Chapter 21: Meteor Falls
A/N: Again. I suck with my timing. More stuff. No internet. Generic excuses. Life. Sorry. I suck. Enjoy.
Alfa19
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The inside of the cave was... well…. Cave-ish. Yet it was different at the same time. Dark, walls enclosed the space around me, humming with power. The longer I stood, the more it seemed this place breathed life into the air. My eyes adjusted to the area around me as I examined it, running a hand along the walls. It seemed disrespectful to release one of my partners.
Runes and images were hewn into the walls, a story to be told for all of time, sheltered from the elements and from human tampering. I started walking, making my way inwards, to the center of the wall in front of me, where a doorway led into a path deeper in. I continued on my way in, darkness engulfing me further and further, until I could no longer see where I had come from.
My arms tingled, every hair on my body standing up as I stared forward into the darkness, no clue which way was forward, or what was to come. I took one deep breath and looked forward at what awaited me, uncertain of what lay waiting in the darkness.
One cold breath ran through my throat, a shudder, and then nothing. I stepped forward into the darkness, forging on in the same direction I had taken previously, until a faint glow illuminated the darkness. Crystals, glowing faintly in the darkness, marked the sides of the cavern, much less carefully decorated down here. The cavern itself looked like it had been shaped by the billowing breath of a great beast, carving out a path in the stone. Another small archway stood at the end, decorated all around by faintly glowing crystals, blue, pink, white, faint green.
I stepped forward through it and into a spiraling path leading to an open chamber. I found myself standing on the upper of three tiers in the cavern. Rings of crystals decorated the room, humming lightly as they pulsed with faint white light, not warm, nor cold.
Standing in the center of the lowest level was a familiar figure in a black and purple pinstriped suit, a shock of silver hair atop his head.
"Do you know why I love geology so much?" Steven asked, hands in his pockets as he stared at the rock face in front of him. I descended to join him, reaching the lowest floor of the room before I waited for the answer to his question.
"There is so much history preserved in this rock. I'm not even talking about fossils here. Ordinary stone can tell you the story of a millennium."
"I would imagine you're well versed with Johto's lore."
"You'd be right." I responded, staring at the wall like Steven.
"Most Johtans have a healthy respect for lore. How could you not in a region with such rich history." Steven paused for a moment, craning his neck to look at the roof. "How familiar are you with Hoennian lore and history?"
"Somewhat familiar."
"Allow me to elaborate, and pardon me if I ramble." Steven continued to stare at the cavernous ceiling.
"Hoenn has always been populated. It began with places like Pacifidlog Town. Fallarbor near Meteor Falls. Sootopolis. Slateport developed early as a port town. As did Lilycove. But the region didn't always look like this. Hoenn is praised for its exotic wilderness, the rain soaked northern areas, the dense forests and the city of Fortree. The warm oceans and deep trenches that carve across them. Our islands. Mount Chimney. Mount Pyre. Meteor Falls."
"The world was simple long ago. Nothing much existed. Simply a dead planet… Then our legendary Pokemon awoke near the beginning of time. Groudon. The behemoth. The Continent Pokemon. It created the lands, the volcanos and the mountains. Magma would flow at its command. Trenches would open at a roar. The sun burned behind it on the world. It shaped the earth we stand on."
"Kyogre. The leviathan. The Sea Basin Pokemon. It created our oceans, the trenches and the water that runs through them. The frozen tundra came from its icy breath. These two warred and changed the landscape of the world as we know it, forming our Earth. Hoenn was the center of that. This is our historical reason for the way our region is."
"How would such a war even have ended?"
"Rayquaza. The supposed Sky High Pokemon. I prefer to call it the Stratosphere Pokemon or the defender of the Earth. Groudon and Kyogre brought with them chaotic weather the likes of which the world has never seen since. Rayquaza's presence and power nullified it all. An airlock of sorts if you will. Rayquaza's roar supposedly permeated through to the core of Groudon and Kyogre. Fight or flight if you will, and in this case, they found it better to take flight."
My eyebrows shot to the top of my forehead. As hard as it was to wrap my head around the concepts of these Pokemon, it was even harder to imagine that there was something that could instill fear in their hearts.
"Supposedly Rayquaza used an immense amount of its energy to siphon Groudon and Kyogre's chaotic power and create the Red and Blue Orbs, making them less… primal… and allowing them to seal themselves away, to sleep for eternity. Those orbs are now in the possession of the lore keepers of Hoenn."
