Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any other property in this work that I didn't make myself.
Bea and the autistic gym challenger
Chapter thirty-one: A settled end
"Skorupi, I choose you!"
"Hawlucha, I choose you!"
Both of our respective first Pokemon, Skorupi for Klara and Hawlucha for me, came out onto the pitch, standing opposite from one another. Given that my choice of using fighting Pokemon, a choice I make even though I've since left both being a gym leader and the path of Galar karate, puts me at a disadvantage here as Klara's choice of using poison Pokemon lets her resist my efforts to an extent, I have to be smart when facing her.
Luckily, two of her poison Pokemon are part bug type, and my Pokemon, in addition to keeping in top form, have some new tricks to make them more diverse in their ability to battle. I aimed forward with my right index finger. "Hawlucha, use Aerial Ace!"
"Skorupi, use Poison Fang!" Klara called out.
The two Pokemon rushed forward, with Hawlucha gliding in quickly. A quick slashing strike from the talons on his right hand slams with true aim into Skorupi, pushing it back right after it had barely been able to bite down onto Hawlucha with its Poison Fang attack. Luckily, it didn't succeed in inflicting any manner of poisoning. Klara and I issued the same orders again, only this time Hawlucha knocked Skorupi out before taking a hit.
Commissioner Tobias raised a hand as he called out, "Skorupi is unable to battle! The winner is Hawlucha!"
Klara recalled her fainted Skorupi, sent out her next Pokemon which was her Galarian Wearing. Smart move; a dual poison fairy type will have a massive advantage here against my Pokemon. Klara had a gleam in her eye suggesting I would switch my Hawlucha out, but to her surprise I kept him in. Like I said, I had my Pokemon learn all sorts of tricks to help me keep up with any kind of opponent, something I should have done back when I was still a gym leader.
Oh well, at least my Pokemon all have more diverse move pools now. "Hawlucha, use Iron Head!"
"Weezing, use Clear Smog!" Klara called out.
Weezing belched its attack at Hawlucha, who flew right into it with its head leading the way, shining like a polished metal ball. He went on to slam the bigger face of Weezing right in the face, making it fall back as it cried out in pain. I ordered another use of Iron Head while Klara tried to have Weezing use Clear Smog again, but Hawlucha was able to hit first and knock out its opponent.
"Weezing is unable to battle!" Tobias called out, "The winner is Hawlucha!"
Klara recalled her second Pokemon to go down. I haven't lost any of my Pokemon yet, but my Hawlucha did seem a bit winded; it did take damage from Skorupi, as well as from Weezing as it flew through a Clear Smog. Wanting to play things safe, I also recalled Hawlucha. When Klara sent her Whirlipede out, I sent out Machamp.
"Whirlipede, use Poison Tail!" Klara ordered.
"Machamp, use Stone Edge!" I commanded.
As Whirlipede rolled up to strike Machamp, my Pokemon threw its attack, a small stream of pointed rocks with the points all aimed at Whirlipede. Thanks to Machamp's No Guard ability (I used an Ability Capsule given to me as a gift from Nina; she said she got it on the Isle of Armor), Stone Edge did not miss its mark, slamming right into Whirlipede and knocking it back with such force that it was defeated right there and then.
Tobias raised his hand to make the call. "Whirlipede is unable to battle! The winner is Machamp!"
Klara recalled Whirlipede, tossed up the pokeball that held her last Pokemon. "Slowbro, I choose you!"
Knowing that Machamp, who is pure fighting, would be in trouble against a dual poison psychic Pokemon like Galarian Slowbro, I switched my Pokemon out. "Pangoro, I choose you!" I sent out my Pangoro, the only Pokemon I kept that wasn't in my championship tournament party. I had since gotten him up to the same level as the championship tournament party Pokemon that I had kept, and I had him learn all manner of moves to make his move pool diverse.
