The next morning, I'm the first to wake up as usual. Gardevoir and I didn't have long in our psychic world, and she was more interested in trying to expand the physical side of things, focusing on trying to create the feelings of touch like we had tried a little before. I managed to feel her against me like we were hugging in the waking world, complete with the somewhat painful but familiar stabbing of her heart. All in all, she seemed like she was perfectly fine with what happened and promised to talk with me later today. We should have plenty of time, seeing as the goal is to surf over to Mossdeep city and get the gym badge there. I sit up in bed, and Gardevoir starts to stir next to me. May ended up cuddling Gardevoir similarly to how she was attached to me the other night, and Gardevoir was all over me instead, so it was sort of like a cuddle train all night. Looking at their peaceful faces, I start to wonder if maybe I'm making too big a deal out of this whole thing. I mean, if they're both OK with it, then what's the big deal? It's only me who still feels uneasy, apparently. I guess what I really need to decide is if I feel uneasy because of my own thoughts on the situation, or if it's still because I'm concerned for their feelings, and I don't know the answer to that.
I hope talking to Gardevoir today will help.
Gardevoir stirs from her sleep, and I'm starting to notice that when our subconscious psychic link fades, it wakes us both. She gently shrugs off May's embrace as she sits up, careful not to wake her, and wraps her arms around my shoulders. She's still naked. In fact, we're all still naked. We just used a towel to clean everything up last night since it was too late and we were too tired for a shower. Gardevoir's body is warm from sleeping, and it feels really nice against the cool air of our room.
"Good morning." She sends me her simple message telepathically. I kiss her cheek, and she sends me a wave of joy and longing. I let it wash over me and smile.
"Good morning." I say it out loud, whispering to her. She rubs her still sleepy face into my shoulder, pure content on her expression. I can't sense any sort of regret or disgust at what we did last night. She's still OK with it. It's one thing to let something happen because of lust. It feels different in the moment, like you won't get caught or that somehow it'll work out after, or maybe you can't even think about the consequences because you're too overwhelmed by what's happening, but to sober up the next morning and still be OK with something means that you actually wanted it. I'll have to think some more about this, but right now, I need a distraction.
"Come on, let's get in the shower. We're dirty." I tell her, stroking her hair. She doesn't look up, she just closes her eyes and nods, still smiling. I can't help but smile at her, and then I put one arm around her back and the other under her legs and scoop her up. She squeaks a little, somehow making it sound like a surprised bell, and her grip on my shoulders tightens to keep herself from falling, despite the secure grip I have on her. I carry her off to the bathroom, and my eyes drift down to look at her body as we walk. As always, her scar catches my eye, and I follow it's length from her hip to her breast. I shake my head. This isn't the kind of distraction I had in mind. I push the slightly ajar door to the bathroom fully open with my foot and enter, minding the narrow doorway, and gracefully set her down on the bathroom floor, feet first. Her toe-less points only touch the ground for a second before she's levitating just above it. She yawns, and stretches her arms upward, pushing out her chest and drawing my eyes to her naked breasts. She's adorable.
"Well, someone is energetic this morning." She says playfully, her smile widening. Her arms fall back down to her sides and she looks much more awake now.
"We've had enough distractions lately. We've got a job to do and a badge to collect." I reply, smiling. There's humor in my voice, and she smiles sarcastically back at me, giving me a knowing look.
"Distractions, huh? What's the big deal about that Sammy guy anyway? Why don't we just let him catch the legendary Pokémon? You guys said that if he mistreated them that the Pokémon league would step in." Her tone is light, her mental voice testing how I'll react. I squint an eye at her, acting incredulous.
"We both know how he treats his Pokémon, and while those legendaries aren't the ones everyone talks about, they're still powerful. I'm sure even Pokémon league trainers would have a hard time battling him. Can you imagine what a guy like him could do with that power? He'd probably try to take over the world or something." I respond, moving toward the shower to get it started. She pinches my butt as I reach to turn on the water, and I flinch at the unexpected pain. I look back at her, and the false angry look I was directing at her fades when I see her mischievous smile, and I can't help but smirk back. She got me back for yesterday.
"So now we're saving the world?" Her eyes regard me with a cool confidence, that smirk still on her lips. She crosses her arms underneath her chest blade. "Surely there are others better suited to that task." She waits for me to look at her with a fake hurt look, expecting it, and then responds to it by forming a small "o" with her mouth, mocking me. She's so playful this morning.
"Oh, are you saying that I'm not good enough to save the world?" I ask her, my hurt look fading as I stand up. The water is the right temperature, and it's ready for us to get in now.
"Hmm, I'd say your talents lie elsewhere." She replies, haughtily. She floats towards me, and her hand grips tightly around my flaccid manhood, making me gasp. She smirks and kisses me, then releases me from her grasp as she moves past me to get in the shower. I'm a little too stunned to move for only a second, and then I follow her.
I step into the shower, smiling wide. She returns my smile, and grabs the shampoo that we, fortunately, remembered to put in here last night when we got the room. I stand in the water and wet my hair, and then hold out my hand, expecting her to hand me the bottle. Instead, she squeezes some out onto her three-fingered hand and puts it back down. Then she moves closer to me, and starts to rub it into my hair with her pointed fingers. It feels really nice. I let my hands hold her around the waist, one hand absentmindedly stroking the raised skin of her scar, and pull her closer, letting her heart poke me in the chest. I actually kind of like the feeling of it stabbing me now, and it feels like its been too long since the last time I've felt it. I close my eyes and let her hands work into my scalp, enjoying the feeling. My body starts to respond to her closeness. I can feel that a boner is eminent.
I can suddenly hear the door to the bathroom opening, but I don't open my eyes, not wanting to get the shampoo in them. Gardevoir stops rubbing my scalp, and floats back a little to let me wash it off. When I get the shampoo rinsed off, I open my eyes just in time to see the shower curtain pull open from the opposite side of the shower. May steps in, still naked from last night. She looks tired still, and she's rubbing her eyes as she closes the curtain.
"Um, good morning." I state, examining her naked body. The way she looks certainly isn't helping my growing erection. Her hair is all disheveled, and it suits her. She stops rubbing her eyes and looks up at us.
"Good morning." She says, a smile starting to spread across her lips. "The shower's big enough for three right?"
"Uh, I mean barely." I say, smiling back at her uneasily. Gardevoir seems happy to see her.
"What are you trying to say, Seth? You calling me fat?" She puts on a false look of shock, with a smile hidden behind it. "Maybe it's you who's taking up all the room." She motions to my groin, her voice playful, and I blush.
"That was my fault." Gardevoir tells us, smiling mischievously. May giggles. Two sets of eyes look me up and down and I'm a little too bashful to say anything. This is a little surreal. Is this how it's going to be now? Them messing with me?
"Well, on a more serious note, I think it'd be a good idea to save water." May says, not letting my awkwardness get to her. I realize they're both kind of waiting for me to say something, like they're waiting for my approval. I guess it's decided then. I'm the odd one out here.
"OK. Yeah that's fine. We should definitely do our part to conserve the planet's resources." I chide, smirking at them. That is so not what this is about. May returns my smirk. I let Gardevoir move past me into the water to wet her hair and then reach for the complementary soap bar. I unwrap it from it's paper packaging and toss that out past the curtain. Focusing on this makes my groin soften, which was my goal. I can't get too excited or then I'll be stuck feeling like that today and it will distract me. It's already hard enough with how little room there is in here. May is standing at the back of the tub and shower combo and her back is almost against the wall, but she's still pretty much on top of me.
