos, use Mud Slap!"

Taking another deep breath, we both went back down. Wake was still there, but he didn't look the least bit distressed. Quagsire had also recovered, and was swimming towards my Pokemon with a great ball of mud in his paws. Quagsire was a bit slower than Shellos, however, so my Pokemon was able to swim under him and gather up some mud of its own. Both Pokemon released their muddy attacks at the same time, but I was only able to see Shellos' connect with Quagsire. The attack Wake's Pokemon did kicked up a great cloud at the bottom of the pool, which obscured my sight of Shellos. I stayed down there as long as I could, but before I could see Shellos again I had to go back up for air.

"Interesting match, isn't it?" Wake called out to me on the surface. Unlike me, he didn't look the least bit fazed.

His Quagsire was likely used to punishment, so I'd probably have to pound it nearly into submission before he'd retire it from the fight. And even if Shellos landed a few more good hits like this, it would be a while before Quagsire took enough damage. This whole plan wasn't working at all.

Beneath the surface, I signaled to Shellos to come back up. It was a tense few seconds, but Shellos popped her head at last. Without missing a beat, I put her back in her Pokeball.

"Another change? Do I have to remind you of the rules?"

"No, I got it," I called to Wake. I put Shellos' Pokeball off to a side, while I released Gible from his at last. My tiny dragon was still sleeping, but he wasn't to return to the match just yet. I had one final chance to win this fight.

I threw my last Pokemon onto the small island closest to me. Out came Mareep, the very Pokemon I wanted to finish this whole fight with. Once Wake saw her, he began to laugh out loud.

"Remember the rules! If either of us get shocked, you're disqualified!"

"I know," I said, though I doubt he heard it given how low I said it.

Mareep tried to keep her balance on the island, but she couldn't move much. What I had in mind was risky, but I had to get Quagsire out of the pool if I had any hope of beating it. My hand remained on Mareep's Pokeball, while I reached around behind me with my other hand to poke at Gible. I needed him to wake up as soon as possible.

"Mareep, try and push the island to me!"

I heard murmurs around me, but I paid them no mind. Following my instruction, Mareep used her tail as a makeshift paddle to push the island closer to me. Across the way, Wake couldn't help but laugh, but my eyes tried to remain focused on the water closest to Mareep. I just knew Quagsire would move in for a surprise attack. Once the island was just a few feet away, I saw something dark stirring nearby.

I called Mareep back at the moment Quagsire popped his head out of the water, flipping the island Mareep had been on upside down. The crowd let out a collective gasp, while I spun around to grab Gible. He was just barely rousing from his nap, but all the same I used all my strength to throw him into the pool. While in mid-air, he woke up, and that's when I cried out, "Dragon Claw!"

My Pokemon adjusted his trajectory as best he could, and ended up right on Quagsire's head. Tiny as his claws were, they cut deep and dark into Quagsire, causing both Pokemon to go under the surface. Seconds later, Gible emerged, panicking slightly before he latched onto a flotation bar for safety. Shocked by this turn of events, Wake went under briefly. After about a minute, he emerged again on his side of the pool, holding his Pokemon in his arms.

"Quagsire is out," he announced loudly so the viewers could hear. "Good job, Mia!"

I cheered myself on, along with some applause from the kids nearby. As Wake put his defeated Pokemon away, I beckoned Gible over to share plans for the next battle. Wake wasn't likely to make the same mistake twice, and I'd already forced both Shellos and Mareep to be my only support for the rest of the fight.

"Gible, when I tell you, you have to use Draco Meteor again."

My Pokemon was again shocked by the request. He still wasn't strong enough to use it more than once, and even that would drain him completely. On top of that, it was unlikely the attack would actually land at all. But that's not why I needed it.

"Trust me," I whispered to him, giving him a kiss on his snout.

Across the way, Wake had chosen his next Pokemon. Once it was out on the field, I quickly grabbed my Pokedex and scanned it in.

"Floatzel, the Sea Weasel Pokemon. It floats using its well-developed flotation sac. It assists in the rescues of drowning people."

"Makes sense," I said to myself, setting side the Pokedex.

"Floatzel, Brine!"

"Gible, do it now!"

Floatzel moved to close the distance, while Gible did nothing but focus his energy. Wake's Pokemon was able to launch its water attack first of course, which struck Gible head-on and interrupted his attack. Even as he floundered in the water, Gible quickly latched onto a different flotation bar. Again he began to focus his energy, his entire body glowing in the process.

"Floatzel, Aqua Jet!"