"What about Rayquaza?"
"Rayquaza is the most revered, but also the least known of our three Pokemon. You see, we have the remnants of the battle to account for Groudon and Kyogre, we have the Red and Blue orbs. But Rayquaza simply retreated afterwards, never to be seen again. The Draconid Tribe and the natives of Pacifidlog erected the Sky Pillar to honor Rayquaza, who sheltered their small floating village from the storms. That's why Pacifidlog never changed much. Out of respect and reverence. The tower became a holy place. The Draconids worshipped there. They still do. The few that remain treat visiting the Sky Pillar as a holy pilgrimage that each must make once in their lives. Otherwise, few are permitted to enter the tower. People think Rayquaza has taken up residence in the shrine at the peak of the Pillar, since it's been shrouded in dense cloud cover ever since it was built. Planes can't approach it. Pokemon refuse to. The only way up is from the inside. But the scarce few that make it past the first few floors of the tower find nothing. Powerful Pokemon live there, guarding the tower and living under the blessing of the Sky Dragon."
"Why do you not like calling it the Sky High Pokemon?"
"We have tried to find Rayquaza before. And we believe that it has occasionally graced us with a glimpse, or a hint. Most say it lives in the Stratosphere breathing Ozone. I believe the first part, but I don't believe it spends all its time there. You see. There is a song associated with Rayquaza. Lugia has music of its own I believe. Music such that it instills peace in the hearts of those around it."
"This supposed song of Rayquaza isn't quite like that. It makes people feel what they're walking into. A lucky few have heard it echoing in the walls of the Sky Pillar. I haven't been lucky enough myself. Drake, our Dragon Master, has. But this is where it gets otherworldly. There are sailors who claim to have heard the song out at sea, in dense fog. Drake is among those as well. A league submarine scouring the depths of the ocean found nothing, but one of our men fell to his knees, saying he could hear the song. He said he saw a Pokemon far out in the depths of the ocean through a porthole, far too long to be a Gyarados or a Milotic, far too thin and deep down to be a Wailord. Astronauts aboard one of our launches from Aerospace Hoenn claim to have seen a serpentine form cutting across the cosmos, out beyond Earth's magnetosphere."
"You're probably wondering what any of this has to do with geology, or the Cave of Origin."
"Well. I can't deny that." I folded my arms as Steven finally turned back to the walls, looking at the tiers of earth all around us.
"This cave is said to have been the birthplace of Groudon. Look carefully. The rock's here were formed by magma."
I followed Steven's gaze to one of the rock walls, just high enough for me to see over a bit. The stone seemed melted and fallen upon itself, folding like batter, or a thick liquid, black and rough. Igneous rock formed by a pocket of magma.
"Look around."
The rest of the room shared the same quality, slightly more sphere like in shape, with small dips like a magma sphere that was dripping. The crystals all around the room were glowing a dim pink as I turned all the way around to face Steven again.
"Close your eyes." He instructed, taking me by the hand and leading me forward. Under his guidance I reached out, placing my hand on the smooth stone of a wall.
"This cave is said to be the birthplace of Kyogre. The stone you're touching was carved and smoothed by water. Open your eyes."
Slowly, I opened them, staring at the same wall as earlier, but it was different. This stone wasn't melted and layered. It had rougher, slate like layers, smoothed out over the front. Seashells were visible fossilized in the sediment layers. The room was still somewhat rounded, but the drip like patterns around the bottom were gone, replaced by splash like patterns from water pulsing upwards into the ceiling. Every crystal in the room glowed a serene blue, bathing he room in a cool light.
"What the hell."
"Most people are incapable of seeing both sides of this room. I believe this is a true testament to the power of the spacetime Pokemon, Dialga and Palkia. I believe both of these rooms existed together, and released Kyogre and Groudon into the world before reality folded upon itself back into one.
"This isn't also the birthplace of Rayquaza is it?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not quite. We're close though." Steven gestured up and around us. "Sootopolis is the birthplace of Rayquaza. At least, we think so. We believe it was born in the water of this city and erupted into the sky. This place, the lake of Sootopolis was the epicenter of the clash between Groudon and Kyogre, the lake sucked them in afterwards, at Rayquaza's command, never to be seen again."
All of a sudden, he turned to me once again, his silvery gray eyes sparkling with an intensity and eyebrows furrowed.