Like she can read my thoughts, and maybe she can with Gardevoir so close to us, she starts to move forward in the shower to get closer to the water spray. She slides past me, smiling a dirty smile, and it makes my softening erection rub against her lower stomach as she does. I also get an up close and personal view of her breasts as she scoots by. They're so close that her nipples nearly brush my chest. Her soft skin makes me harden fully, despite the butterfly sensation it gives me. She still has that devilish smile as her and Gardevoir switch places. I give her a look and then smile at Gardevoir, who is looking up at me expectantly. I put the soap down for now in favor of getting to wash Gardevoir's hair for her. I get some shampoo and rub it into her scalp, returning the favor for what she did for me. She melts into my hands, obviously enjoying the feeling. She's close enough that my now hard as diamond dick is poking her in the thigh. Her heart is poking me back though, so it's fair. She giggles suddenly.
"What?" I ask, breaking the silence.
"You were thinking that it's fair that I'm poking you since you're poking me. It was funny, that's all." She really does just read my thoughts all the time doesn't she? I smirk back at her.
"Maybe I should share my jokes out loud more often." I retort, finishing my job of washing her hair. She nods, her eyes still closed for the shampooing, with a big smile on her face. She moves back towards the water, and May guides her since there's hardly any room. May moves towards me while Gardevoir rinses off.
"You gonna do me now?" She asks, her eyes looking big and innocent, despite the double meaning. Her mouth is curved up in that smirk though, and I know she's teasing me.
"No, sorry. That was last night only." I say, smirking. She makes a sad face at me, pushing out her outer lip.
"No fair." She whines, cutely. She moves close to me, putting her hand on my shoulder as she bends to grab the shampoo from the shelf on my right. It's an unnecessary and intentional gesture. It also makes my problem poke her in the thigh, like it did with Gardevoir, but she moves a little closer and then it slips between her legs. I flinch, and the butterflies are back. Her just long enough to be soft pubic hair rubs against the head and shaft of my erection and its too sensitive. I gasp, it's somehow too much and something I really want more of at the same time. I move my hips back slowly, pulling myself out of her folds.
"Ah, uh, sorry." She says, her voice sincere. I guess that part wasn't exactly intentional. She grabs the shampoo and lifts herself back up, her face looking flushed and it's not just because of the hot water.
"It's OK. It's not your fault the shower is so small. Clearly they should've made it to fit three people." I recover quickly, teasing her while she's vulnerable. That smirk returns to her face. She squeezes out some shampoo, and then returns the bottle to its position without falling all over me. She brings her hands to her head and starts massaging the cleanser into her hair, and puffs out her chest, putting her ample breasts on display for me. She closes her eyes and holds that smirk, pretending she's just washing her hair. I can't help but look at them. They're right there, and they're hard to miss. I want to touch them.
Gardevoir slips around May's body carefully, getting in between us, and disrupting my train of thought. I'm almost grateful. She smiles genuinely at me, and grabs the soap I forgot about from the shelf. She hands it to me. I understand what she wants from me, so I start to lather up the soap in my hands. I give it back to her to hold once I've gotten enough and start to rub my hands on her body. I start at her shoulders and massage my fingers into the muscles near her neck, earning a contented sigh from her and a pleasant smile. I keep going, rubbing down her arms and all the way down to her three-fingered hands. I massage those as well, squeezing her palms one at a time, moving the soap from one hand to the other. I lather my hands again and redeposit the soap to her hand while I start on her torso. I run my hands down her chest, over her breasts and across her heart. When I feel that raised, slightly rougher skin of her scar beneath my hands, I sigh, but she doesn't seem to pay any mind to it, her eyes closed in bliss. She holds her contented smile the whole time, enjoying my hands on her. Once her front is done, I move closer to her and reach around her to get her back. I slide my hands down and start rubbing her butt. She giggles again, this time because it tickles. I keep her close to me and reach one hand around to the front while the other holds her butt. I rub the outer parts of her genitals, careful not to get soap inside her. She sighs when I get her there and once I'm done I finish by getting more soap and going down her legs, squeezing them as I do to give her a bit of a leg massage.
"Thank you." She says simply when I'm done, her smile big and brilliant. I nod, and bring my face to hers for a quick kiss. She lathers the soap in her hands as she's still holding it and starts to work on me. Her interesting hands feel very nice on my body, and she squeezes my arms, legs, and shoulders like I did for her. When she gets to my crotch she takes some extra soap and moves her hand up and down the shaft. That feels even better.
"Have to make sure you're clean." She teases, then carefully rubs and squeezes my package. I sigh at her words. It's a mix of pleasure at her actions and a longing for more. Once she's done, she replaces the soap. May moves in close to us, stepping out of the water.
"Aw, what about me?" She whines, her eyes glancing between Gardevoir's and my own. I look at Gardevoir for an answer and she starts to reach for the soap again.
"Wait, I have a better idea." May says suddenly. Gardevoir stops and straightens back up, looking at her expectantly. May grabs her gently around the waist and pulls her close, letting Gardevoir's heart stab her between the breasts. May starts to move up and down, rubbing her hands on Gardevoir's back and their bodies together and getting herself all soapy.
"Come on, Seth. You can at least get my back can't you?" May calls, looking back at me with a smirk. Gardevoir's face is surprised, but she's enjoying the feeling of May's slippery body. I hesitate, watching them for a few seconds. Can I really do that? She obviously wants me to use my own soapy body on her, not the bar itself. Gardevoir smiles at me, and again I think about how they both seem to be OK with this. It's just my indecision about how they feel, and if they're OK with stuff like this then I should be as well, right? I sigh internally, I don't know if that will ever be true at this point.
I move in behind May, and wrap my arms around her waist, my arms slipping easily between her and Gardevoir because of the soap, and squeeze her body to me. She's so warm, and with the soap it's so slippery. I use my hips to adjust my boner so it points upward, so it rests pointing up against her butt. May gasps when I grab her and Gardevoir makes a bell sound as May pulls her tighter to her. Gardevoir's heart must be digging painfully into her chest at this point. She must not care that much about it. I'm careful not to let my manhood slip between her legs while I rub myself on her, but even just rubbing it between her round buttocks is stimulating enough. Gardevoir's arms come up and her hands grasp my arms around May's waist, sealing May up in our grip.
"Mmm, this is good, but we're missing a few spots." May says, her voice mischievous. She starts to rotate Gardevoir, breaking her grip on my arms as she turns her fully around so that she is grabbing Gardevoir the same way I'm grabbing her. Her movements are now making her breasts squish against Gardevoir's back, and I can bet that her nipples are hard and poking pleasurably into Gardevoir. Oh I see, since Gardevoir's heart was stabbing her, her chest was a spot we were missing. Once she has Gardevoir in position, she reaches back with her right hand towards my upward pointing boner, and then moves her hips forward to make enough room to push my length down between her buttocks and into the space between her thighs and her womanhood. In doing so, the tip of my slippery manhood slips against her butt hole and it gives me the butterfly feeling again. I can't believe how far this has gone in just a few days. I exhale my stored up breath in a sort of moan at the intense and naughty feeling, and then breathe in May's vanilla-like scent that permeates from her despite the fact we're in the shower. My face is nearly pressed into the back of her head, so it's easy to breathe her in. It's getting almost too warm with the combination of our body heat and the hot water. We move as a sort of awkward, three person unit. Gardevoir and I move up and May moves down, getting us all completely soapy. May starts moaning quietly as we move, enjoying it, and Gardevoir's bell sounds are nearly constant. May starts to move her hips forward and back, leading Gardevoir into doing the same but at the opposite frequency, making a soft slapping sound as their bodies collide. My erection is slipping in and out of the gap between May's thighs and her lower lips. The soap is protecting my sensitive tip from her pubic hair, making it nice and slippery, but it's also starting to irritate me as well.
