Oliver stepped back into the lobby, still a bit dazed. He was still trying to process the fact that he actually won. He was still holding the badge in his right hand.
"Oi, Oliver!"
He whipped around just in time to see Moira skid to a halt just before plowing into him. Scarlet, Cassandra, and Spencer followed close behind.
"That was an amazing battle!" said the Galarian lass, brimming with energy.
"You did awesome," Spencer added. "Right, Scarlet?" He turned towards her, elbowing her gently.
"I'm less impressed by the victory and more by the fact none of your Pokémon fainted." Scarlet's neutral expression curved into a slight smile. "But still, that was an impressive win."
"Oh, come on, guys…" Oliver scratched the back of his head blushing. "I didn't do THAT great…"
Moira chuckled. "Of course ye did. You know, it's funny…" she looked Oliver in the eyes, making him tense up a bit. "When you were batting him you looked so… composed. Focused. Just downright cool. But the second it's all over, you're… well, you again."
Oliver simply chuckled nervously. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not…"
It was then she noticed that Oliver's right fist was still clenched around the Geode Badge. Smiling, she reached for his hand, took it, and pried the badge out of his grip.
"Here, lemme help you with this…" She took a step closer. The proximity made Oliver's blushing increase, and it only got worse when Moira began to fasten the badge to the right breast of his green windbreaker.
"There ya go," Moira stepped back, then suddenly noticed how red Oliver was. "Hey, uh, is something-"
"Excuse me, Moira Taylor?" a League staff member interrupted, walking in. "You're up next, so please have your team ready."
Moira blinked. "O-oh! Right." She turned back towards Oliver with a confident smile. "You better cheer for me. I'll know if you don't!"
Oliver could only nod blankly.
"...and in the south corner, our challenger, recently moved from Galar and, in her home region, a competitor from that legendary Gym Challenge that saw Champion Leon dethroned- Moira!"
The applause once again rang out, Oliver making sure to clap until his hands hurt. After the applause died down, he felt kinda silly. After all, Spencer's right next to me and he's cheering louder than me.
Indeed, during all the clapping, Spencer let out a loud, high-pitched whistle, which easily drowned out whatever Oliver was doing.
Eh, it doesn't matter if she hears me. However, as he tried to get his palms to stop stinging, he couldn't help but notice something troubling.
Moira visibly flinched when the announcer mentioned that she was in that Galar Gym Challenge a couple years back.
She went back to her normal lively self once the announcer finished his spiel, but that reflexive flinching was something he'd do, not loud, confident Moira.
Maybe it's just because she lost that first time? Oliver thought. But lots of people drop out of the Gym Challenge. Very few people make it all the way through on their first attempt. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Is it something else…?
He tabled that thought as the fight began and Moira sent out her first Pokémon.
Moira's fight wound up being a whole lot quicker than Oliver's.
Drizzile, Water-type. Made mincemeat of the unevolved Rhyhorn with a single Water Pulse.
Tyrogue, Fighting-type. He landed three Mach Punches before Aron could even move. The Pokémon's armor didn't matter, the type advantage alone guaranteed the winner.
With almost no effort, she had cornered Ricky and Sudowoodo was all that was standing between her and victory.
"What's this? " The announcer asked rhetorically as Moira withdrew Tyrogue. She took out Drizzile's Pokèball and threw it out, the Water-type once again out on the field. " It looks like Drizzile's going in for another round!"
Moira walked up to Drizzile, knelt down to his level, and whispered. "You got this, lad. This won't go like last time at all." Drizzile nodded in understanding, then turned to face the fake tree Pokémon with an expression that can only be described as a nonchalant glare.
Moira pointed at Sudowoodo. "Use Water Pulse! Don't give 'im a chance to defend himself!"
Drizzile launched a ring of water that rushed through the air towards Sudowoodo. Ricky grimaced- There was no way Sudowoodo would be able to dodge, so he had no choice but to pull out his trump card early.
"Stand your ground, Sudowoodo!"
Sudowoodo crosses its branchlike arms again as the water crashed into it at high velocity, pushing it back.
"Don't let up, Drizzile! Keep hitting 'im!"
Pulse after pulse, Drizzile continued launching high-pressure water at Sudowoodo. The Rock Pokémon held firm, though the water was quickly wearing away at it. It maintained its focus, shutting its eyes tight, concentrating on staying standing.
Finally, exhaustion began to take hold on Drizzile and he ceased his watery assault, catching his breath as he looked up at his adversary…
...who was still standing, though just barely.
