In which Dawn begins the final step of her journey.
With Giratina's help, and more than a little enjoyment at Barry's shock at her having a legendary, the battle ended quickly. Staraptor didn't even have to take part in the battle.
"So," Dawn said as they both returned their final Pokémon to their balls, "what do you think?"
Barry took a second to find the words. "Is that Giratina how you beat Volkner so fast?"
"No." She adjusted her bag, keeping the journals closer. "Chowder's part Ground-type, and he knows Earthquake."
Barry still couldn't wrap his brain around it. "Is that how you beat Team Galactic, then?"
Dawn shook her head, a grin spreading quickly. "Not even close. I didn't even have him until after Cyrus was defeated."
Barry opened his mouth, closed it, and then, for once, thought about what he was going to say next. "Well," he finally decided, "if anyone deserves to beat me, it's you. You're the coolest girl I've ever met, Dawn. Lucas..." he paused, looking over at the other Pokedex holder, and shrugged. "He's pretty cool, too. Has to be, if he's been keeping up with you this whole time."
Dawn translated in her head. I'm glad I have you guys for friends. You won't slow me down.
She didn't say it out loud, though. "I get it. I'm awesome. Just don't go too far, ok? I don't want to have more than one person between us in the Hall of Fame."
Barry rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, Dawn. You'd think you didn't know me at all."
The door slammed shut behind them, and Lucas turned to double-check. Locked, of course. There were only two ways out, now. Win or lose, and Dawn had come too far to do any losing.
"Are you scared?" Lucas asked, and she nodded solemnly.
"I'd be an idiot if I wasn't," she said, fighting the urge to break down. "But we've faced down the Distortion World, thought to be the equivalent to Hell itself. We can handle five powerful trainers."
"Five really powerful trainers," Lucas corrected.
"They're still nothing compared to that place." Dawn reached the next set of doors, paused, and walked right through, Lucas following and shutting the door behind him. They first encountered a shoe, attached to a leg dangling off a high branch. The boy, only about eighteen years old, looked over at the sound of the automatic lock.
"So you're the kids that got Flint and Cynthia all worked up," he said, dropping from the large tree. "Dawn and Lucas, right? I'm Aaron, and I'll be your first opponent."
He seemed friendly enough. Dawn wasn't going to give in to him yet, though. "How will this work, exactly?"
"Each of us uses one Pokémon, and the first one out loses. It's not hard to grasp, you already won eight badges." The ball in his hands looked surprisingly intimidating. "Are you ready for it, Dawn?"
"I can't exactly leave," she pointed out.
Aaron laughed and threw the ball. "Then, Scizor, let's go!"
A Bug-type user, was he? Dawn had just the thing. "Rapidash, time to shine!"
Aaron wouldn't hesitate to admit that he'd panicked, wondering if he should have used his Drapion. He would also not hesitate to admit that he should have prepared counters for Fire-types in all of his Pokémon. But, as any specialty trainer would, he charged in despite the obvious disadvantage. "Don't let it scare you, Scizor! She's got the type, but we've got the experience! Start with X-Scissor!"
The attack did more damage than Rapidash let on, but it wasn't enough to stop her charge. Dawn lazily waved a hand.
"Fire Blast."
Yes, Aaron had good reason to panic. A simple mistake had cost him one of his first matches as an Elite. But, he told himself as he opened the next doors for them, she would either lose and let him get his revenge, or she'd triumph over the current Champion - who, after all, had only put two trainers into the Hall of Fame in the past five years.
It was a good day for him either way. It just wasn't a good day for his poor Scizor.
The next in line was Bertha, a kind-looking old woman bundled up like she was going through Johto's Ice Path. This little old lady, upon seeing her challenger, knew exactly what had gone on in the previous chamber.
"Aaron used his Scizor alone, didn't he?"
Dawn gave a weak smile. "And I had a Rapidash."
"He's new," Bertha said, as if that explained it all. "I, on the other hand, am much more experienced. Are you ready for your next challenge?"
Dawn reached for a ball.
Bertha's choice was a Hippowdon, a black creature (a color that marked it as female, according to the upgraded Pokedex) that could easily fit Dawn into her mouth, possibly with Lucas as well.
Dawn's choice was Chowder, the Torterra that had been with her from the very start.
"So you chose Turtwig, did you?" Bertha asked casually, as she ordered her Hippowdon to use Earthquake, figuring that a direct attack would be better in a one-on-one match. "I've always liked that one myself."
"Why?" Dawn asked, before giving Chowder the command for a Giga Drain. Her own method was 'Steal and heal,' as long as it was possible. "Because Torterra's part Ground-type, right?"
"I just think it's the cutest of the three Sinnoh starter options. But, yes, the Ground-typing is a nice bonus."
"I thought so." Dawn didn't tell her that she'd simply felt that Chowder would be a much better option for the life she'd planned to live with him. He'd adapted well to the life they'd ended up living, and faster than she had, but she would willingly admit if asked that a turtle simply suited her life before Lucas.
And, yes, she did consider teaming up with Lucas to be the moment that changed her forever. That wasn't something she was ready to tell.
"Chowder, Leaf Storm!"
And, with that new move out of the way, and the Hippowdon on the ground, she figured it wouldn't be necessary to finish the discussion.
The next chamber was Flint. Dawn had guessed, by the bright red of his hair, that he was a Fire-type user. She had not been wrong.
"So," Flint said, watching Dawn as if she were a threat to humanity itself, "Volkner told me you had a legendary with you."
