Chapter 67 - Kaiseki
It had been a week since Logan's battle with Midori, which meant that they had been training intensely on Route 23 since. Their next destination was Seshiru's final Battle Frontier challenge, which was located somewhere within Victory Road.
"I spent a lot of time around here," Seshiru muttered. She wiped sweat from her brow. The three had been doing physical training all morning, and she was desperate for a shower.
But Victory Road had seemingly changed over the years. The wild Pokemon were still as strong as Seshiru remembered, but the government had paved a way for trainers and people who wanted to get through safely. There were many trainers who went off of the path to battle with Pokemon, but if the three wanted to get to the Indigo Plateau without any troubles, it'd only take them a day. There were many Pokemon Centers on the path, but with the conference coming up, they were packed with other trainers.
"Jindai said that he'd be around here, right?" Yurie asked. "It's great to think that you're only a day or two away from your last battle."
Seshiru nodded. "Last battle? That's weird to think about. I guess my second journey through Kanto is coming to its end. Kind of a shame."
The three looked at one another. They had been enjoying the journey up to this point, even if there were one or two life or death situations, and the thought that it'd all be over in a couple of weeks was upsetting.
Yurie reached out and grabbed Logan's hand. "Are you still dead set on going back to Unova after the conference?"
Logan's grip became a little bit stronger after she asked the question. He felt obligated to his other Pokemon, and he knew that he'd be a great assistant for his aunt. Before he confessed his feelings to Yurie, he already had felt a terrible pit in his stomach. He knew that parting from her wouldn't be easy. But now that they were a couple, and now that they were holding hands, everything seemed different. He needed to focus on the upcoming battles and make sure that his Pokemon were in great shape, but his brain was firing off in hundreds of different directions.
"There are three ways that I could go," Logan said. "If I win, then I have to stay behind for a couple of months so that I can challenge the Elite Four. If I beat the four of them, then I get the chance to challenge the champion."
"And that's the ideal way," Seshiru said. "As hard as I am on you, I think that if anyone stands a chance at going all the way, it's you. You have the heart of a samurai, Mr. Stephenson."
Logan smiled. "Thanks. But, there are still two more paths. One of them is that I lose, and I continue to travel. Maybe I could go to Sinnoh with Yurie. I'd support you, but I don't see myself battling anymore. It's kind of embarrassing to be a fourteen year old who is still traveling and trying to win leagues. Most trainers move on by that point to start focusing more on school or their future careers."
"I'd still appreciate the support though!" Yurie said with a smile on her face. Deep down, she knew that it wouldn't be the best path for Logan though. If he was relegated to cheerleader, then he wouldn't be making anymore progress towards his future. It'd just be a prolonged break.
"And my last path, which is the one that I'm thinking is the most likely, is that I lose, and I go back to Unova. I'll help out my Aunt Juni. I'm interested in Pokemon breeding, because there's a lot of cool things that you can do with newborn Pokemon and moves. I think because of my experience with interesting move combinations, there's a lot that I could do," he explained. "What I want to do for the rest of my life, I'm not entirely sure. But, I think that it's something I can start working on sooner than later."
Yurie looked down, but she made sure to not let go of Logan's hand. "Whatever it is that happens, I'll always support you!"
"Yurie!" a familiar voice screeched from afar. The three looked down the path, finding a girl running their way. She wore a brown sweater that was knitted to be much larger than necessary, and her thick rimmed glasses bounced up and down with every bound.
"Reina?" she wondered as the girl came barreling forward. Reina leaped into a hug, ripping Yurie from Logan and bringing her to the ground. Seshiru and Logan were left to laugh as Yuta slowly made his way to the group.
"Reina saw you guys from a mile away," Yuta muttered. He glanced at Logan before wiping some dirt that Reina had kicked up off his green shirt. "Hey."
Reina stood up and dragged Yurie with her. "I'm so glad that you all made it out of Saffron safely! After we talked on the phone, I watched some of the news, and it looked really scary!"
Yuta nodded. "It seems as though Giovanni is going to prison. The others in the group are too young to be formerly charged, so it'll be a few years before they get officially locked up."
"That's a relief," Yurie said. "Where are you off to next, Reina?"
Reina grinned and then raised her arms as though she were flexing. "I'm off to Johto! There's a straight path through here that will take me to New Bark Town! I'm gonna spend a little bit of time at Professor Elm's lab to help him a bit."
Yurie gave her a thumb's up. "That sounds really exciting! You'll probably get to see a lot of cool Pokemon when you're there! You'll still be taking part in contests, right?"
Reina nodded. "Of course! And next season, I'm gonna win the whole thing! Eguchi Reina, top coordinator! Get ready to read about it in the news!"
Logan adjusted his black cap and focused on Yuta. "And Yuta! I assume that you've won your eight badge? I'm excited to battle you again in another conference!"
Reina then went completely silent, and she put her hand to her mouth. She looked at Yuta, unsure of what to say next. Yuta then grinned and shrugged.
"Actually, you won't be," Yuta said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't cut it. Five losses to Midori was enough to keep me from advancing. He heard about what I did in Celadon as far as helping people get to safety, and he offered me a gym badge, but if I can't beat him, then there's no way that I'm gonna manage to beat the trainers that did."