Moira's eyes widened, realizing that the resulting counterattack from Bide would wipe Drizzile out in one hit. She still had Tyrogue, but she didn't have time to switch the two of them out. She didn't want to let Ricky take Drizzile down- she'd come too far and she wanted her first Pokémon, her partner, her comrade, to be awake for this.
Not to mention… After what happened last time, it would be wrong if he didn't get the last hit in.
Ricky began to grin as Sudowoodo uncrossed its arms and prepared to let loose its fury, a red mist nearly visible as it prepared to repay its injuries threefold.
"Like the sturdy rock it is, Sudowoodo's weathered the assault and its about to hit back!"
Moira paled, her already fair skin going white as her legs felt numb.
Come on, Moira, think!
Time slowed down. She turned her head towards the crowd and her eyes locked on him. The first human friend she'd had in a long time, the one who stuck with her for all her eccentricities.
Oliver was on edge, his posture tense, his fist balled up, but his expression relaxed when their eyes met.
He gave a reassuring smile, then nodded. He didn't say anything, since he was up in the crowd and she wouldn't have heard him anyway, but the message was clear:
You got this, Moira.
The brief clarity and calm that washed over her also had the effect of clearing her mind and her eyes widened.
I know what to do. It's risky but… it's my only shot.
Time resumed its course as she held her hand out towards the arena. "Drizzile, use Sucker Punch!"
Sudowoodo was almost to its target, its arm reared back to strike Drizzile head-on, but all of a sudden, in a single instant, Drizzile's fist shot out and impacted Sudowoodo's midsection, faster than the human eye could see. Sudowoodo was frozen in place before it leaned back and toppled over, crashing to the ground in a heap, obscured by the cloud of dust made by the fall.
"Incredible! Against all odds, Drizzile beat Sudowoodo to the punch! The winner is Moira!"
Drizzile was halfway through turning back to face Moira when his trainer wrapped him in a bear hug, the two crashing to the ground.
"Ye did it, ya wee champ!" Moira cried as Drizzile basked in her affection. The cheering crowd seemed like dull background noise as Moira savored the moment, until one broke through the noise.
"You're the best, Moira!" Oliver shouted, barely audible over the rest of the noise. But it pierced through and was the only thing Moira could make out, making her feel strangely warm.
Oh yeah, and Spencer is yelling something too I guess.
She got up, withdrew Drizzile, and made her way back to the center to get her badge.
Oliver was expecting her to be happy about her win. He wasn't expecting her to tackle hug him the second she was back in the lobby with them. Scarlet couldn't help but have to suppress a giggle while Spencer simply stared in confusion.
"I won! I, I actually won… thanks for cheering for me Oliver," she said.
Spencer blinked a couple times. I was cheering for you too though...
"Uh… you're welcome," Oliver managed, a bit uncertainly. "...not to downplay your achievement or anything, but that was just the first Gym Leader, it's not that big a deal…"
"I know, I know…" Moira backed off and kicked at the floor. "It's… it's kinda hard to explain."
"Don't listen to him," Spencer cut in. "That was an amazing win. I couldn't take my eyes off you."
"In any event," Oliver continued, "you handled that fight a lot better than I did."
"That just came down to type advantage, though. All you had was Tryote and he hadn't even evolved yet," Moira pointed out. "You made do with what you had. Though it would've gone smoother if you brought Hoodlet in…"
"I guess that's true." Oliver paused, then recalled what happened in his own match. "Actually… there's something I wanted to ask you guys about. Could we talk about it over lunch or something?"
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Sure… but don't you want to stop by the Pokémon center first?"
Oliver shook his head. "None of our Pokémon got knocked out. They're just exhausted is all, so I figure a good meal and a long sleep night be enough."
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you say so…"
"You guys go ahead," Spencer suggested. "I'm gonna watch the rest of the matches, try to see if anyone's using Breakthrough to get a leg up."
"Sounds like a plan!" Moira said.
"You're sure you don't want to stop by the Pokémon Center first?" Scarlet asked Oliver.
Oliver opened his mouth to answer, then paused. "Hey Ralts," he said, turning back to his backpack. "You guys feeling well enough to eat right away?"
Ralts turned to Joltik (who was resting inside the backpack instead of perching on Oliver's head or shoulder) and chattered a bit, before turning to her trainer and giving a thumbs-up.
"Sounds like it's fine by them," Oliver relayed.
"Awesome, let's go!" Moira said, heading out the door. "I get to pick the restaurant this time!"
Scarlet sighed in exasperation, then took off after her, Cassandra close behind. Oliver began to follow them before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning back, he looked at Spencer with slight confusion.