"We need to rinse this off." I state, my voice heady. "The soap is irritating me." I start to stand back up in a normal position and pull myself out from between May's legs. She grabs my hips before I can get fully out.
"Wait. Can we just rinse it off and keep going? You liked that, right?" She asks, her voice breathy. Clearly she did.
"The soap was making it slippery though, without it it'll probably just chafe us." I reply, grabbing her hands and taking them off me. I remove myself from her. I want to do stuff like this with just Gardevoir. I liked the way that this felt, but I'm uneasy about it being May that was making me feel good, and about being that close to having sex with her.
"Oh please can we just try it? I really really liked that." May begs me, and looks to Gardevoir for help.
"We could just try it, right Seth?" Gardevoir's voice in my head is more pleading than I was expecting it to be. Did she really like it that much? I soften at her words, mentally that is, not physically.
"OK, I guess. But if it's too much we've got to stop." I tell them, moving towards the water. May smiles, giving me a dorky, overenthusiastic nod. I rinse myself off, making sure to get the soap off the tip of my erection. May and Gardevoir squeeze under the water with me and rinse themselves off as well. Then, May pushes her butt against me, making my manhood push between her buttocks and then slip past the entrance of her vagina forcefully, and it nearly pokes her entrance except that I angle my hips just in time to make it move past. She gasps and moans, and it sounds disappointed. She grabs Gardevoir and pulls her close.
"You do it, Seth." May breathes, not skipping a beat. I start to move my hips, and move my hands over May's hips to grab Gardevoir's. She lets out a sweet sound as I do, and puts her hands on top of mine, holding them to her. I push my hips fully into May's ass, watching as its size squishes against me. It doesn't actually feel bad without the soap, it is definitely different and not as slippery, but I can't say that I don't like the way May looks and the way this feels. I can feel that the tip of my penis starts to poke against something soft. The friction between May's thighs and my shaft is pleasurable and not painful in the slightest. It's just the right amount, and I realize there's more than just the water lubricating things. I can feel May's warm lower lips wrapping around my shaft, caressing it as I move back and forth. It still feels wet and warm and soft when I fully push myself in and I realize suddenly that I must be pushing against Gardevoir. I use my fingers to investigate my theory and it makes both of them gasp and moan. I can feel that Gardevoir's entrance is certainly in range, seeing as her butt is pressed against May's front. I tease it with my fingers and she certainly feels wet enough. I push myself forward all the way again and then I can feel the tip of my penis with my fingers and I can feel that it's almost there. I aim it upward a little more and push forward and it starts to enter Gardevoir. She moans loud enough to hear over the shower.
"Oh, Seth, be gentle. I'm still a little raw from last night." Gardevoir says.
"Can I go in, or is it too much, Gardevoir?" I ask, pulling my hips backward and rubbing May's clitoris with my length in the process. It feels really nice for both of us.
"You can, just do it slowly." Gardevoir tells me, her voice sultry. She wants it too. I push my hips forward again, and this time it's already lined up and the tip of my penis slips in her, slowly like she asked. She gasps pleasurably.
"You can reach her even when it's going through me?" May asks, her voice sounding amazed. I pull Gardevoir's hips tighter and my penis sinks a little further into her and we both moan.
"I can, but not much is going in." I finally respond.
"Wow, this is so hot." May breathes. I start moving my hips back and forth, and it's making us all feel good now. I bring my hand around Gardevoir's hips and my fingers find her clitoris. I pinch it gently between my middle and ring finger, and then hold it there and move my hand in a shallow circle. Her bell-moans tell me that she's liking it.
"Oh yes, it feels good." Gardevoir gives me even more confirmation that I'm doing a good job. I push forward harder than before, making our slippery bodies squish harder together. May squeaks, and her hands move around Gardevoir's body to her chest for support.
"Ah, you're squeezing me so hard." May breathes, her voice a little strained. I think it's a good sort of strained though, like it's too hard, but she still likes it. She takes a breath and then her hands start to squeeze Gardevoir's breasts once she realizes where her hands are. I keep holding Gardevoir's clitoris and moving my hand while moving my hips.
"Don't stop! I'm going to..." Gardevoir's voice trails off in my head and then I feel her body clench up. I'm not deep enough in her to feel her walls squeeze my length, and that disappoints me a little. I love to feel her orgasm while I'm inside her. She rides out her finish, her body throbbing. She slowly moves off of us, pulling me out of her and turning around and leaning against the cool shower wall after its over. She's flushed and too hot in here. I can tell. I quickly reach for the shower knob that's just in range and turn it down just a little bit. May gasps as the water cools.
"Come on, keep going Seth. I'm not done yet." May says, her hands now free to reach back and grab my hips. She holds them while I start moving faster between her legs, wanting to finish. She removes one hand from my hip and then brings it between her legs and uses it to hold my penis against her sex so that every thrust pushes against her clit. It feels amazing, and I can feel Gardevoir's tired eyes watching us with excitement. May is moaning, and her hand starts pushing harder against my penis so that it's really rubbing between her lips. I slow down, feeling wary and then she takes the opportunity and pushes when the tip of my penis is moving past her entrance and it slips right inside her. I don't expect it, and follow through with my thrust forward and I slam into her, deep. She lets out a loud gasping moan and then she orgasms at that moment with my length inside her. She's not as tight as Gardevoir, not even close, but she still feels amazing. So amazingly wrong. It went in her. May and I are having sex, even if it was just the one thrust forward. That's it. Even if last night could still be considered not crossing the line, and even if they both like this, we've crossed it now. I can feel her walls start to clamp on me as her orgasm barrels through her, and I'm left wishing it was Gardevoir's orgasm I was feeling. Her rhythmic pulses bring me to the edge and I orgasm with her, even though it's only been a second that I've actually been inside her. I pull out of her as fast as I can, but it's just a hair too late. The first spurt of my semen releases inside her, and I erupt out of her with a wet pop. The rest of my cum shoots onto her ass and what went inside her spills out, falling to the shower floor. I stumble backwards and manage to catch myself before I fall out of the tub. I recover, breathing hard, and steady myself.
"What the hell was that?" I ask May, the fury in my voice is palpable. Her dazed, contented face quickly contorts into one of shock, and she looks at me, scared.
"I'm sorry... It was an accident." She says, her voice small. She's actually scared of me. I instantly soften. I must look really aggravated to make her look at me like that. She was just enjoying herself. She probably didn't even think about it. My angry face drops and I rub the back of my neck. I take a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting that." I say. "I didn't think we were going to be actually having sex. I just thought we were messing around." I explain.
"I know. I just got carried away." May admits. I'm silent for a few seconds while we all catch our breath. Gardevoir looks back and forth between us, her expression unreadable. Doesn't she care? She just watched me fuck May.
"I came in you." I look at May, meeting her eyes and seeing that she doesn't seem so scared of me anymore. My face turns a brighter red than it already is from the heat in the shower as I say it.
