Welcome back ladies and gents! How did you like the previous chapter? I know, it was a little unexpected of Tadashi and Clarice to move quick like that but take into account that they have been together for almost two years now and well...it happens. I figured since we are taking this slow, I could throw in some chapters concerning the two. How are you liking the pace by the way? Twenty-One chapters in and only two badges seems like a good pace to go at. Anyway, that aside, let's get back to it shall we?
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon! All of its characters and content are owned by Game Freak and Nintendo
Chapter 21: Battle Interview!
Satoru awoke the next morning inside the Slateport City Pokémon Center. He and his companions had arrived the evening prior as Mr. Briney was running errands. He did eventually take them to Slateport. Satoru got out of bed and slipped into the bathroom for a warm shower. He needed one after the training he and Allen did the day before. Allen was eager as always. Even Karen joined in. Surprisingly, she thumped Allen. She later explained that she had a mother who was an Ace like Satoru and had trained her daily. She and Satoru had a good fight, but it ended with Clauncher blasting Seviper into a few trees with a powered up Water Pulse.
All in all, the trio seemed to be making good time. After twenty minutes, Satoru was out of the shower and getting dressed. All of his team were out of their Pokeballs and also waking up.
'Good morning Satoru. I trust you are well rested and functioning optimally?'
'You might say that...yeah, I slept soundly...'
'That is good.'
'Morning Satoru...' Mawile greeted with a slight smile,
'Hey Mawile, up early like the others I see...' Satoru smiled.
'Yep...I was a bit restless. I wondered how my brother was doing. I know he is in good hands but...I do worry.'
Satoru knelt down and strokes Mawile's head gently. She nuzzled into this gesture, enjoying the feel of being cared for.
'I am sure he is fine. Allen is a good kid. He cares a lot for his friends," Satoru replied.
'You seem to as well. You even gave me a choice on continuing the battle or not. That means a lot to me...so next time, if you need me to, I can stay a few rounds if my endurance permits it.'
'I'd like that. But for now, I want to train you a bit more beforehand. There is an Electric Gym coming up soon. I might see if you want to have a go at it.'
'Hmmm...it sounds interesting.'
'I'll let you think on it Mawile.'
'Thanks Satoru,' Mawile beamed.
'Satoru. Might I suggest a Ground-type be captured prior to the match?'
'Hmmm...good point. I might catch one in the desert area around there...I hear there are tons of them around.'
'Precisely.'
'I will definitely consider it then. It will give me the edge.'
X-X-X
After a while, the trio found themselves outside of Slateport's Pokémon Center. They had just finished waiting breakfast.
"I don't think I can eat another bite..." Karen groaned.
"Yeah, that was a lot of food. I can't remember the last time I ate so many pancakes," Allen laughed.
Satoru gave a mental chuckle. The three of them soon set off for Mauville City. As they began to walk towards the route leading out of the city, they saw a rather rotund man wearing sunglasses, a flowery blue shirt, and shorts. He seemed to be speaking with a woman holding a microphone and a camera man.
"So, Scott. You said you were scouting around for trainers with potential right? What does that potential look lime to you?"
"Well..." Scott said, clearing his throat.
"The trainers have to be able to keep their cool in certain situations. They also have to have spunk and be able to dish out some exciting battles. That's what the Battle Frontier is all about. Testing strong trainers and bringing in the best of the best."
"I see...that makes sense," the woman replied.
"Oh! Scott. I heard of a group, consisting of three trainers who drove out some thugs from the Museum. It was reported by Captain Stern that one of them took two at once in a four way battle. Before we could even get to the scene the three had left. He said they had gone off to Rustburo. What do you make of that?"
Scott thought for a moment.
"Well, that does sound promising. If we had trainers like that at the frontier, we could really get the place hopping."
"I see. Oh, Scott. I almost forgot to ask you. How exactly do you recruit trainers? I know that you do a lot of traveling,' the woman inquired.
"Well Gabby...that is your name right? I am always watching form trainers with the right stuff. If I see a battle that I can get absorbed in, I watch it. And whoever comes out on top, that is who I keep tabs on!"
