Chapter 21 - "I Think I'm Lost Again."

Cyan and Skylar decided to spend more time on Kumquat Island. They took Ruriko's offer and stayed at the hotel. Cyan enjoyed the hot springs, and he expected Skylar to do so too, but she spent all of her time either training or eating and sleeping. She was quiet, but she remained positive throughout her training.

One day while she was working with her Pokémon, Cyan decided that he wanted to see how it was going. He left her alone most of the time, and when he asked her how the training sessions went, she'd downplay everything and would give him short answers.

He went to the basement floor of the hotel and cracked open the doors to get a look at what Skylar was doing. He could hear the explosions of battle on the other side, and the ground shook with whatever attacks her Pokémon were performing.

"Blaze Kick! Electro Ball! Dark Pulse! Rock Slide! Megahorn! Go!"

Her five Pokémon all ran towards the middle and used their attacks. The resulting explosion was strong, almost forcing the door shut on Cyan, but he powered through. When the light from the attack died down, Cyan took the opportunity to walk into the room. He was quiet when he closed the door, but his movement caught Skylar's eye.

"Hey," she said. "We're just doing some intense training."

"I can see that," he replied. "Your Pokémon have some power to them. They've definitely gotten stronger. Your cute little Pokémon pack a punch!"

Skylar nodded and then turned back to her Pokémon. She planned to coach them a little bit more, but Cyan quickly cut her off.

"I do have a question!" he exclaimed. "I don't mean to sound rude, but have you been training them to work together, or has it just been leveling up?"

"Huh?"

"Your big downfall in your battle against Ruriko was that your Pokémon didn't work together. Ruriko's Alakazam and Marowak worked in perfect sync with one another."

Skylar sighed. "I don't know how to double battle. I don't even know how to triple battle. It's a Unova special, but I have no idea how to make it work. So, no. I haven't. I'm hoping that we can simply overpower them in our rematch."

Cyan folded his arms. "I don't know if that's going to work. Sawsbuck is probably more powerful than either Alakazam or Marowak, but he couldn't get the job done. You need to build on your Pokémon's teamwork."

"What do you suggest I do? Think you could give me advice? Tips? Something? Anything?"

Now Skylar appeared bothered and stressed. Cyan hadn't seen this side of her, and he became concerned.

"When I was in Alola, I took on almost all of my challenges in a double battle style. It felt natural for me to battle with two Pokémon at a time, so I'm thinking that it's one of my strengths. My downfall is the singles format. I have no idea how to make that work. I found that out when I battled against my sister," he said while walking forward. He examined each of Skylar's Pokémon. "You have to know each and every one of your Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses."

"My Pokémon don't have weaknesses!" she exclaimed.

Cyan sighed and rolled his eyes at her.

Skylar slumped. "Okay. They have weaknesses. Gothita is weak to Dark-types, and Onix can't handle a single Water Gun. What do I do about it?"

"Well, you're thinking of type disadvantages, which is a good start! For example, your Sawsbuck is weak to Fire-types! So, he should partner up with someone who can handle fire. Sawsbuck and Wailord would be a great team."

Skylar looked around the battlefield and then laughed. The idea of Wailord battling was amusing to her. "I don't see how Wailord would be able to battle effectively on land, but I guess you make a good point. Sawsbuck would also be able to take an electric attack if necessary."

"But another thing to think about is what Pokémon are good at what!"

"What?"

"Exactly! For example, Emolga is really fast. She can zip and zoom around the field real quick-like! But, she can't take a strong hit. Onix is the opposite. He is super slow, but his defensive prowess is really good! The two would be able to balance each other out in that aspect."

Skylar looked at her two Pokémon. "And Onix could take a Rock-type attack if asked to. Emolga would be able to block Water-type strikes too. I didn't think of it like that."

"So, that's the main thing to consider," Cyan said while holding his finger up. He then raised a second finger. "But now you have to think about strategy! How can the Pokémon effectively combine their strengths and attacks!"

"I think I'm lost again," Skylar muttered.

"Well, I did some research in my free time! Sawsbuck's special ability is Chlorophyll! In sunny weather, his speed is boosted! Now, if you were to take advantage of a move like Sunny Day, he'd become super strong. However, Wailord's Water-type attacks would suffer. It's something to consider."

"I'm not planning on battling with Wailord," Skylar said, exasperated. "Give me a helpful example."

"I was getting to it! Don't worry! Let's continue with Sunny Day as an example! If you use Sunny Day, Sawsbuck gets a speed boost, and Fire-type attacks get stronger! Blaziken, who is already really strong, would get even stronger," Cyan said.

Skylar nodded. "That is helpful. But, I don't plan on using Blaziken for this battle."

"Huh?"