"Yeah..." May says, uneasily. She looks down at her crotch and around at her ass, and sees all the cum on her and how much is of it dripping out of her. "I think it'll be OK. I um, just got off my period." Her face flushes as she speaks. It must have been at least a few days ago that it ended, because it certainly wasn't still going on yesterday and most likely not the night before that. Worry seeps into my mind like a poison. It could still be OK, but I'll have to keep an eye on this. Just another thing that I have to think about...
"OK." I respond simply, not wanting to get into it. I look at Gardevoir. She's confused.
"Are you going to lay an egg, May?" She asks May, letting us both hear it. Oh boy. She does know how this works for people, right? Actually, maybe she doesn't. Why would she? It's never been something we've had to talk about. Am I going to have to have the sex talk with her?
"Um, no, but she could've gotten pregnant." I tell Gardevoir, speaking for May. I can't look at May's face anymore, not after Gardevoir's question, it's too embarrassing.
"What does that mean?" Gardevoir's tone is completely serious. I look at her, returning her confused look. I take another breath and move against the shower wall with her. It's cool against my back and feels good in the intense heat of this room. How do I explain this to her?
"Well, Gardevoir, humans grow their babies inside of them. Pokémon lay eggs, right? It's like if the egg was inside the mother the whole time and then when it hatches, the baby comes out." I explain, choosing my words carefully so she understands. She makes a weird face at me, somewhere between shock and repulsion.
"Really?" She sounds dumbfounded. I nod and she considers this for a minute. "OK, then what is a 'period'?" I finally look up at May for help, this is too much for me to talk about, I'll let May handle the details of this part. I'm sure she's more qualified than I am.
"Uh, well, women bleed out of their, you know, privates, every month." May says, offering a vague and uninformative answer. She feels just as awkward as I do, I can tell. It just confuses and shocks Gardevoir more.
"You bleed... out of there?" Gardevoir looks a little mortified.
"Yes, don't you?" May asks, now she's confused. Obviously, Gardevoir doesn't based on her reaction alone, but, to May, it is a shocking revelation because she's so human like already. Gardevoir instantly shakes her head, repulsed by the idea.
"No I don't. I've never bled from there. Except the first time Seth and I had sex." She responds, her voice concerned over May's explanation. That confirms a theory I've had about Gardevoir. When we started having sex I noticed more things about her, and one of those was that she never seemed to have a period. That and the fact that she told me at one point that she gets so horny that she can't think straight leads me to believe that she must go into heat. It makes me think again about how she must be in "mating season" and that at some point she might not want me as much as she does now. I should really do some research on Gardevoir breeding.
May tries to explain more about how periods and pregnancy work while we all finish up in the shower. Now that May and I have had sex there's just more for me to think, and worry, about. Can I really go through with all this and have May be a part of our relationship? Gardevoir said she didn't want that but it kind of seems like that's just how it is now that I've been inside her. Gardevoir didn't even seem to care about it at all, either. Actually, she looked like she enjoyed watching us. All I can think about as we finish up and get ready to head out is that this is going to weigh down my mind and leave me unfocused for our gym battle.
From Lilycove city, the ocean stretches out from its port to the east. There is a beach with many people looking for battles. Lilycove's port is not like the ones in Slateport city. This connection to the ocean is for people and Pokémon, not ships, as the sea here is shallow and has many islands out in the waters. Mossdeep city rests on one of these islands. With Gardevoir and I riding on my Swampert, who is easily strong enough to carry the both of us, and May riding on her recently acquired Seaking, we reach Mossdeep in a few hours. The sun is out, bright and hot, today. We wore our bathing suits out into the water and it was a fun time surfing the distance with our Pokémon. In doing so, I was able to forget about a lot of the stuff that happened this morning and not let it bother me so much. It's like it was before, and May and Gardevoir and I are all acting like we're still good friends. Unfortunately, Gardevoir and I also forget to talk about the situation. I guess that will have to wait.
The water to the north of Mossdeep is colder, and leads to many caves filled with all sorts of unique Pokémon that appear according to the tide brought in by the waves. We can feel the chill coming from the caves as we arrive at Mossdeep's sandy shores and it makes us shiver and hurry to the Pokémon center to change.
Mossdeep is a small town, as it rests on an island, but it is also home to Hoenn's leading space research center, where they actually launch rockets, and study the stars. If we had more time to spend here, it would definitely be a good place to learn about that kind of stuff. The gym in Mossdeep is run a little differently from the other gyms in that it is operated by two gym leaders: Liza and Tate. The gym is a psychic type gym, and as such they use psychic-type Pokémon, like Gardevoir. I don't know what their main Pokémon are, but I'm expecting to see some interesting ones that could possibly have the same amount of psychic ability with humans that Gardevoir does. Since there are two gym leaders, challengers are given the chance to pair up with another trainer, or they can go it alone and use two of their Pokémon at the same time. May doesn't have the badge from this gym yet, and we plan on taking the challenge together.
We stop in at the Pokécenter, and get a room for later tonight after we're done at the gym. Once we're changed and have gotten something to eat, we set off towards the gym. If we're going to catch up with Sammy we need to get this over with quickly. I'm sure with May and I both we can overcome the gym leaders. We do have an advantage through Gardevoir, as we can talk directly to each other through our minds. It should be relatively easy to create efficient combinations that way.
The gym is just a short walk from the Pokécenter as it is in most towns, and we arrive quickly. It's located near the northern end of the town, near the base of the large hill that the space center is at the top of. The big building is imposing, but otherwise looks like the other gyms I've seen, apart from the open roof at the Fortree city gym. Inside, it's a different story. There is the typical arena common to all Pokémon league stadiums, but surrounding it is a moat with all types of small fish Pokémon. It even cuts through the center of the arena, and pools in the center to create the Pokéball shape of the lines of the arena out of water. It's designed like a traditional Japanese koi pond. In fact, the entire decorative style of the gym is set up that way, with traditional sliding doors and ornate looking ranma above the sliding walls instead of windows. It all looks very fancy and it's almost like I've stepped into the past. I've always dreamed of seeing a house designed like this. I look around in wonder as we walk in, enjoying the sights.
In the center of the opposite side of the arena from us, the gym leaders Liza and Tate are sitting with their backs together, and they look to be meditating. They are both sitting with their legs folded under them and with their eyes closed. Gardevoir, May and I approach our side of the arena and then they stand up slowly. They turn to face us.
"Hello there!" The girl on the right says to us, her voice cheerful and high-pitched. This must be Liza. She's very young to be a gym leader. If I had to guess at her age I'd say probably around eleven or twelve. She's wearing an outfit that resembles a martial artist's gi. It's a dark blue top with wide-ended sleeves, and a pair of dark blue puffy-looking pants that end on her shins. On her feet is a pair of dark blue kung fu slippers. She has pink star decorations on her top that seem to fasten it shut. Her dark, almost black hair is tied up with a white ribbon in a bun on the top of her head, and she has two pigtails framing her face. Her hair has an almost blue-like sheen to it, and her outfit really seems to match everything about her.
"We have been waiting for you, challengers." The boy on the left speaks directly after Liza finishes, like they practice talking together all the time. He must be Tate. I haven't heard much about these two other than their names, and when we walked in I kind of assumed they were both girls. His voice is definitely that of a young boy though. He wears a similar outfit to Liza, and looks to be of the same age. I think I heard somewhere that they were twins, and seeing them in person confirms that theory. Seeing how similar they look, it makes me wonder if having identical twins of the opposite gender is really impossible. His gi is decorated with green stars instead of pink, and his hair is in the same style of bun, but without the pigtails. They both bow to us after speaking.