Logan crossed his arms. "I was really looking forward to facing off with you again. You seem like you've matured so much over the past two years. But, I guess it can't be helped."
Yuta waved his hand. "It's fine. As much as I love battling, I'm starting to believe that it's not entirely for me. I believed that the only thing that'd make me happy was winning the championship, but after this year, I've learned a lot about myself."
Yurie raised her eyebrows. "Like what?"
Yuta glanced at Reina and then grinned. "Well, I liked building connections with people. Yurie was always annoying at school, but I think that if I would have put in more of an effort, we could have made great friends. I wasn't too fond of Reina when we first met, but over the year, she's really helped me grow, I think."
Yurie was stunned. "Okay, so first you say that you respect me, and now you're saying that you think we could be friends?"
"Don't get too excited," Yuta muttered. "It's only if I'm willing to put in the effort."
Yurie huffed.
Logan decided to push past it. He wasn't positive if Yuta was being serious or just trying to get under her skin. "So, what are your plans?"
"I'll go with Reina to Johto, we'll say our goodbyes, and then I'm heading back home," he said. "As much as this pains me to say, but Neo Rocket kind of inspired me."
"Huh?"
"Well, from the stories, it seems as though they originally came from not getting Pokemon from Professor Oak. I'm sure that there are hundreds of kids every year that can't afford or don't have the opportunity to get their own Pokemon. I'd like to make sure that that doesn't happen as much anymore. I'll work with Professor Birch to set up a system. Had it not been for Birch taking care of me after my father's death, there's a good chance that I wouldn't have received my Treecko. So, as evil as Neo Rocket is, I can at least empathize with the root of the problem."
Yurie sighed and then smiled. "You've grown so much. I can almost respect you now."
"Shut up," Yuta snapped back with a sly grin. "But yeah. I guess you can say that I've grown a bit."
"I think you'll be doing good for future trainers," Logan said. "But don't stop training your own Pokemon! Someday, I'd like another battle! There are many ways to the top, and I have faith that you'll become the Hoenn Champion like you wanted to."
Yuta lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I haven't given up on that either. But maybe this will give me some perspective. I'll be the champion of Hoenn. I promise."
Reina started to shake, and she pulled off her glasses before bursting into tears, as she was known to do. "Does this mean this is the last time that we'll all be together?!"
Yurie reluctantly pulled Reina into a hug before patting her head. Reina's tears started to get Yurie's shirt wet. "It looks like it's that way, Reina-chan."
"In that case, we should get something good to eat," Yuta said. "There's some Kaiseki at one of the Pokemon Centers around here. I think it'd make a solid last meal for our little group."
"It's perfect!" Yurie explained before turning to Logan. "It's a traditional meal in the East!"
Logan was fixated on Yuta, saddened by his rival's shortcomings. He had envisioned himself battling against Yuta once more, and if there was anyone that he was rooting for deep down, it was the boy from Hoenn. Logan managed a smile before nodding. "Alright. Let's eat."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I think this chapter was important because I wanted to show that not all of Logan's rivals made it to the Indigo League. Yuta was always a small threat to Logan, but he wasn't enough to beat Midori. I think this means that the trainers that Logan ends up meeting in the Indigo Conference are all going to be really challenging. Also, this was goodbye to Reina. I loved writing for her character, but it looks like she and Yurie are going separate ways.
Next chapter is Seshiru's final chance at Jindai. Any bold predictions?
REVIEWS:
pokemonking0924 - "This was their most epic battle yet and Logan battled with both guts and brains. I especially liked him using that dragon type z move to win and that he has the x mega stone to mega evolve Charizard. But I do wonder what that gold bar truly means and does it come with any perks during the league like a special suite reserved for those with this awarded to them. Looking forward to seeing the league tournament but first Seshiru has a rematch against the pyramid king." - The gold bar has a small part to play, which we'll see in a bit.
wisdom-jewel - "This isn't surprising for Logan wanting to re battle Midori. He wanted to battle since he wanted to feel like he earned it. Though seeing what he did, it would not be cheating or making the whole earning the badge cheap if he did accept the badge. Midori saw that Logan was a trainer with integrity and skill. I can see many if not most gym leaders see that as a plus and something worthy of a badge. Loving and treating the Pokemon as equals and friends would another that gym leaders would look for. Though I'm glad Logan won but now he has to finish climbing the mountain as it were before he could win." - Also, imagine how anti-climatic it would be if Logan just took the badge without a fight.
The Imprisoned of Hell - "So Logan has finally won his last badge. But even still, he has many more challenges ahead of him," - Roughly ten more battles to go! (It's so much to write...)
CrescentApple - "I did not expect a Dual wing beat or Z move from charizard. Well done. Now I'm excited to see Charizard in his mega form! I'm glad Poliwhirl got a chance to battle and scrape a win. I'm loving this guy! Midori is a good sport." - I wanted to mix things up, so that's why we got the Z Move nad Dual Wingbeat. Logan's Charizard is a mixed attacker, so I think it works.