Even so, his partial dark typing should help here against the partial psychic typing of Slowbro, forcing Klara to rely on attacks outside what normally is smart against my fighting Pokemon. Klara smirked as she called Slowbro to its ball while using her Dynamax Band with it. In a move similar to that, I did the same with Pangoro. By the time all was said and done, both Slowbro and Pangoro had dynamaxed.
"Slowbro, use Max Ooze!" Klara called out.
"Pangoro, use Max Darkness!" I ordered.
Both titanic Pokemon threw their attacks at one another, but my Pangoro took the Max Ooze a hell of a lot better than Slowbro took the Max Darkness. Both Pokemon were able to continue, so we both called for another round of max moves, using the same as before. However, this time Pangoro had struck Slowbro hard enough to defeat it, causing power and energy to blow up all around Slowbro; then the dust settled, Slowbro was laying defeated on the pitch.
Tobias raised a hand as my Pangoro's dynamax became undone, made the call that had to be made. "Slowbro is unable to battle! The winner is Pangoro! Victory of this battle goes to Shuna!" Huh, weird; my first big win since I had first saw Nina that day back in Spikemuth, and I won it under a different name and a look that's totally different from how I used to outfit myself. Since the battle testing was over now, those who were examining Klara now had to deliberate on if they think Klara can move on up from the minors to the majors, as winning isn't necessarily a requirement in the testing.
...
"Congratulations Klara, you have shown that you have what it takes to stand in the majors, so we hereby promote you to the majors of the Galar Pokemon League," Hakurou said, prompting Klara to jump up and down in celebration.
Nodding in agreement, Tobias said, "Yes. The fact that you used a party geared mainly to a gym challenge level, yet still was able to keep up to some extent with both Marnie and Shuna who both have parties geared towards a championship tournament level, shows a considerable level of competence as a gym leader on your part. You truly are gym leader material for the majors." With an amused smirk, Tobias added, "Although since Champion Nina had suggested you, it's no surprise you showed you can tussle with the best of them."
"Congratulations on passing, Klara," Nina said, "I'm looking forward to seeing how you do in your first gym challenge as a gym leader in the majors." As Klara thanked the commissioners as well as Nina, we all cheered for Klara's promotion. We kept the cheering subdued a bit since Nina at one point almost looked like she was freaking out, but we were still able to celebrate Galar's newest gym leader in the majors.
I wonder what her first gym challenge as a gym leader in the majors will be like.
That evening, I was relaxing at home, watching the telly as it broadcasted the news. It was, to a lack of surprise on my part due to how the story was connected to the Galar Pokemon League, playing a news report on how Klara had gone up to the majors and would be showing off what she can do in the next gym challenge. She has an advantage against multiple other gym leaders in the majors, so depending on the brackets in the Champion Cup, she may go rather far, maybe even win a chunk of battles.
The news went to a commercial break, and as the commercials started playing, I allowed my mind to wander. I still can't believe that so much had changed in my life, and in so little time; this time last year, things were normal not just in my life but in all of Galar. Leon was the top trainer in the region, my mom was still tyrannically running my life, and hardly anyone outside of a few non residents of Spikemuth even knew Nina existed.
...But now? Two gym leaders from this time last year had stepped down and have been replaced, my mom and some of her likeminded fellows were arrested and will be locked away for years on end, and Nina is undoubtedly the most popular girl in Galar. There's still a bit of turmoil going about, what with a longtime champion having lost his title and the girl who beat him taking his place, and there's also how Galar is still trying to heal from what damage my mom and her group had tried to inflict.
As a commercial for an action figure pack featuring Nina and her Cinderace (they already got up to action figures, huh?) began to play on the telly, I looked down at my lap. I felt overwhelmed by all that has happened in so short a time. I even began to tear up a bit, sniffling a little. As I was being vulnerable, Allister came walking over. He saw that I was sad, and immediately he went about trying to inquire about how I'm feeling.
"Are you sad, Bea?" Allister asked in a concerned tone, "Why are you crying?"
I willed myself to calm down a bit. "...It's just that I've been through a lot as of late, Allister. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed is all."
