Chapter 22
The next morning, I woke up absolutely full of joy. With my energy replenished and the sun coming through the window, I rise out of bed and stretch myself out. With that, I let out a satisfied sigh and turned to my side. I see Hedgewig, still sleeping peacefully and very naked. I should seriously get her dressed up before anything else happens. Don't want someone barging in and seeing giant owl boobs and me just happily staring at them. Not before long, she sits up on the bed too and yawns just the same. Quickly, I bring her in for a tight hug and kiss her cheek. "Morning, sweetums…"
"Heh, good morning, my love…"
"So, how did you sleep?"
"Remarkably well. After last night? I slept sooooo comfortably."
"Same, actually. Too bad we were too exhausted to do anything else."
"We could do some stuff noooooow." She says, her tone growing more seductive as the sentence goes.
"N-nah, morning sex was always a weird thing for me…"
"Huh? How do you know?"
"I've had morning wood to take care of, Hedgewig. And immediately jerking off after waking up feels off."
"Really?" I scratch the back of my head and sigh.
"Yeah, it's never comfortable for me. But! We can kiss."
"I'm game!" Soon, she pulls back from the hug and pulls me real close to her beak. She lets my lips connect with her beak, while I roll my eyes and just smile. With an immediate passion, I could feel the love come from her kiss. I could feel her caress my back as I keep my hands at her cheeks. I pull back and stare into her eyes. "There, satisfied?"
"Mmhm. But you need more tongue-work, Ethan." She wiggles her eyebrows and I gently give her a playful nudge.
"Later, later. Right now we have priorities. Like getting you dressed." I gesture to her bare chest and in-the-open womanhood. All she does is giggle before hopping out of bed, and into the bathroom.
"I knooooow! I'll change in here!"
"You didn't even grab any-" Before I could finish my sentence, I hear a knock on the door. I raise my eyebrow and respond. "Who is it?"
"The Castelia Gym Leader, Burgh of course!" Wow, looks like someone else has taken interest in the Champion of Alola. I really shouldn't flaunt that title around, I could get too full of myself or draw too much attention. And speaking of, I should also get dressed. "G-give me a second!" I stumble my way out of bed, slip some clothes under the bathroom door to Hedgewig, and dress myself up in some gym shorts and a black T-shirt. I fix myself up, comb my hair a bit, and answer the door. My first impression of Burgh is certainly someone who's an artist type. And that big hair certainly catches my attention. "Well, aren't you the particularly handsome type?"
"Yeah, I get that a lot." No, I don't, but hey, thanks, Burgh.
"So, you are indeed the champion of Alola, correct?"
"Yes sir, that's me." Word gets around quickly about me. Not sure if I'm a fan of that.
"Well, since I'm absolutely positively certain you will sign up for the Pokemon World tournament, how about a battle, hmmm?"
"Oh, of course, just let me-" And then it hit me. The Z Crystal to transform Hedgewig is with Juniper. I can't battle Burgh. At least, I think that's how it goes since I have no idea if Hedgewig has combat capabilities at the moment. "W-well, um… You see, Burgh, I can't."
"Well, why not?"
"My main Pokemon, a Decidueye, is, unfortunately-" And then she comes out of the bathroom, thankfully wearing a hoodie and some shorts. I sigh and gesture to her while she stares blankly at Burgh. "...Anthropomorphic."
"Oh, I see. And that's a problem, why?"
"Sh-she can't battle?"
"Well, how do you know that? Have you tried it yet?"
"No, I haven't." He chuckles and flicks his wrist into the air while glaring at me with a devious grin.
"There's a first for everything, my boy! I'll see you at the gym later!"
"Burgh, hang o-" And out he goes, closing the door behind him. A groan of frustration escapes my mouth as I look toward Hedgewig. Before I open my mouth, I go back to the hotel door and press my ear against it. I hear footsteps grow quieter, and the elevator door ding. I nod, good, he's gone. Now he won't hear anything.
I walk back to Hedgewig, and sigh. "Dear, do you know if you're able to battle like this or not?" She gives me that blank stare again, and shrugs.
"I-I… Don't know."
"Okay, I have a plan to find out." I run back toward the bed and grab a pillow. "I'm going to throw this at you, and I want you to use Leaf Blade on it. Okay?"
"Got it. I'll try." She readies her battle stance, and I chuck the pillow at her as fast as I can. Within the blink of an eye, I see a green blade form in her hand, and she slices the pillow in a clean half. I can't help but smile and clap for her, now it seems we don't even need the Z Crystal. "Wow, so it is possible! And you still remember your moves, right? Sucker Punch, Spirit Shackle, and Brave Bird?"
"Yeah, of course, I do. Why wouldn't I?" I point toward the door, and put my other hand on my waist, posing heroically.
"Then off to the Castelia Gym we go! Let's go win a badge!"