"We have seen you coming." Liza says, straightening back up.
"You are Seth, and you are May, correct?" Tate asks, directly after his sister is done talking, like they speak with one voice. He points to May and I and identifies us correctly.
"Yeah, uh, how did you know that?" May asks, bewildered. She glances at Gardevoir and I.
"We know these things-" Liza starts.
"We can see into your minds." And Tate finishes.
I highly doubt they can read our minds in any way similar to how Gardevoir can, but perhaps they do have some sort of psychic ability. They are very young to already be accomplished gym leaders, and having psychic powers might have helped them achieve that. I look at Gardevoir as I talk to her mentally, reading her expression.
"What do you think, Gardevoir? Can they really see into our minds?" Her eyes find mine when she senses my voice, and she nods slowly.
"It's faint, but I can sense something there. I would be careful about saying too much. They might pick up on it if you think about it too hard." She responds, her mental voice sounds concerned, and I already know why. How can humans have psychic abilities like that? As far as I knew that was something only Pokémon were capable of.
"I'm sure you are wondering-" Liza starts after a second, her eyes watching all of us as she speaks.
"How we can do these things?" Tate finishes. It seems like they can't pick up specific thoughts unless they're very strong, and most of the time they pick up ideas. Or they could just be really good at reading people's faces and reactions. It's impossible to know without being in their shoes. I shake off the ominous feeling I got when they seemed to speak my mind.
"We have trained most of our lives." Liza speaks first.
"And we have learned a great deal from our Pokémon partners." And Tate speaks second. Pokémon partners? What exactly do they mean by that? I quickly try to dismiss that thought after it comes, not wanting them to pick up on it.
"It would seem that you are well-accustomed to the psychic link that can exist between people and their Pokémon." Liza tells us, her eyes finding mine and locking onto them.
"You should know that we also have such a bond with our Pokémon, and with each other." Tate explains, his eyes joining his sisters in staring me down. I start to feel uneasy, and they finally relent, and go back to looking around at all of us. They certainly don't act like children. If they were expecting a reply to that, I don't know how to answer and I stay quiet.
"Right, well, Seth and I would like to challenge you." May says, her arm suddenly resting on my shoulders. As I'm a decent amount taller than her, she has to stand at an awkward angle to rest her arm fully across my shoulders and I find myself wondering why she even bothers when it's probably just uncomfortable for her. Classic dorky May. I smirk at her, my attention shifting from the gym leaders to her, and my mind instantly wanders to our experience this morning, and I blush at the thought. Damn it, I can't be doing this. I dispel the thought quickly, not wanting Liza and Tate to see any of that, if they can.
"Very well." Liza says, her eyes flicking back to mine, her expression is indifferent, but I can sense some sort of strange emotion hidden behind her features. Definitely not a normal eleven or twelve year old.
"We accept your challenge." Tate finishes her thought, his eyes finding mine as well. It seems like Liza is more of the "leader" and Tate is more of a follower.
May and I mentally discuss what Pokémon we will use as we make our way to our side of the arena, and Liza and Tate walk hand in hand to theirs. She is sort of at a loss. She wants to use Blaziken, as he is her strongest, but since this is a psychic type gym he will be at a disadvantage. Her Plusle and Swellow aren't all that powerful, her Gloom would also have a type disadvantage and her Seaking doesn't have the proper environment it would need to do well. There is the koi pond, but I don't think that's for battling. I know that I'll most likely use my Duskull, as he has a type advantage, and I want to train him, but since May is considering Blaziken, she tries to convince me to use Gardevoir first, so that our favorites can battle together. I vehemently oppose that idea. I'm not going to get Gardevoir hurt again. This is an official battle, and gym leaders are apparently trained not to inflict serious damage against challenger's Pokémon, but I still don't think it's a good idea.
"Seth, let me battle." Gardevoir tells me, as we're deciding. I look at her and my eyes instantly fall to the mended tear in her dress, to the scar that lies beneath. I can feel my anxiety building. "I told you, that's not your fault." She continues.
"Gardevoir..." I start, but she stops me.
"I want to battle. I promise that I will be ok." She tells me, she's already made up her mind. I know there's nothing I can do to change it. I just hope that this battle will be over quickly.
May and I take our spots on our side, and turn around to face Liza and Tate, who are waiting for us. A referee makes his way to the middle of the arena, checkered flags in his hands. When he reaches his spot on the side of the arena, he starts to call out battle rules.
"This will be a double battle, with four Pokémon total on each side, two at a time. The challengers, who are working together, must both have two Pokémon to battle. They will be sent out in pairs, one from each challenger. Only the challengers may substitute Pokémon. Let the battle begin!" He calls, waving his flags energetically. I look to Gardevoir and put my hand on her shoulder. She nods and smiles at me, starting to move towards the center of the arena. I let my hand linger on her and slide it down her back as she goes, feeling extraordinarily uneasy about her battling. She looks back at me.
"I told you, everything will be ok. I want to do this." She tells me mentally. She sends a calming sensation my way to emphasize her point and I feel a little better until she turns back around and the worry starts creeping back up. May grabs Blaziken's ball off her belt and throws it into the arena, next to Gardevoir. Blaziken spills out of the ball, instantly making a battle stance and letting out a fierce "Blaziken!". He turns to Gardevoir and gives her a dorky thumbs up, smiling, and I'm reminded of May. Gee, I wonder where he gets it from. Gardevoir smiles back at him, her hand moving to her mouth to cover her slight giggle. She must see it as well. Liza and Tate throw their Pokéballs at exactly the same time, and their Pokémon emerge directly next to each other at the same time. Impressive. Liza sends out a green bird that stands only a few inches shorter than Gardevoir, and it spreads its wings to reveal markings on its body reminiscent of a totem pole. It's eyes stare blankly ahead, like it's not seeing what's happening right in front of it, and rather something else entirely. Tate's Pokéball explodes and releases a hovering Pokémon that looks like some sort of ancient doll. Its large head has big red eyes around its circumference, and between each pair is something that resembles a beak. It's body is small compared to its head and its arms are like two cylindrical containers that end in a sort of spout. It floats next to Liza's bird with an equally blank look to its many faces, but this look seems more likely to be a result of a lower intelligence rather than some sort of distraction. Considering that this is a psychic gym, I'm assuming that both of their Pokémon are psychic-type. Liza's bird is also most likely flying-type, but the other Pokémon: I have no idea.
"Round 1: Gardevoir and Blaziken versus Xatu and Claydol! Start!" The referee calls out.
"I'll take the weird doll thing, you go for the bird." May says, utilizing our connection through Gardevoir. She must realize that she has a double disadvantage against the Xatu. I nod.
"Blaziken! Use Blaze Kick on the Claydol!" May calls out, pointing at the doll-like Pokémon for effect. Blaziken roars, and then starts sprinting full force towards it.
