Gupta- Swampert level 59, Swellow level 59, Camerupt level 59, Umbreon level 59, Flygon level 59, Hippowdon level 59
I knew when I started this that I wanted to make this story based primarily on Emerald. Which means, despite ORAS actually existing (and several more games besides), I wanted to do my best to adapt the Battle Frontier. So the next few chapters will form somewhat of an epilogue where I do just that.
Gupta woke late in the morning, when sunlight was already filtering through the gaps between the curtains. Opening his eyes, the teenager saw that his Pokémon had settled around him on the bed and across the floor. Swampert was lounging in a sunbeam, stretching under the window.
"Swampert." Swampert smiled as he noticed that Gupta was awake.
The trainer had no reason to feel surprised when Swampert used Surf.
Gupta made his way downstairs after drying off himself and his Pokémon to find that his mother had already left for work for the day. Getting ready to head out himself, Gupta found himself wondering whether Sadik was at home.
It had been a few weeks since he had returned from his Pokémon adventure, and things had settled into a state of calm.
Littleroot town in the middle of the day turned out to be a rather silent place. The majority of the adults of the settlement had already left for work, while children who had yet to set out on their Pokémon journey or who had already returned from adventuring were attending school. Although he had seemingly finished his travels, Gupta was still waiting for the end of term before he enrolled back into class.
Until then, there wasn't much to do.
Sadik wasn't in his house, but Gupta found the other teenager at the Pokémon laboratory, chatting idly with the scientists.
"Hey Guppie!" He waved as his friend got close. "Takin' it easy today?"
"Actually, I'm bored." Gupta stated. "It's not like there's anything to do."
"Yeah, it'll be weeks before we can go back to school." Sadik sighed. "Makes me feel like we should do some more training."
"But what would we do?" Gupta asked. They had won against every Gym in the region. Sadik had taken part in a host of contests. Gupta had battled the Elite Four. What else was there?
"Well I heard of this one place." Sadik tried to enthuse. "The kind of place where the toughest trainers from all over the world gather to hone their skills. They call it the Battle Frontier."
"Never heard of it." Gupta admitted.
"Well, it's not like it's that well known. I think they like it that way. And I dunno how you even go to such a place…" Sadik trailed off before getting an idea. "But hey! We need something to do… Why not try to find it for ourselves?"
"It's that or sit around doing nothing I guess." Gupta nodded. "In which case, why not."
"Great!" Sadik smiled. "What are we waitin' for then?"
Gupta made sure to get everything ready for another adventure, collecting items in his bag and gathering his Pokémon before meeting Sadik at the town's entrance.
"Took ya long enough!" The teenager commented. "Come on, let's go already."
"We still don't know where we're going though…" Gupta pointed out. "Or even what the Battle Frontier really is…"
"That's part of the fun." Sadik suggested. "There's adventure just in findin' the place."
"Is that so…" Gupta replied, eyes scanning the area idly as he listened. As his gaze passed over the road away from town, he noticed a familiar figure walking towards them. "Wait… Isn't that Herakles?"
"What?" Sadik spoke, turning around to see for himself. "Huh. Guess so."
"Gupta! I was hoping I'd see you here." Herakles called out as he got closer to the pair. "Ah. Sadik's here too…"
"Yeah, so?" Sadik asked, suddenly appearing far more awkward than before.
"Whatever. Gupta, I wanted to tell you something." Herakles continued.
"Okay." Gupta nodded, wondering what could have caused Herakles to travel all the way to tell them personally. "You couldn't call?"
"I thought it was better to tell you in person." Herakles explained. "I've found a way of getting to the Battle Frontier. You know, that place where all the strongest trainers gather?"
"What?!" Sadik nearly jumped in surprise. "You know how to get there?"
"Well, I heard a rumour at least." Herakles continued. "That if you take the ferry from Slateport City to Lilycove City, you can go there. It's like… Some sort of secret stop or something."
"Really?" Gupta considered. "But if it's a secret stop, how do they decide when to stop?"