To my surprise, Allister climbed up onto the sofa, sat on his shins next to me, and gently put his arms around me to give me a hug. "...Dad says there is no shame in crying if you're not feeling well," Allister said, "So you don't need to feel like someone might slap you and shout at you to be quiet if you're crying."
"What?!" I replied, sounding shocked. It turns out that, whenever dad wasn't around, mom would have physically abused Allister whenever he got upset and cried, as she wanted him to be quiet and keep out of everyone's attention. Dad discovered this and a bit of digging into Allister's past was done to see just how much domestic abuse he suffered at mom's hands. What was found had added at least a decade to mom's sentence; not too much considering how long overall she would be locked away.
After I myself learned about mom having committed domestic abuse against Allister (it was bad enough when mom did it to me), I had a very strong urge to throttle mom. No use of even one Pokemon at all, just my hands around my mom's neck and my fists right into her face. Despite how I no longer practice Galar karate, I still know how to use it, and I would have made full use of what all I still know to make mom wish she had never laid a finger on even one hair on Allister's head.
Allister gave one more squeeze before he released me from the hug. He looked up at me, gave a cute and friendly smile. "I'm sure that you'll feel better really soon, Bea. You're my big sister, and my big sister is very strong." Despite how I had distanced myself from Allister as much as I had and for so long, he still thinks of me as one of the best persons ever. I have no idea at all what I had done to deserve such unconditional love from my little brother, but the fact that he shows it to me makes me feel compelled to work to actually deserve it.
Well, I've got a lot more free time now; maybe I can actually start to have a presence in the life of my little brother.
(Sunyshore City, Sinnoh)
A teen boy walked out of a coffee shop in a less busy area of the city presided over by Volkner, the leader of the gym in Sunyshore. This teen boy was just fourteen, but he had the mature, cool look of someone a few years older than him.
His skin was fair, he had long yellow blonde hair, and he wore a baggy red colored hockey jersey under a black men's tank top, a pair of black cargo shorts with red trim and threading (they were held up with a belt), white socks, and red shoes with black flame patterns on the side. As he had stepped out of the coffee shop, he took a sip from the to go cup he got. "...Mmm, they got the temperature on the hot chocolate just right," the young teen boy remarked aloud but to himself.
Feeling in the mood for some company on his stroll, the boy took a pokeball off of his belt, expanded it and tossed it up. "Alright, Chi-Chi, we're going for a nice stroll." An Infernape came out of the teen boy's pokeball he tossed up. She gave a mildly amused cry before proceeding to walk alongside her trainer. The young teen boy felt at peace, enjoying the very nice morning with his Infernape by his side.
...But the peace wasn't to last.
"Hey, look!" a random Sunyshore City citizen, a girl of less than ten, called out as she pointed right where the teen boy and his Infernape were walking, "It's Zack! He's the new champion of the Sinnoh Pokemon League!" All at once, people began swarming around the boy, revealed to be named Zack, and his Infernape, all clamoring for an autograph or to take a picture of the boy who is now the face of the Sinnoh.
...
Getting to a restaurant, Zack walked inside after recalling his Infernape to her pokeball. He walked up to the bar counter in the restaurant, sat down as a cook saw the customer. "Ah, well if it isn't Champion Zack," the chef said in an amused tone, "How has it been?"
"The attention is starting to be getting a little bit stifling, if I'm to be honest," Zack replied, "But then again I did just recently become the champion of Sinnoh. I'm sure the excitement will wear down after some time passes."
The cook nodded in excitement. "Yeah, it's not every day someone becomes a region's new champion." A wry look of amusement entered the cook's face. "...Although people living over in Galar are still excited over how their long time champion, that Leon fellow, lost both the most recent championship title match and his position as champion of Galar in the last yearly gym challenge in Galar."
Zack looked at the cook with a hint of mildly piqued interest in his expression. "...Leon of Galar is no longer the Galar champion." Shrugging, Zack asked, "Well who was it that beat him? Given that he had the greatest reputation of any long-time regional champion, the trainer who finally brought Leon's streak to an end must be pretty damn ace."