"Gardevoir, use calm mind." I call, and then immediately feel a little stupid. Why don't I just tell her mentally? There's no rule against that. My plan is to power her up first, and also protect against the other Pokémon's special attacks, which are likely seeing as this is a psychic gym with psychic-type Pokémon. She obeys immediately and closes her eyes to focus just as Blaziken's foot connects with the Claydol, making it stagger backward. It's a good hit. Blaziken stands with his foot in the air, in something like a karate battle stance, then flips backward away from the two opposing Pokémon to brace for their attack. Liza and Tate don't speak at all, their eyes follow the battle and seem to be focusing on either Gardevoir or Blaziken as they mentally give orders to their Pokémon. The Xatu flaps its wings and starts flying in a circle around the arena at a moderate altitude, getting away from the other Pokémon. It looks to be preparing an attack. It's eyes still have that same sort of distracted look, but it doesn't seem to have difficulty flying. The Claydol's eyes start to glow menacingly, and a blue aura surrounds Blaziken. It must be using the move psychic. I've seen that enough times to know. Blaziken starts to float in the air, crying out its name in distress. He suddenly shoots into the air and then slams back down to the ground. It's a powerful blow, and he rolls over, on his hands and knees on the ground.
"Oh no! Blaziken!" May calls out, with true concern in her voice. "You can do it! Get back up and use another blaze kick on that Claydol!" She encourages him, and he is able to stand back up.
"Seth, I need some support here, help me take out the Claydol while the Xatu is distracted." I can hear May in my head. I nod at her, acknowledging her suggestion. Gardevoir should be a decent amount more powerful now.
"Gardevoir, use Psychic on Claydol, let's help Blaziken." I tell her, feeling her acknowledgment. Her eyes glow a gorgeous blue and mixed with the natural red of her eyes it looks incredible. The Claydol may be resistant to such attacks, but Gardevoir's special attack power is boosted thanks to her powering up. The Claydol flies around the room and slams into the ground, kicking up some dust from the floor of the arena. Blaziken follows Gardevoir's attack, landing a flaming, flying kick that hits with all of his weight. The Claydol is hit before it can recover and gets knocked out of the arena and into the wall, creating a large dent. It slumps to the ground, it's levitation failing.
"Claydol is unable to battle! The gym leaders will now send out another Pokémon!" The referee calls. Tate points his Pokéball at his Claydol and it gets absorbed in that red light. His expression is calm, and he doesn't seem all that surprised that his Pokémon got knocked out. He wordlessly pulls out another Pokéball and throws it onto the field. The ball explodes in a bright white light and leaves behind another floating Pokémon. This one has a rounded body with many spiky protrusions around the circumference of it's body. It makes it look almost like an ancient depiction of how the sun looks. It looks like it's body is carved from stone, and two stony slits in its face hide two glowing red orbs that form its eyes.
"Round 2: Gardevoir and Blaziken versus Xatu and Solrock! Begin!" The referee announces, giving me a name for the new Pokémon. Solrock. I guess it looking like the sun is accurate. Liza immediately makes a triumphant pose, but her mouth stays silent. The flying Xatu suddenly snaps to attention in the air, and stops to hover over their side of the arena. It spreads its wings in the air and lets out a shrill cry, and then a red-purple aura spreads over Blaziken and instantly throws him backwards at a high speed. Such power! Was Xatu preparing an attack all that time? Blaziken crashes against the wall, and faints trying to get back up.
"No! My Blaziken!" May calls out, her voice a little shaky. I know all too well how much it hurts to see your best Pokémon in pain. She takes her ball back out and hastily returns Blaziken, wanting to spare him any further pain. She holds the ball in her hands and looks down at it, tears starting to form in her eyes, but not yet falling.
"It's alright, May. He did his best, and we can get him fixed up afterward." I tell her, trying to console her. She looks up at me, and brushes away a tear that is threatening to fall.
"I know... but what do I do now? I should've trained my Pokémon more." She sounds defeated already. Neither of us were expecting it to be over for Blaziken this quickly. We may have underestimated Liza and Tate's power. I don't know what else to say. I don't want to see her this way. She trains her Pokémon well, she shouldn't be ashamed of herself.
I look around the arena, and Liza, Tate, and the referee are looking at us expectantly. What can May do? Her Swellow isn't all that great at fighting, and this new Solrock Pokémon definitely seems to be a rock type, which wouldn't be very good for it. Her Plusle is more of a cheerleader than a fighter, and her Gloom might do well against the Solrock, but its psychic-type weakness would be a challenge to get around. Then I remember what I was thinking about before, about her Seaking.
"May, send out your Seaking into the koi pond!" I exclaim, excited by my revelation. It'll be right in the center of the battlefield, it will have the water it needs, and it will be great for fighting the Solrock. May's eyes brighten at my words, and her tears disappear.
"You think that would work?" She asks, her voice sounding much better.
"I'm sure it will!" I say, giving her one of her own dorky thumbs up. She giggles a little at me, and then secures Blaziken's ball back to her belt and then tosses Seaking's ball into the skinny decorative water trench around the arena. Seaking emerges, and is obviously a little thrown off by the size of the koi pond, but it fits, and it can fight.
"Round 3: Gardevoir and Seaking versus Xatu and Solrock!" The referee calls, eyeing Seaking warily. I guess this isn't that normal of an occurrence for him.
"Alright Gardevoir, let's hit that Xatu with a thunder wave." I command mentally, and she nods. Using her psychic energy, she whips up a ball of static electricity and launches it at the Xatu. It homes in on its target and connects, making the bird freeze up in the air and start falling toward the floor of the arena, fighting to stay in the air. "Ok, May, have your Seaking jump out of the water and hit Xatu with a horn drill. I have a plan."
"But Seth, if we do that then he'll be out of the water." She replies, her eyes locked on the battle.
"Just trust me. It'll work." I reassure her. She yells out her command, and Seaking jumps, its horn poised to attack the still falling bird.
"Xatu, dodge it!" Liza suddenly calls, stretching out her hand. It must've been quicker to call out verbally, or maybe just more dramatic. Xatu flinches in the air. It sees Seaking flying towards it, and tries to flap its wings to get away but its muscles aren't working from the paralyzation and it falters. Seaking starts rotating in the air, like a drill, and connects with the falling Xatu with an immense amount of force, driving its sharp horn into Xatu and sending it flying. In a manner similar to the previous two knockouts, Xatu crashes into the wall and slides down it, unable to move. Just like that we've taken the upper hand of the match again. Seaking, having jumped out of the water to attack, lands with a plop on the arena floor, and starts flailing around in search of water. I quickly call out to Gardevoir mentally.
"Quick, Gardevoir, use your psychic attack to gently put Seaking back into the water!" She listens immediately, lifting Seaking with a gentle blue aura and depositing him into the water. He swims around, removing the dust from the arena, grateful. May jumps up in a triumph, now realizing what my plan was. She grabs my arm and bounces me, jumping up and down in a little happy dance and I find myself smiling back at her.
"Xatu is unable to battle! The gym leaders are down to their final two Pokémon!" The referee calls, waving his flags wildly. Liza calls back her Pokémon, visibly distraught by Xatu's loss.
"That was great! We make an awesome team!" May beams, her earlier tears completely forgotten. I chuckle at her words, rubbing the back of my head.
"Well, it's not over yet." I say, a little embarrassed. She balls her hands up in fists and strikes an adorable, determined pose and nods fiercely at me.
Liza produces another Pokéball and throws it onto the field. Another floating rock bodied Pokémon emerges, this one is in the shape of a crescent moon. It's red eyes are on either side of its body, with a black pupil in each in the shape of a thin ellipse. It really looks like the moon, as its body is covered in small, shallow craters on its rocky surface.