Wake's Pokemon began a mad dash towards Gible, his two tails acting like an engine to propel him forward at a blinding speed. Just before Floatzel crashed into Gible, my Pokemon let out a cry (that was almost immediately cut off from the impact). I caught Gible out of the water, but even that small breach of the rules was ignored as everyone was left in awe at what was happening above the pool. Gible's Draco Meteor had been finished, and the hunk of magical rock floated there for a brief moment before it crashed down on the pool's center. Unfortunately, Floatzel was too close to my side to have gotten hit by the attack, but it did cause a massive crash that sent water from the pool everywhere. Everything in the gym was hit by the water, and I think I even heard windows breaking in the process.

By the time it was over, the pool was nearly half empty, the people watching us drenched, and indeed the windows high above the gym were all broken. No doubt the water Gible displaced from the pool with that attack had ended up flooding a good portion of the street outside.

"Whoa..." Wake could only mumble as he saw the damage done.

"Sorry?" I said to him, finding myself sitting outside of the pool now that the water level had been lowered a few feet. Wake himself was no longer touching water thanks to that.

"That was amazing!" He yelled, almost unable to contain his glee. "I never thought such an attack was possible!"

I laughed weakly at the praise, but unfortunately poor Gible was completely drained. I put him back in his Pokeball, so that he might get a chance to rest. Floatzel on the other hand was swimming around the much shallower water, unsure what to do now. Realizing this was my chance, I released Mareep once more, putting her on the small island nearby.

"Mareep, Thundershock!"

"Hey! WHOA!?"

As my Pokemon charged her horns up for the attack, Floatzel and Wake both could do nothing. She unleashed the bolt down at Floatzel, who was electrified to the point he looked charred black. Wake's surprise was still plain on his face, but the fact was that without much water, there was nothing he could say. His rule was to make sure no one got hurt in the process, and now that neither of us were touching the pool, Mareep's attacks were fully effective again.

"I got to hand it to ya, that was a good move!" Wake said, calling back his Floatzel. He had his hand on his final Pokemon, but was hesitant to release it. "I take it you'll be using Mareep?"

I nodded. "Yup! Want to give up now?"

All he could do was laugh. "Never! Go, Gyarados!"

I didn't have to scan this Pokemon, as I'd battled one just the previous day. I knew how dangerous it could be, though, so I wasted no time in ordering my next attack.

"Mareep, Electro Ball!"

"Gyarados, Dragon Rage!"

Both our Pokemon began to wind up, but even as Gyarados got his attack off first, Mareep's electrical attack cut through the dark flames of Dragon Rage. It struck Gyarados square in its open jaw, seemingly amplifying the damage further. Again I could hear gasps from the kids nearby, but I knew there was no way his Pokemon could take such a beating and remain standing.

Sure enough, Gyarados slumped over. The battle was won!

But that wasn't everything. Just as I was about to celebrate, I noticed Mareep begin to glow. A brief panic set in, but then I realized what was happening. The crowd watching began to clap, as if it would help the process along. After a short time, Mareep stopped glowing, and had grown a bit in size. Her dark skinned had changed to a shade of pale pink, and overall she had much less wool. I reached into my (soaked) bag for my Pokedex to scan her.

"Flaaffy, the Wool Pokemon. As a result of storing too much electricity, it developed patches where even downy wool won't grow."

My newly evolved Flaaffy let out a soft baa, and now I finally jumped to my feet and clapped my hands. This was double reason to celebrate!

I will admit one thing: I was scared.

Not because I thought I'd lose the fight. Well, maybe a little. But because of when the police stormed into the gym not long after the end of our battle. The sudden "explosion" from the gym had the city on alert, and one Officer Jenny had been sent to see what happened. It took Wake a little while to explain it all, and to convince her that it wasn't yet another attack by Team Galactic. I realized at that point how on edge people were over Cyrus' antics.

After confessing that it was my Pokemon's attack that caused all the damage, I apologized as much as I could. I told her I'd do everything I could to help fix things, even if it meant going flat broke (which wouldn't take long, considering). But at the end of it all, Officer Jenny assured me that everything would be handled by the Pokemon League.

"Damage to the gyms during battles is a common enough thing," she said with a weak smile. "I just don't think we've ever had such extensive damage during a single match in the history of Pastoria City."

"We haven't," Wake chipped in with his usual boastful laugh. "I've been the leader here since before you were born, officer!"

Given how white his hair was, I was willing to believe that. Though I was amazed by how buff Wake still was.

"As for you," he followed up, turning to me. "You've earned yourself a new badge!"

He produced one from his pants, which had what looked like a lake at the base of a mountain. This was my fifth badge, and as eager to pin it to my ID as I was, I still had to change out of my swimsuit. In fact, it was only now that I realized I should probably cover up in front of all the officers. But despite my sudden embarrassment, I couldn't help but feel happy at this latest accomplishment!

Author's Note: This is the end of Mia Storia. Please read the Author Page for more information. Thank you for your support!