"I've relied on Blaziken for my entire career. It's time for my other Pokémon to shine for a bit. I can't go back to Blaziken when things get tough. I get what you're saying though, and it's something for me to consider in the future," she said. "If I'm correct, other weather conditions that I could set up would be rain, sandstorm, or hail." She looked over her team. "Emolga could benefit from rain, and Onix could function in a sandstorm. I could also bring Dwebble back."

"You're getting it!" Cyan exclaimed.

"But it's too much to think over!" Skylar said while stomping her feet.

"All good trainers have to put in the effort! Eventually, it'll come as second nature though!"

"You're right!" Skylar exclaimed. "I can't give in! I have to keep trying and learning if I really want to be Unova's champion! I can't give in! I can't give in!"

"I like the spirit!" Cyan cheered. "You can do it! I believe in you!"

Skylar took in a deep breath and then looked around her team. "I just need to be a bit more patient too. We can get through this battle. I know we can."

"Well, we can take as much time as we need! Kumquat Island is a great place to train and relax!"

Skylar shook her head. "Let's leave!"

"Huh?!"

Skylar had a determined look on her face. "We should leave and train someplace else! If we get too relaxed and let it distract us, then we're not training enough! You too, Cyan! Don't you have to start preparing for your battle against the Alola champion?"

Cyan hadn't thought about it for a while, but yes. He was set to battle with Kaarina back in Alola after he finished his adventure on the Orange Islands. He hadn't been putting in as much effort as he probably should have, and especially on Kumquat Island, he got lazy.

He nodded. "Alright. Let's train. We'll leave Kumquat Island for a while and find a nice place to train as hard as we can. You'll get strong, finish the Orange League, and I'll go back to Alola and beat Kaarina."

"Sounds great!" she exclaimed. "But-"

"But?"

"How about we get one more massage before we go?"

"I expect nothing less from you."

Meanwhile…

Thunder Island

The four had already taken down Zapdos. Magnezone was able to draw in all of its electric attacks while Heracross and Vileplume pummeled it viciously.

Okane took her final steps up the shrine and yanked the yellow glass treasure from its statue. She held it high and laughed. "This is the last piece. We're going to send the Orange Islands into chaos and then Kanto. With the three legendary birds and Lugia in our grasp, no one can stop us."

"Stop!" someone shouted. The four members of Daidai Rocket looked towards the entrance of Thunder Island's temple. A young female trainer and a red-headed girl with an orange bandana and a pearl ocarina necklace around her neck stood at the icy entrance.

"I'm the chosen one, and I'm here to stop you!" the young trainer shouted.

"What you've been doing at the islands is terrible! You're going to upset the balance of the world!" the girl with the ocarina added.

Okane shook her head and then tossed the treasure up and down in her hands. "Chosen one? Balance? Your little tradition is a sham. These treasures mean nothing. They're fake artifacts. You only do your little tradition because your people are paranoid. We've destroyed two of them so far, and the worst thing that's happened is that I got some glass in my boot."

"You don't understand!"

"No, you don't understand! You've been brainwashed by your little island folk to believe that these matter. They don't. They upset the legendary Pokémon, and that's it. There have been no storms. There have been no disasters. Not yet."

"We'll stop you!" the young trainer said while drawing out a Poké Ball.

Okane walked down the steps before dropping the treasure on the ground. "We've taken out three legendary Pokémon. What are two pipsqueaks gonna do?"

The young trainer took a step backward. "Melody, I'm scared."

"Me too. But we can do this."

The young trainer shook her head. "Maybe I'm not the chosen one after all."

Okane grinned. "Daidai Rocket, attack!"

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

A relatively shorter chapter. I'm trying my hardest to not write a lot of battles, so that the actual battles can feel important/special, so I don't intend on showing a lot of the training. Rather, I'll show the results of training! That said, the next chapter will be something special!

REVIEWS:

pokemonking0924 - "What started as a dream vacation for Skylar turned into a major blow to her confidence. She has gotten better with loses since she first started her journey across the islands but something tells me she keeping how upset she really is inside. As for Daidai Rocket I still cannot figure out their goal to destroy the three treasures, but by the looks of it Okane seems to hate legendary Pokémon given how she was glaring at Moltres (Aoi isn't going to be happy to hear about this)." - As kind of revealed in this, the treasures are kind of... fake. They just make the legendary Pokemon angry, which kind of comes into play.

CrescentApple - "Whoa, I didnt think Skylar would lose this match... if she had her Blaziken, maybe she could have won. Ah well, at least they get free room service. So win-win in my book." - I do think she would of had a better chance if she used Blaziken, but it was a sudden death match. Her other Pokemon could have been knocked out too.

wisdom-jewel - "I'm sure Skylar would figure out after a while. She might not start right away since her past experience in Unova might come back. But I'm pretty sure that Cyan would get her back and help her." - Yeah. Cyan is all for helping her out. It'll be interesting to see where their training takes them.