"Do you know why it is so necessary for us, as champions, and the Pokemon League, to be so powerful, so far beyond any normal trainer, or any conference champion?"
I shook my head. I was sure my answer would be wrong as I stared at Steven.
"Because Legendary Pokemon exist, and we have to protect our world; most of them will crush us underfoot without even feeling it. Not every Pokemon out there is a Rayquaza, dedicated to keeping the balance. We try to keep track of as much as we can with these Pokemon. This is the one thing every region collaborates on, no matter what."
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a soft leather-bound book, handing it to me. No title was embossed into the black leather, nor any author.
"Nothing written in this book exists digitally. It is preserved purely by mechanical press. Very few copies of this exist. We have compiled everything we know about legendary Pokemon into these books. This book is a condensed version of everything. Individual dossiers exist detailing everything for each Pokemon we have tried to identify."
"Legendary Pokemon changed the tide of the last war. Read it. Learn it. Live it. Breathe it. Because these Pokemon exist. And we're just living in their world."
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The Mossdeep space center shone in the daylight, sun sparkling off the glass panes all across the building. The rocket in the background, recovered and set up as a memorial to the successes of the Space Program. A few clouds dotted the sky here and there, and more than a few people had taken to Mossdeep's beaches to relax and unwind for the weekend, setting aside their worries for a seat under the sun.
All in all, it was a good day to go exploring. So, I suppose it was a good thing that was what we were doing anyway. The doors slid open and Blake walked out, her open flight suit jacket over her tank top and shorts. She had a backpack over her shoulders and a pokeball in her hands as she stepped forward.
"Ready to go?"
"Lead the way milady." I mock bowed, picking Knight's pokeball off my belt and releasing the great dragon into the park in front of me. Salamence joined Knight and the two headbutted, one crooning and the other letting out a slow, rumbling noise as they parted.
"Come on buddy. We're following Blake today."
I climbed into the saddle on Knight's back, settling in as Blake hopped onto Salamence's back taking to the skies almost immediately. Salamence wove a tight spiral as it rose into the air, opting to rise to a decent height before traversing the city. I nudged Knight and followed, leaving it mostly up to the dragon to keep up with its friend as we headed off west.
The oceans off Hoenn flew by beneath us as we rocketed west, until we reached Lilycove, where Blake and Salamence slowed down dramatically. The blue and red dragon dove low, weaving around the lighthouse as Knight followed, before cutting through the gaps between the cities' skyscrapers, finally leaving and heading off west once again.
The region blurred together as we approached Mount Chimney, diving lower to avoid the smoky ash cloud hanging in the air above the Volcano. Blake cut around the mountain, and over a forest painted grey with soot until we reached a small town peppered with craters and odd boulders. Red clay dominated the surrounding area, the ridges and ledges, and the low hill that surrounded the city to the north, all a brilliant rust color. Salamence slowed down, leading us over the city and to a sharply contrasting plateau of white, not quite as clean as Sootopolis, but almost magnetic in its gravity.
She flew towards a rise in the hills, settling down in the corner between two ledges as we stopped. I followed suit, climbing off of Knight and patting the great dragon's flank.
"Feel free to fly around and explore. Take a break. Relax." I smiled as Knight took to the air.
"Welcome to Meteor Falls. Or at least the outside of it. We can head inside in a second, I just wanted to stop and look around." Blake smiled, turning all around with her arms crossed as she surveyed the area.
"Hey," I scrambled as quickly as I could, getting the blanket out of my backpack and quickly laying it out on the ground, pulling out the basket with the food and the bottles of water and setting them down. "What's the rush? Relax, unwind, it's the weekend."
"What are you—oh!" Blake turned around, her hands going up to cover her mouth as she saw the picnic basket I had laid out as I figured out how to prop up the collapsible beach umbrella. I settled for digging it into a small hole in the rock, casting some shade over the blanket.
"This is kind of cool." Blake smiled as she sat down, taking in the whole idea of the picnic.
"Only kind of? Come on!" I grinned wryly as I sat down opposite her, picking up a water bottle and drinking.
"Okay, you're right, it's really nice. It's sweet."
"Aww! Thank you." I dodged half-heartedly as Blake took a swipe at my head with the back of her hand, picking up a sandwich to eat.