"Right behind you, Ethan!" We exit the hotel suite and head down into the grand city. And just like yesterday, it's super chilly. I try not to mind the cold weather and walk toward the gym on the other side of the city. We get a few glares and glances on our way and a couple of people that recognized me as the champion of Alola; which I try my best to ignore. Luckily, we made it to the gym without any altercations. And boy, was it a big surprise, I've never seen anything like it. It looks like a giant cocoon full of webs. So is this basically like an indoor Island Trial? What do I have to do here? "Ah, so you did show up, wonderful!" I look above me and see Burgh descending from some sort of silk-like rope. "I haven't had a battle in months, and I've been wanting to see what you can do! So come, take my hand, up into the arena we go!" I look at Hedgewig, and back up at him. I reluctantly take his hand and grab onto Hedgewig's too. We start slowly ascending as I look up at Burgh. Boy, he sure is a flamboyant gym leader. Not long after the slow ascent, we make it into an enclosed arena full of paint markings, and oddly enough, a single canvas right in the corner of the walls. "Now, ready for a good, old fashioned Pokemon battle, Mr. Champion?" I take in a deep breath and nod. Even though I have no idea what he specializes in.
"Ready as I'll ever be, Burgh."
"Then let the battle…" He throws his first Pokeball and poses dramatically. "COMMENCE!" The first Pokemon to come out is a Scolipede, a Bug-Poison type. So he specializes in Bug types. I've got the perfect counter. I see Hedgewig try to walk into the field and stop her. I give her a patient look, telling her that it isn't her turn yet. I grab my Pokeball and toss it into the field. "Go! Salazzle!" She bursts out of the Pokeball and already looks ready for battle. Now, knowing us already, Salazzle has the superior speed, so I better take out Scolipede as soon as I-
"Scolipede, Toxic Spikes, go!" Soon, a purple, menacing mist flies out from Scolipedes back, and purple spikes cover the field. Now every time I switch out, the next pokemon gets Poisoned badly. I shouldn't have started with my only Poison type. "Salazzle, Flamethrower, go!" She lets out a hot blast of red-hot fire from her mouth, shooting it directly at Scolipede. Surprisingly enough, it lives through it, and Burgh lets out a hearty chuckle. "Scolipede here has to be one of my best heat-beating Pokemon! And I'll show you why! Use Earthquake!" To my immediate surprise, I hear Scolipedes' voice as it jumps up. "Goodbye, Salazzle!" It stomps onto the ground, and the surroundings start to shake violently, Salazzle seems to get bounced around and eventually thrown at the wall. Thank goodness for her Focus Sash. "One more Flamethrower, go!"
"W-what?!" Exclaims Burgh. Salazzle belches out another belt of flames, and Scolipede faints on the spot. A red light envelops him, and Burgh throws out his next Pokemon. "Go! Crustle!" The huge crab-like Pokemon slams into the ground and roars as Salazzle looks extremely exhausted. I groan, and shout, "Salazzle, use Toxic! Wear down his health!" Salazzle launches herself toward Crustle, and bits into him, soon leaving a mark on his claw. I hear Crustle groan out as Salazzle backs away. Now Crustle's badly poisoned! "Crustle, Rock Slide, go!" As I foresaw, Salazzle goes down without another action. I take her back into the Pokeball, and send out Swampert. She roars too, and I nod. This is where the fun begins. "Swampert, Surf! Don't let Crustle make another move!" A giant wave forms behind Swampert as she moves her arms down as if slamming them. Then the wave slams down onto Crustle, throwing him across the arena and toward Burgh. He takes him back in the Pokeball and sends out his last Pokemon. "Leavanny, make it count! GO!" After his throw, he makes another dramatic pose and smiles. "What a beautiful work of art Pokemon battles are! Show me your art, Ethan!"
"Swampert, rain dance! Go!" She roars out and stands, causing a storm to brew into the arena. Wait, Swampert won't mega evolve, Lucario is the only one with the stone! Swampert doesn't have Swift Swim! "Hah, is that all you have? Leavanny, Leaf Blade!" She storms toward Swampert, forms that signature green blade, and slices right at Swampert, knocking her out instantly while I growl. I send her back into her Pokeball and think for a moment. I don't have anything else to deal with bug types, much less a grass type. I need something quick. I see Hedgewig walk into battle and a lightbulb goes off in my head. Brave Bird, that's it, that'll take Leavanny down without a doubt! I raise my fist into the air, and shout, "Hedgewig! Brave Bird, GO!" She envelops herself in a light blue light, flies up into the air, and start charging back down at an immense speed. She slams right into Leavanny's chest, beak first; which sends her speeding toward the canvas, shattering it while smoke comes up from where she landed. She's knocked out, while Hedgewig lands back next to me, a bruise on her head. Recoil damage, I nearly forgot. But just like that, I won the battle! Burgh nods and fixes his hair, taking Leavanny back to her Pokeball. "I can't say I'm not surprised, you did very well! I shouldn't have expected less from the Champion of Alola himself. With that, I do believe it's time I award you with a badge. At this point, it's a formality, but make it something to remember me by, okay?" He hands me the insect badge, and can't help but smile at it. It's so shiny, it looks like it's made out of an emerald. And winning this Pokemon battle sure brought some good memories. It got the blood pumping, the heart racing, and everything in between. It feels good to be back!
(Well damn, my first action scene! Hope I did well since there's a first for everything. Have y'all followed my Twitter yet? I could use some support for hopefully getting my art out there! My Twitter is on one of the previous chapters just at the end.)