"Good question. Guess ya have to do something to convince the captain to stop." Sadik added on. "Like maybe it's a password, or some kind of object ya show, or…"
"If we take the ferry ourselves, maybe we'll find some clues." Herakles suggested.
"Okay." Gupta agreed. At least it was a lead they could follow.
"Alright then, Slateport City it is!" Sadik declared.
Gathering their things together, the group of teenagers sent out their Pokémon and flew towards their destination.
Slateport City remained as bustling as ever, with scores of people milling around the market or heading towards the Contest Hall. At the port, a number of ships were anchored waiting for passengers to board. Gupta looked around for some sort of information signs to point them towards the correct ship.
"Looks like that one." Sadik suggested, pointing towards a ship in the corner of the port area. "The S.S. Tidal. Let's go."
"But where do we get tickets?" Gupta queried.
"Hey now! I thought I recognised you guys!" A voice suddenly spoke up, as a man walked over from the ship towards the group of teenagers.
"Ah hey! It's Carlos! How are ya?" Sadik greeted, as enthusiastic as ever.
"Oh right." Gupta remembered. Carlos was the sailor who'd helped them cross from Petalburg City to Slateport City when he and Sadik had first started their journeys.
"Oh, the man who lives on Route 104…" Herakles recognised.
"I'm doing great!" Carlos responded, reaching Sadik. "In fact, I became the captain of the S.S. Tidal. And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't sailed to Slateport with you boys that time. You helped reignite my passion for sailing, which got me interested in the building of this ship. And when I showed up at the shipyard to see how they were doing, they offered me a job."
"That's great!" Sadik grinned. "Happy for ya!"
"Um…" Herakles interrupted. "You wouldn't know where to get tickets for the boat journey, would you?"
"Tickets? Ah, don't worry about that." Carlos shrugged. "We're all friends here, right? You can just get right on the boat."
"Really?" Gupta asked, unsure as to whether that was really okay.
"Sure." Carlos confirmed.
"Thanks man!" Sadik smiled, turning towards the rest of the group. "Come on, let's board that ship!"
The inside of the S.S. Tidal was comprised of a row of corridors of cabins with a couple of staircases leading down below deck and up to the bridge of the ship. Even before the ship left port, a few people were milling around the corridors, peaking out of the portholes near the stairs or trying to find the cabins they had been assigned. Two familiar faces were walking towards Gupta and his friends as they boarded, having appeared from the stairs to the bridge.
"Hey, it's Gupta and Sadik. I was wondering when you were gonna get here."
"Hey you guys! Herakles is with them too. Guess all the heroes are in one place!"
"Hey, if it isn't Li and Yong Soo!" Sadik recognised. "What are ya doing here?"
"Well, I said I'd been, like, watching you." Li started. "We all have. It's kinda my job, to look out for strong trainers with potential."
"We're on our way to the Battle Frontier." Yong Soo finished.
"You mean you know how to get there?" Sadik inferred.
"Sure. We just asked the crew to stop. You can come too if you just get off the boat when it stops." Li shrugged. "I was going to invite you to come with us sometime anyway."
"Ah, that's good." Herakles smiled. "Seems our journey here was worth it."
"Oh, and while we have your attention…" Yong Soo walked up to Gupta and handed him a key. "Thought I'd give you this. It's a spare cabin on the ship you can all use. You'll want to be rested up for when you get there!"
"Thanks." Gupta nodded, taking the key from Yong Soo.
"We'll like, leave you to it then. See you when the ship stops." Li stated, waving before walking off down the corridors with Yong Soo.
"Sweet!" Sadik grinned. "Let's go find that cabin then!"
And so, the three teenagers set off to find the cabin they had been given the key to.
The cabin the young trainers had been allocated was near the stern of the ship, and was a simple room with some bunk beds and a table. As soon as they walked in, Herakles headed towards one of the beds.
"I'm going to take a nap." He announced.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Sadik shrugged, seemingly barely paying attention. "I'm gonna look around the ship. Bet some of the other people here are trainers too. Maybe I can get some trainin' in before we get there."