Giving an amused smirk, the cook replied, "Get this; Leon lost his title as champion of Galar to an eleven-year-old autistic girl."
"A special needs child living in Galar?" Zack questioned, "Not that seeing a special needs person achieve such a feet bothers me, but I was under the impression that the Galar region didn't permit its special needs citizens to participate in the yearly gym challenge, and that they're very strict in making sure those with special needs are kept out. Did she slip through somehow?"
"A gym leader in Galar argued for that girl to be allowed to enter," the cook explained, "She was able to prove herself, and she was granted special permissions to enter the gym challenge. She blew everyone paying attention out of the water with how awesome her Pokemon were." The cook gave an amused laugh. "...I guess that all the extra time she had while she wasn't allowed to enter allowed her to train her Pokemon to a ridiculous degree."
Zack nodded in agreement with the cook. "Well I'm glad to hear of that girl's accomplishment." A hint of concern entered the Sinnoh champion's face. "...I recently heard on the news that laws being argued for in Galarian parliament will basically take Pokemon away from the special needs citizens of the region should said laws pass. What will that mean for the new champion of the Galar region?"
"Oh, those laws have been pushed back, and are on the verge of being shot down entirely," the cook explained with a wave of his hand, "The special needs citizens of Galar will get to keep their Pokemon, and the girl who bested Leon will get to keep her newly earned position."
Giving off a relieved air, Zack said, "Well good, that's a relief. It would suck if Galar's newest champion was forced to step down simply because she has autism."
After a bit of talk, Zack ordered some breakfast; a Kalosian Toast meal with four slices, each sliced in half, and lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar. Syrup was lightly poured on by Zack after he was given a bottle by the cook. Zack also had a large glass of orange juice and a mug of coffee (cream and sugar were added). As the Sinnoh champion paid for his meal after he had finished eating, the cook said, "So champ, what's on the agenda today?"
"Some researchers studying the ruins over in Celestic Town asked me to come over," Zack began to explain, "They have reason to believe that Tsukune might resonate with someing in the ruins, allowing the researchers to uncover more secrets."
The cook offered an amused smile. "Ah yes. Those ruins." Looking to Zack, the cook said, "Those researchers really think that your legendary Pokemon will help them to uncover some sort of secret in those ruins over in Celestic Town?"
"Given that they found images on the walls within those ruins that depict my Pokemon, the lot of them thinking that Tsukune could help them uncover more secrets is a sound, logical thing for the lot of them to believe." Zack's meal was paid for and, after giving his regards, he took off for Celestic Town. He caught a taxi that took him straight to the small town with the ruins, even though the ride there took a bit.
As he rode, Zack thought about how that girl in Galar had become the newest champion over there, similar to how Zack himself had become the champion of Sinnoh in recent events. And there were so many other talented trainers of note; Zack even heard of one over in Johto who had piqued his interest enough for him to consider taking a trip out to Johto just so he could see that talented trainer for himself.
The new Sinnoh champ smiled to himself, amused by how so much talent was popping up all over as of late. It made him truly glad to have been born in such a world and in such a time. No doubt things would continue to go on to be interesting, what with so much happening all over the world. Zack breathed a relaxed, casual breath as he settled on looking out the window of his taxi as he allowed his mind to wander about, thinking of just what awaited around the corner for him, and for everyone else for that matter.
It was truly amazing, living in the world of Pokemon!
THE END
Author's notes;
Pokemon has been a part of many people's lives, and many would probably keep it in their hearts until their dying days. It has brought so much to others that the world probably would not have been the same without it. That's probably why Pokemon is as popular as it is; I'm pretty sure that it won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
Anyway, with this my first (actual) Pokemon story has now come to a close, with a character from one of my other works making an appearance at the end. Sure, this chapter was a bit on the short side compared to others, but it basically wraps up things, as well as cover what I was not able to fit in the previous chapter. The question now...where do I go from here? ...Well there's only one way to find that out.
Thanks, folks. See you in the next tale.