"How do you do it?" he asked.
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Do what exactly?"
Before Spencer could respond, Moira ran back inside. "Come on, Oliver! Let's go!" She took him by the hand and dragged him outside, leaving Spencer just standing there. He sighed.
"I'll figure it out eventually…"
"So wait, you're saying you heard a voice?" Scarlet asked as she toyed with her salad, Cassandra helping herself to some grilled Basculin nearby. The group had found some decent seating in the shade outside a cozy little restaurant not too far from the gym. The younger two were eating their own lunches (Moira wolfing hers down furiously) while the Pokémon were gathered nearby with their own Pokémon food. Joltik was nowhere to be seen, but based on the lights in the store across the street beginning to flicker, Oliver had a pretty good idea where he was.
"Yeah, it was so weird…" Oliver replied between bites of his ham sandwich. "I instinctively told him to use a move it shouldn't know until it evolved… and then it evolved. It was like-"
"You know it was going to happen?" Scarlet finished.
Oliver nodded. "I have no idea how it happened."
Scarlet put down her fork and stroked her chin in thought. "Well, I have a theory… but it's a long shot."
"Shoot."
"Okay…" Scarlet sighed. "You've has Ralts for… 9 years, was it?"
Oliver nodded.
"And you always did pretty much everything with her?"
"What about it?" Oliver asked, though he was beginning to see where she was going.
"Well… what if, through developing such a close bond with a Psychic-type Pokémon, you're beginning to develop psychic abilities of your own?"
Oliver blinked. "And because I only recently started battling seriously with her, it's only now starting to manifest?"
"Like I said, it's a long shot."
Oliver crosses his arms, deep in thought. He had heard about this happening before, not just with Psychic-types either. Trainers, it was understood, tended to take after the Pokémon they trained. Trainers who kept a lot of Ice-types tended to be more resistant to the cold, Water trainers were better swimmers, Rock and Fighting trainers were tough and strong…
...and trainers of types like Ghost and, indeed, Psychic sometimes experienced strange phenomena like this.
"Sounds kind of plausible," Oliver said. "Still… actual psychic powers? I dunno."
"Hrgh, rr jrst hrd rr thrght," Moira said, her mouth full of curry. She swallowed the hunk of food and started again. "Sorry. I just had a thought. Wasn't there that lass at the opening ceremony who was psychic?"
Oliver's eyes widened as he remembered. "The one with the Gallade?"
Moira nodded. "That's the one. She was…" she paused, then snapped her fingers. "Ugh, I can't f***in' remember."
Lennoa.
"Her name was Lennoa," Oliver said casually. Then he blinked. Okay, I know for a fact I didn't remember her name. We talked like one time. What's going on?
"Oh hey, I know who you're talking about!"
The trio turned to face the passerby who just spoke up. Scarlet recognized her as a League staff member, but she seemed to be off-duty, as she wasn't in uniform.
"Yeah, she beat the Gym Leader yesterday. It was late, though, so I think she went back to her hotel room afterwards. She would've taken off this morning. If she was taking the Gym Challenge she wouldn't have a reason to stick around."
Scarlet smiled. "Thank you."
"Anytime!" The staff member went on her way.
Moira turned back to Oliver. "You think she might be able to help you with... whatever's going on?"
"Couldn't hurt time try getting her advice." Oliver looked back at Ralts. "Guess that bed rest is gonna have to wait. If we want to have any chance of catching up to her we'd better get moving."
"I'm down for that," Moira said, resuming the rapid consumption of her curry.
"It's settled then. I just need to grab Spencer from the Gym and we'll be on our way," Scarlet said, sitting up. "Come on, Cassie."
Moira perked up again, smiling cheerfully with her eyes closed. "Oh hey, if we wind up camping out on the road again, I can cook for us again!"
After a brief silence, Moira opened her eyes and looked around. First at Oliver, then Scarlet, then all of the eating Pokémon. All of them (except Drizzile and Wooloo) had a look of unbridled terror on their faces. Not disgust, just terror.
Moira's expression fell as she slumped back into her chair, dejected. "Guess not…"
It occurred to me I might've accidentally created a minor plothole but it's not that big a deal. Scarlet said a couple chapters ago that she swore off Pokémon battling, but she had no issues battling Oliver in the exam near the beginning. However, that wasn't a real battle, that was still technically just training. So she'd have less issue with that.
Again, sorry for the updates slowing down. This chapter's a bit short, but it's more of a cooldown after the constant action of the last three.