"Alright." Gupta nodded, watching him leave. Herakles was soon asleep, so Gupta took a seat at the table and waited for the announcement of the ship's departure, wondering where exactly the Battle Frontier could be located.
After the ship had been travelling for a while, Gupta decided to walk around the ship. The corridors between the cabins were quite quiet, with very few people or Pokémon around, but Gupta could hear voices behind the cabin doors and somewhere below the deck. Not wanting to intrude, he found a porthole through which he could watch the ship's journey through the rapids of Route 133. He took to watching the water until the boat was almost to Pacificlog Town, at which point he returned to the cabin.
Sadik was still off training when Gupta returned, and Herakles appeared to be asleep, but a voice soon came over the tannoy announcing that the ship was approaching the Battle Frontier. Soon after, Herakles seemed to stir.
"Gupta… Did they just say we're almost there? …That seems quick." He commented.
"Seems so." Gupta confirmed. "Where's Sadik?"
"Right here!" The teenager announced, barging back into the room. "The guys down below deck were a great help. They were so enthusiastic for battle!"
"That was helpful." Gupta stated.
"Yeah, it really helped pass the time. And now we've actually made it to the Battle Frontier."
"They probably won't stop the ship for long." Herakles assumed. "We should go."
"Okay." Gupta nodded, gathering his things and preparing to disembark with the others.
The Battle Frontier was situated on a large island and had been significantly developed. From where Gupta was standing, all he could see was the dock area, consisting of the ship's berth and a number of colourful flags welcoming people and beckoning towards a building that seemed to be a gateway to the facility proper.
"That looks like the right place. Let's go!" Sadik commented.
Li and Yong Soo were ahead of the group as they entered the building, which was clearly a welcome centre for visitors and competitors. Staff manned desks at the sides of a long corridor which stretched off towards a final gate at the other end. Li and Yong Soo stopped walking suddenly and turned around to face the teenagers.
"I think it's time we actually explained what's going on." Yong Soo declared.
"Our family like, owns this whole place. That's why we were going here." Li continued.
"You own it?" Sadik asked.
"And run it." Yong Soo explained. "The facilities here are run by all of us."
"It makes sense." Herakles nodded. "It seems like the type of thing Devon would be interested in. And it explains why you were looking for trainers with potential…"
"Really?" Sadik questioned. "It's a shock for me."
Gupta had to agree with Herakles. He wasn't surprised.
"Yeah." Li nodded. "It was my brother's idea originally. But I scouted a lot of the trainers for this place. I knew I wanted you to come here eventually." He produced three card-like items from his sleeve and handed one each to Herakles, Sadik, and Gupta. "These will turn your trainer cards into frontier passes. So you can come and go as you want. They also have a map and will track your progress through the facilities here."
"What kinda facilities?" Sadik queried, sliding his trainer card into the frontier pass.
"We have seven facilities here, and each uses a different style of battling." Yong Soo detailed. "And each of them has a leader we call a frontier brain. If you battle hard enough, you'll be able to fight them too."
"And the goal's to defeat all seven?" Sadik assumed.
"Yep! That way, you can get all of the symbols of the battle frontier. But it's not easy." Yong Soo smiled. "But knowing you, that kind of challenge is right up your street."
"As for what the facilities are, we'll leave you to actually like, explore and see for yourselves." Li decided. "Anyway, we should go now."
"Yep. See you all later!" Yong Soo smiled, waving as the two departed.
"Alright!" Sadik grinned. "Can't wait to get started on this. I'm gonna go ahead and explore some more!"
"…And there he goes." Herakles stated, watching as Sadik ran off into the distance. "I think I'll go and explore as well. I'll see you later Gupta."
"Alright. Bye Herakles." Gupta agreed. Herakles wandered off through the door at the end of the corridor, leaving Gupta alone in the entrance hall. Gupta wasn't particularly in a hurry, but didn't want to stand in the way of anyone else visiting the area. He slipped his trainer card into the frontier pass and walked through the gate to the Battle Frontier proper.