"That must take a lot of work! Have you found any trainers so far?"
"Well, there was that Winstrate kid. He has some promise. He's well on his way, and then there's that Brendan kid. He has a whole lot of potential too. I have spotted a few that I want to keep up with," Scott grinned.
"That sounds interesting. I heard that the Winstrates are a really tough family. I might interview them later. On."
X-X-X
"That's Scott!" Karen exclaimed as she pointed over in the direction of the interviewers.
"Who's that?" Allen inquired.
"Oh come on Allen! He's the big cheese, the the guy who founded the most epic place in Hoenn. The Battle Frontier!" Karen reminded.
Satoru smirked as he looked over at the ongoing interview. He had heard about the Battle Frontier. He and Annelise had seen broadcasts of the battles and vowed to be there one day. Satoru was the only one who could keep that vow now. He reached up and clutched his locket. Karen took note of this but decided not to ask just yet.
At that point, Captain Stern came out of the Shipyard and was now walking towards the museum. Allen spotted him, as did Karen and Satoru.
"Hi, Mr. Stern!" Karen waved, heading up to him with Allen and Satoru in tow.
Gabby, the interviewer, watched as the trio of trainers walked past them and right up to Stern. She had a sneaking suspicion that these kids were connected to the incident that occurred two days ago.
"Hey you three. You're back huh? I'm guessing you all got a ride from Mr. Briney again huh?"
"Yeppers! He's a nice old man. He said if we need him again to just ask!" Karen beamed.
"I'm happy to hear that. Also, thanks again for your help in the museum. I had not expected any of that to occur. Those thugs were a nasty lot. But you three did marvelously," Stern praised.
At the mention of the incident, Gabby whispered something to Scott while nodding in the direction of the three trainers. Her suspicions had been confirmed. Intrigued, Scott glanced over at the trainers. They were just kids. Well, two of them were, but Satoru, he was a different story. So they were the ones who drove out the batch of thugs that attacked huh? This was definitely worth looking into. Gabby made her move and Ty, the cameraman, followed.
"Excuse me, Captain Stern?" Gabby began.
"Oh, good morning Gabby. I did not expect to see you again for a while."
"Well, you know me, I follow the best stories. Incidentally, one of them is here," she stated, gesturing towards Satoru and company.
"Ah! That's right, these are the three I spoke of after the incident. They have great skill!"
"You've told us. And you've also told us that one of these three took on a double battle, by himself, consisting of four Pokémon a side and won," Gabby smirked, her eyes darting down to Satoru's belt, noticing that he was the only one that matched up.
"I did say that, yes. Well, he's right there, ask him yourself how he did it," Stern smiled.
Gabby and Ty focused their attention on the trio, first talking to Allen.
"We understand that the three of you were involved in a major crises here in Slateport. How did you all handle it?"
Allen cleared his throat.
"Well, first we were just delivering parts for Mr. Stone! It was like a secret mission! But when we were about to hand the parts over, these guys calling themselves Team Aqua came in and attacked us!"
"I see. And you three fended them off?"
"Yeppers! I even got to join the fun! Though I think Satoru had more fun than we did!" Karen laughed.
"Remarkable. And what about you? I heard you took on two at once. How did you manage to keep up with the chaos?" Gabby asked, pointing the microphone at Satoru.
Allen cleared his throat and directed the attention to him.
"He has this wicked cool strategy where he snaps his fingers and his Pokémon respond and just know which moves to use!" Allen inputted.
Gabby brought the microphone down to Allen.
"I see, so he wordlessly commands his Pokémon? How unusual. I want to see it!" Gabby exclaimed.
'Thanks for the save Allen...' Satoru smiled.
Allen nodded, not replying so as to not arouse suspicion.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Scott inquired with a smirk.
"Yep! It's time for Gabby and Ty's Battle Interview!" Gabby grinned, reaching for her Loudred's Pokeball. Ty made a grab for his as well.