"Round 4: Gardevoir and Seaking versus Lunatone and Solrock!" The referee calls out, announcing the start of another round.
Liza and Tate don't hesitate, and give their Pokémon mental commands and spur them into action. These must be their best Pokémon, and as such they must have a much better understanding of their minds and how to battle with them. We're in for a tough fight now.
Solrock starts to glow with an intense heat, and the light coming off of it is blinding. The heat and light seem to separate from its body and form into a sphere of light, and then it floats to the top of the arena, brightening everything around us in the gym. It's using Sunny day. It's a weather type attack that creates an artificial, localized sun that boosts the power of fire type moves and lowers the effectiveness of water type moves. Lunatone shifts into gear at the same time as Solrock and closes its eyes and starts to focus, making its own body start to glow with light that reminds me of a full moon in the middle of the night. It seems to be powering up, and looks like it can take more hits. It must have used cosmic power.
"Gardevoir, I'm going to switch you out now." I tell her mentally, earning a feeling of shock and disappointment from her. She wants to keep battling.
"Why? Didn't I do a good job?" She asks me, her voice hurt. I instantly feel bad. I never wanted to hurt her feelings, but I don't think I can handle this anymore. We're doing well, but I need to switch her out in case this takes a turn for the worst. I have another Pokémon capable of fighting these psychic types.
"You did a great job. It's just that they are both powering up their Pokémon, and I think it would be better to go for a super-effective hit with Duskull. I'll still have you to back him up. Plus, he needs a little more training." I tell her, trying to make her feel the pride I have for her, and trying to hide the anxiety I feel. She should know that she's my most powerful Pokémon, and that I have to train my others as well if I'm going to have a balanced team. Briefly during the battle, I considered sending out Regirock, but I still don't think it would listen to me. I can't rely on it when I don't know how it will act, especially since time is of the essence and we need to beat these gym leaders as quickly as possible so that we can put a stop to Sammy's plan. Gardevoir understands my meaning, but is still disappointed. She frowns at me and starts to float back towards me. I realize I should say something so that they know I'm switching her out.
"Uh, Gardevoir, come back!" I call, awkwardly. She already knows she's coming back but I have to say it for them. The referee puts up a flag, signaling a substitution. Gardevoir makes it back to my side, still disappointed, and I pull Duskull's Pokéball from my belt.
"Go on, Duskull, let's get in some training!" I call, throwing the ball onto the field. I glance at Liza and Tate and their indifferent faces somehow make me feel like I should've chosen my words a little differently. This is a serious match, and to them at least, this isn't really the time to get training in. They're used to people training to beat them, I'm sure. Duskull comes out of the ball in a flash of light, and he instantly shields his eye from the sun with a ghostly arm. Hopefully the light won't hinder his abilities, after all it's not like it's the real sun shining down on the arena.
"One of the challengers has made a substitution! Round 5: Duskull and Seaking versus Lunatone and Solrock!" The referee calls out the new formation.
"Alright May, let's go for a combo attack like before. I'll have Duskull use astonish on the Solrock and then you hit it with a water move." I suggest to May quickly. I don't wait for her answer, we have to attack quickly or we'll lose our turn.
"Duskull, use astonish on the Solrock!" I call out, pointing. Hopefully me calling out what to do won't make his attack ineffective. It is a move based off of how well Duskull can surprise his opponent, after all.
Duskull moves into action, floating toward the Solrock slowly, but with purpose. He sways in the air, his levitation seemingly unstable. He falls to the ground, supporting his body on his hands like he's injured. Then he falls down all the way, lying his head on the ground. I can only imagine what Tate must be telling his Solrock with their telepathy, or what they're both thinking. Duskull fades to invisibility in front of the Solrock, looking like a spirit that has passed on, and the Solrock looks around, confused. Duskull reappears after a second behind it, and taps the left side of its body and then moves to the right side, sliding around behind it so it can't find it. Duskull moves around to the front of Solrock and waits for it to turn back around and then makes a horrifying face and screeches with enough sound to reverberate around the gym and make a lasting echo. The Solrock floats back in surprise, its rocky eyes wide with fear. May's attack call rings out as she commands her Seaking to use a water pulse, and as the attack comes flying through the air at Duskull and Solrock both, Duskull disappears again, humor in his eye at his effective prank. He narrowly avoids the rings of water hurdling through the air. The water-type attack hits Solrock off-guard and does serious damage. Duskull reappears on our side of the battlefield, in front of me. I throw my hand up in our small victory. A water type move like that will still do a decent chunk of damage even if the false sunlight is making them less effective.
Liza puts her hands behind her back and raises her chin in a snobby-looking sort of way. I'm sure she reprimanding Tate for not seeing that coming. Tate looks a little forlorn, but for the most part still indifferent as I'm sure he's trying to comfort his Solrock telepathically. Liza looks back to the battlefield and then throws her hand up in a silent call for attack. Her Lunatone's eyes glow, and then May's Seaking starts to emit a blue aura. Oh no, she's not planning on pulling a fish out of the water is she? That's just cruel. Sure enough, the attack lifts Seaking out of the water and slams him into the ground in the middle of the arena, making him flop around. It doesn't seem to do that much damage to Seaking, but the real issue is that he's not in the water anymore. I start to think of ways that Duskull can help Seaking get back into the water when May's voice in my head interrupts my thoughts.
"Cover me, Seth. I've got this." May calls to me mentally. I look over at her and her eyes are determined. It's like something awakened inside her and she's not going to let her Pokémon lose.
"Seaking! It's OK! Just calm down, and shoot a water gun at the ground beneath you, and fly up into the air!" May calls out her plan, comforting her Seaking enough to allow it to listen to her command.
"Duskull! Cover Seaking by using confuse ray on the Solrock!" I call out. Hopefully, Tate's Solrock will be confused enough not to attack, or even better, to attack Lunatone. May's Seaking shoots up into the air at the same time that Duskull releases his attack at the Solrock. The Solrock gets hit by the strange ray of light emitted from Duskull's eye and its own eyes become unfocused. The Solrock floats around unsteadily, its levitation suddenly almost too much to be able to focus on. I can tell that Tate was already in the middle of calling out an attack, and its too late to take it back. The Solrock focuses a ball of heat in front of it and an eruption of flame shoots out, heading directly towards Liza's Lunatone. The flames engulf the moon-like Pokémon, and because of the boost to fire-type moves from the artificial sun, causes a decent amount of damage despite it being a rock-type, and the Lunatone makes a strangled sound that could be like some sort of instrument being played deep in a cave where the sound bounces around all the walls and becomes distorted.
Seaking, using the distraction to its advantage, releases another torrent of water towards the Solrock that helps to push it through the air towards the water in the arena. The blast of water connects with the Solrock, doing more damage and making it stagger. It's almost out of commission. Seaking splashes back down in the narrow trench, it's aim perfect. It lands near the back of the arena, and then swims quickly towards the center to get back in the action.
"Oh no! Lunatone! Tate, what the heck!?" Liza yells, her voice changing from concern to anger quicker than I thought possible. Tate flinches, feeling the harshness of her words, but then quickly recoils.
"Don't yell at me, Liza, it's not my fault!" He retorts, anger rising uncharacteristically in his normally cool and collected voice. I start to wonder just how much we're getting to them. They seem like, most of the time, they have a perfect sibling bond. They're supposed to be professional gym leaders, but I suppose that they are just children after all.