"I do," Dawn said at once, not ashamed at all. "Do you want to challenge him?"
"Him?"
"My Pokedex doesn't register its gender," she explained, "but he sounded like a guy when he talked to me. So, I use male pronouns, and he hasn't told me otherwise."
"He talks to you?" Flint regained his usual personality quickly, though, and held out a ball. "Let's see if you can get through to the next room without using him."
"I'm already trying to make it to the Champion without using him," Dawn cut in. "Save it for the element of surprise.
Flint laughed, though it was unclear if it was because of her statement or because he didn't believe her. But at least he took the challenge seriously enough to send out his Infernape.
Dawn had planned for facing something much worse. "Gallade, time to shine!"
The two Fighting-types stared each other down, Infernape's hair blazing, Gallade's imaginary cape swirling behind him. Flint called the first move.
"Thunderpunch!"
"Psycho Cut!" Dawn countered. She and Gallade had agreed on the move being their shared favorite, and even for the same reason: it was fun to say.
Gallade took the hit, but his own strike was clean and strong even without the type advantage. Still reeling with the electricity, he managed to flip Infernape on its back, pin it under one foot, and slash through the air with an imaginary blade that certainly felt real to the opponent. Down but not defeated, Infernape got back to its feet, its own fists clenched at its sides.
"You hanging in there, Infernape?" Flint asked, and when his Pokémon nodded, his ever-present smile nearly split his face in two. "That's great! Here, have some Full Restore!"
Dawn bit her tongue to keep her own commentary to herself. "Try Double Team for now," she said, a suggestion instead of a command. Gallade did it anyway, and it paid off when he managed to avoid the next Thunderpunch aimed at his face. Then he took a Full Restore of his own, as Infernape decided that Earthquake was a much better way of dealing with this annoying opponent.
"Psycho Cut!" Dawn ordered again, and, as Flint prepared another Earthquake for retaliation, she added, "and give Protect a try!"
"Protect?" Lucas repeated, confused. "When did Gallade learn Protect?"
"It's not my fault you're extraordinarily unobservant," Dawn teased, as the bubble keeping Gallade from harm dissolved. "Now finish it off with another Psycho Cut!"
This time, the Infernape stayed down.
Lucian was last, and Dawn had prepared for him. She knew he used Psychic-types, so she'd planned to use Umbreon.
It was his psychic powers that really intrigued her, and he seemed to know it as he closed the book in his hands.
"So you're the ones that dragged Cynthia into another dimension."
His voice was unnervingly deep in contrast to his appearance, and it took a few moments for Dawn to adjust to hearing it. "I'm...sorry? Did Cynthia say that? Because she was the one that talked me into going through the magic space hole, and -"
"She pushed me," Lucas finished.
Lucian wasn't surprised. "She does have her beliefs that everybody should do the right thing," he said, as if that excused her behavior. "But when the right thing is obvious, she has a tendency to be...how do I say it? Insistent."
"Why are you defending her?" Dawn snapped. "She's a good guy, we get it, but unless you're married you don't have to stand up for her."
As she said it, she suddenly had to think it over. It was ridiculous, but not impossible. In other words, it was exactly the type of thing that she would expect from whoever was narrating her life - who else would have Looker keep forgetting who Lucas was?
Lucian didn't answer, or give any hints one way or the other. "Are we going to talk, or are we going to battle?"
Dawn snapped out of her thoughts at once. "You choose your Pokémon first," she said, though her hand was already on Umbreon's ball. A Dark-type would be able to handle almost anything Lucian threw at her.
The Pokémon he chose was a Gallade of his own. Umbreon wouldn't be able to last against a Fighting-type, so Dawn switched to Plan B.
"Staraptor, time to shine!"
It took more than a Wing Attack to the face. In fact, it took two Wing Attacks and four Double Teams to even come close, because that Gallade had Stone Edge. Dawn was rapidly depleting her supply of Hyper Potions she'd saved for her battle with the Champion, and though she had plenty of Full Restores, when Lucian had used a Full Restore himself, she couldn't help but grind her teeth.
"The Champion won't be taking it easy on you," Lucian explained, seeing Dawn's frustration from across the field. "We're here to prepare you for what's up ahead."
"Can't you make the Champion promise to only use Hyper Potions instead?"
Lucian seemed slightly entertained by the thought. "Of course I can't. We don't make the Pokémon League rules, as you've noticed by the four of us not getting involved in the Team Galactic mess. It was hard to restrain Flint, as you might have guessed, but we were under orders to wait for you here."
"Don't you mean prepare for Galactic grunts to try storming the building?"
Lucian, as psychics tended to do, kept his mouth shut and returned his attention to the battle, where Gallade was staring blankly into the mess that the latest Double Team had created. "Try to locate it with Psychic, Gallade."
Yes, Dawn should definitely have used her own Gallade for this. It was too late to change it, though.
"Staraptor, up in the air!"
Lucian knew in that moment, he should have gone for the Stone Edge.
"Drop down in Fly!"
As the oddly-colored Staraptor practically threw the Gallade to Lucian's feet, the battle over, the door to the Champion's room switched open automatically. Strange, since the other Elites had to open it for them...
When they turned to look, Lucas stared back. "I figured out where he keeps the switch," he said unnecessarily. He demonstrated by opening and closing the door a few more times.
The thing that saddened Dawn the most was that Lucian wasn't particularly surprised by that, either.