"Uh, I think they wanna battle you Satoru," Karen stated.
'I can battle I suppose. It will be great training for Mawile and Clauncher.'
Karen nodded and Satoru stepped forward.
"Viewers, it looks like the one called Satoru is accepting our Battle Interview! Let's see what he's got! Loudred let's go!"
"Magneton, you're up!"
Gabby and Ty could not have picked more appropriate Pokémon as partners. Gabby was insanely talkative and loud. Ty was the camera guy so Magneton just seemed to fit. Satoru reached for his choices and snapped them off his belt. First out of their home was Mawile, followed shortly by Clauncher.
"And it appears that Satoru has a Mawile and what looks to be a Clauncher! Those have been seen recently around Dewford! This is shaping up to be an interesting match already! Loudred, Takedown if you please!"
"Magneton, Thunderbolt that Clauncher!"
A single snap echoed out which prompted both Satoru's teammates to take defensive measures. Clauncher gathered energy and then left a substitute after producing an afterimage. Mawile calmly produced a crisscrossing Stone Edge counter shield which was raised right as Loudred arrived. He collided with the counter shield instead of Mawile herself. Mawile expertly manipulated the stones around her at a wider angle to keep Loudred at bay. Scott watched with great interest.
Two snaps echoed out which meant that Satoru's team would now be on the offensive.
"Loudred, use Uproar!"
"Magneton, Thunderbolt again!"
Loudred inhaled, however, this proved to be a mistake as it left an opening. Sharp stones cannoned into his stomach, winding him so he couldn't gather the power for his shout. Before he could react, he was met with the steel coated jaws of Mawile who bashed him over the head,sending him to the ground.
Clauncher utilized the power of Aqua Jet and weaved around the blasts of electricity songs could get in range. He slid under Magneton and pointed upward, firing a powerful Water Pulse which shot out with the force of a suppressed geyser, sending Magneton flying. The bundle of magnets hit the ground with a clang.
Gabby almost dropped her microphone. Regaling her composure, she cleared her throat.
"There you have it viewers. This trainer just annihilated us without even saying a word. It just goes to show you that actions do indeed speak louder than words, unless you're me that is!" Gabby laughed.
"This is Gabby, signing off!"
Ty stopped rolling and returned his Magneton while Gabby returned Loudred. Scott began to clap as the battle came to a close.
"Not bad. That was some killer strategy you had going on there! I think that I might keep an eye on you as well. I didn't think there were very many surprises left around this area, but I was dead wrong. We'll be seeing more of each other."
And with that, Scott left the group. Stern had departed into the Museum shortly after.
"So, Satoru. Any words for our viewers?"
Satoru shook his head on this one. Of course he couldn't say anything, he was mute. He reached down for his NAV and began to type.
"I guess all I can say is this. Being a trainer is a lot of hard work. But if you dedicate yourself to raising your Pokémon with the love and care they deserve, then you will be able to achieve anything. Above all, just have fun. In the end, it doesn't matter whether or not you win or lose, but that you did your best."
"I see, I will certainly remember that! Thank you for battling with us. We do hope to we you again!" Gabby chirped cheerfully.
Satoru nodded and watched as they all walked off.
"We get to be on TV!" Allen exclaimed.
"Yep! And on the station that is known for scouting out tough trainers. This was fun!" Karen giggled.
"I agree. Well, now that we have that taken care of...shall we head for Mauville? I think it's not too far from here if we take this route."
"Right! Let's go!" Allen shouted, racing alon the route.
"Wait up Allen!"
Satoru sighed and shook his head. Those two were too much sometimes. But I'd he didn't have them around, well...he didn't want to think about it. Laughing inwardly, he followed the cheerful duo along the route. It wasn't even noon yet and already the day started off interesting.
Satoru and the gang got interviewed! That's always fun right? Nothing like a talkative reporter and a camera man to start your day off interesting. We are coming up on badge number three, but before we get to that, there are other matters to take care of. Also, Scott now has his sights on Satoru. He is a pretty decent trainer after all. Let's see what happens next time on Rising!