Not wanting to squander an opportunity, I call out another attack to Duskull. Tate's Solrock is still confused and its will to battle is fading quickly. I can finish it off if I can land an attack, I'm sure of it.
"Duskull, quickly, use night shade on the Solrock and finish it off!" I command, my hand emphasizing my words. Duskull nods and obeys immediately. His eye glows an eerie red, and he raises his ghostly arms. A black and purple miasma starts forming above the Solrock, and when Duskull brings his hands down, the swirling vortex descends upon the Solrock and engulfs it. Sounds of anguish can be heard behind the swirling purple haze as Duskull's attack hits Solrock while its trainer is distracted. It does major damage and when it finally dissipates, Solrock is on the ground, defeated.
"Solrock is unable to battle!" The referee calls out, waving his flags. "The gym leaders are down to their final Pokémon! The rest of the battle will now be two on one!"
Tate looks absolutely distraught as he calls back his Pokémon. I can only imagine the kind of mental beating Liza is giving him that we can't hear. He holds his Pokéball close to his chest and sighs, his emotions getting the better of him for only a second before he straightens back up and regains his cool.
"Round 6: Duskull and Seaking versus Lunatone!" The referee initiates the next round after Solrock is returned. Liza looks annoyed, but still determined and confident. She must think that she can handle the two of us. We definitely have the upper hand here with our current Pokémon. Hopefully, I won't have to resort to using Gardevoir for the rest of the match.
I look at May, and she returns my look with a confident expression.
"We can do this, Seth." She tells me, Gardevoir's psychic link still connecting our minds, making a fist. I smirk, and nod in response. "Do you have any more ideas for combo moves?"
"Not really..." I think about her question for a second, trying to come up with something, but nothing comes to me. "Let's just try attacking together, full force." May nods. We turn back to the battle to see Liza striking a battle pose, and pointing her finger towards us.
Lunatone's eyes start to glow, and then pure white, luminescent diamonds start forming around it, growing larger by the second. This doesn't look good.
"Duskull! Shield your eyes!" I call, throwing my arm up to block the light. Duskull copies me, floating away from the Lunatone. The glowing white diamonds all shoot out away from Lunatone at that moment, leaving streaks of light in their path as they shoot towards Duskull. Several of the beams pierce through his transparent body, leaving gaping holes. He slumps to the ground, his levitation failing as he takes the hits. The holes seem to close up and heal as the light passes through, but they're hurting him, I can tell. The light finally fades, the streaks through the air dissipating soon after. Duskull is able to recover, having taken moderate damage. He resumes floating, but he looks close to fainting. I don't think he can take another hit like that. We've got to end this.
"Seaking! Use water pulse on Lunatone!" May calls, not missing the chance to attack. Seaking, from the shallow koi pond in the middle of the arena, gathers its energy and releases another aquatic ring towards Liza's Pokémon. Lunatone is suffering from Solrock's boosted flamethrower still, and I know that this will be the deciding turn.
"Duskull! Follow up with Night Shade!" I call.
Liza throws her arm out again before Duskull manages to gather its energy and before Seaking's water attack hits it. Lunatone suddenly disappears, teleporting away from the attack to dodge. I'm reminded of when I used that tactic with Gardevoir. Lunatone reappears in front of Duskull, startling him and causing him to lose the energy he was gathering.
"Stone edge." I hear Liza say, smirking. Lunatone reels back, and then drives it's pointed body forward with what seems like a tremendous amount of force.
"Duskull!" I call, but it's too late. Duskull tries to move backward, but Lunatone's pointed rock body collides with his skull face. Duskull manages to redirect some of Lunatone's momentum by flipping backward through the air. Lunatone follows through with it's attack, flipping forward with him. Duskull rotates fully around, and suddenly he's on top. I can see his skull face is cracked where the point of Lunatone's attack struck him. His face contorts with anger, and using the new angle he winds his fist back in the air, ready to deliver a devastating blow. He is suddenly filled with a raging white light, almost as luminescent as Lunatone's earlier attack, and his form changes, growing larger and growing huge, powerful fists on the end of his ghostly arms. He's evolved into Dusclops, and with his newfound power, he lands his shadow punch, striking Lunatone directly in it's rock-like face. Lunatone is sent sailing towards the ground, and is firmly embedded in the arena by the force of the impact, completely knocked out.
Dusclops did it!
"Lunatone is unable to battle! The challengers win!" The referee calls, waving his flags wildly around him. Liza is standing across the arena, her mouth hanging open, frozen in pure shock. She eventually recovers and recalls Lunatone in a red light, sucking it into its Pokéball.
"Yay! We did it, Seth!" May calls, grabbing my shoulders and jumping up and down, excited. I laugh, calm compared to her, and then make my way out onto the arena to greet my newly evolved Pokémon. Dusclops smiles at me as I approach, floating down to the ground and standing on it with his now solid feet. His eye is larger, and now attached to a physical body. He stands at about the same height as Gardevoir, and so he has to look up at me. His hands are huge, disproportionately so compared to his body. He looks powerful.
"Thank you, Dusclops." I say sincerely. Not only did he win this match for me, but he also made it so that Gardevoir didn't have to fight anymore. Of course, I care about the well being of all my Pokémon, but Gardevoir has already been seriously injured before, and I could feel the pain and emotional turmoil she felt as she was hurt. It's not something that I want to experience ever again, and I certainly don't want her to get hurt because I wanted to get revenge on some asshole. I shake Dusclops' hand, his grip swallowing my entire hand in his somewhat cold, and strangely smooth and soft one. Liza and Tate start to make their way over to May and I just as I'm returning Dusclops to his ball. May has already recalled her Seaking, after thanking him for doing such an awesome job.
"You two..." Liza starts.
"Were more powerful than we thought." Tate finishes.
"Thank you! That was a great battle!" May exclaims, her grin is infectious.
"It is our pleasure to present you both..." Liza says.
"With the Mind Badge." Tate says after. Liza holds out a pink, heart shaped badge to me, while Tate holds the same badge out to May. We both take them, then turn to each other and nod. May hugs me.
"Thank you for your help, Seth." She says, her voice sincere. She speaks it into my neck, and a strange shiver zips down my spine as I feel her lips move.
"Thank you, May." I respond, rubbing her back. She lets off of me, looking back to Liza and Tate. They both bow to us, in the traditional Japanese style, and then start to turn around to, presumably, resume meditating in the middle of the arena.
"Wait." I call, and they stop and turn to face me like they knew I would call to them. "How can you two have such developed psychic abilities? Were you born that way, or can anyone do it with enough training?" I have to ask. They had already stated that they had trained for many years to perfect what they do, but I have to know if it's because they have a predisposition for this kind of thing.
"Don't worry, Seth." Liza says first.
"Your mental abilities will continue to progress." Tate says second.
"Keep training, and your Gardevoir will show you how." Liza has the final word this time, and her eyes look pointedly into mine as she finishes. They both turn back around again and walk hand in hand to the center of the arena. It looks like that's all I'll get from them, and it is certainly enough to make me think.
May, Gardevoir and I head out of the gym to recover at the Pokécenter.
AN: Sorry this one was a day late! I've been busy with college stuff, like I thought I would be. I'm still going on this story though, and I'm committed to it.
Hopefully, the whole evolving during the battle thing hasn't gotten old. I feel like it's more realistic that a Pokemon would evolve during the battle rather than afterward anyway. Please let me know what you thought and review!