"So. Meteor Falls? Cool place." The air around us was oddly cool, despite the fact that we were sitting pretty next to a volcano. The soot in the air absorbed a great deal of the heat, and the odd properties of the rock below us kept us cool, even as the sun shone down on us without much heat.
"It really is. Some elders from the Draconid tribe spend their days wandering about in here. Rumor has it they have their own caves beneath it where they live." Blake explained, staring off at the entrance to the caves. "This is actually where I met Salamence, back when he was a Bagon."
"I can imagine this place has memories for you." I followed her gaze to the entrance carved into the white rock of the surrounding mountain. "How did you find Salamence, or Bagon? Being a Pokemon trainer never seemed to be on your radar the way you talk about your life."
"Oh." Blake brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face, turning back towards me. "It was a family trip we'd taken when we were younger. The three of us are an interesting mix. Clara likes being outdoors, exploring, history and all that stuff, but she isn't the keenest on climbing or exploring. It's why she gets along well with Steven. He doesn't feel forced to take the long way to an excavation site or travel in discomfort."
A small smile formed on her lips as she kept talking. A little bit of gloss glimmered on them in the sunlight as she looked in my direction. "Victoria… is a bit less outdoorsy. Somehow, we wound up on a family trip here, and we split up. Our mom took Victoria and Clara to go see a Pokemon contest and I went with my dad up here. We were exploring inside. He was helping me climb and we were having fun. Bagon wandered up to us at some point while we were exploring." The smile on her lips grew as her eyes sparkled. A wet glimmer shone for a moment over her green eyes before disappearing as she blinked the tears away. I looked on as she angled her gaze towards the ground a bit more.
"I was a bit scared at first, but Bagon was friendly and my dad showed me how to feed him, and eventually he kind of just followed us out of the caves and into the city, so my dad gave me a pokeball and we've been together ever since. I was probably six."
"Wow. You and Salamence have been together quite a while then."
"Yeah, we've been together a while."
I scooted a bit closer and wrapped an arm around her as she turned to smile at me, leaning into my shoulder.
"Well, I know we talked about where I want to go in life a while back, so how about we talk about you." Blake raised an eyebrow, motioning for me to go on.
"Well this is about the both of us. Not just one of us. I want to know where you want to go, so that I can do my best to help you get there. Or at least what you think you might want to do. How about we start with what you're doing now? What specifically do you do over at Aerospace Hoenn?"
"Well," Blake perked up a bit, wrapping her arms around my waist, "I'm an aerodynamicist, or more broadly a fluid dynamicist. I worked a lot with Steven on the Nautilus. Over in Mossdeep a lot of my work is with design for launches and recoveries. All the aerodynamics come into play when you're still inside the atmosphere. Beyond there it's up to a different team."
"It's insane to think that here I am, having stopped studying at sixteen and going off as a trainer, and you're sending things into space and in the oceans." I laughed as Blake lightly poked my ribs, giving me a half-hearted frown.
"Stop it you. besides, if the other champions are anything to go by, you'll pick up more than enough as you keep up your traveling and your work."
"Anyway, how about what you're thinking off for the future? Especially if you think you can uproot yourself so easily."
"I'm not sure. Like I said, I'm ready for a new challenge. I was thinking racing aerodynamics. There's a lot of good work to be done there, and it's only just picking up steam in a lot of places. Honestly it would be fine anywhere. There's a lot of development around the track infrastructures in various places. Teams can be based anywhere."
"Really?" I brushed a strand of hair out of my eye and leaned back slightly. I picked a sandwich out of the basket and started to eat. "You think there'll be teams in Johto soon? We're probably the most relaxed about tech development."
"Honestly, I think if I convince Steven to start his own team, I could get him to base operations in Indigo somewhere. He's a huge fanatic. He even has a simulator tucked away in a corner of his office in Devon, and one in his house in Mossdeep." Blake looked off into the clouds thoughtfully. "The way they're developing these cars, they have so much grip just from aerodynamics, from getting pressed into the road by the airflow around them."
"How does that work?" I asked hesitantly, unsure how complicated of an answer I was about to get.
"In short, manipulating the speed the air goes around different parts of the car, and the direction. Everything else follows. I can show you more detailed things sometime when I have a board or a screen. The harder you press it into the ground, the faster you can get around corners. The sleeker you make it still the faster it goes in a straight line. You shape the body and the wings to control the airflow, keep it straight or twist it into vortices to keep it along the body."
"You know I bet you'll make some aerodynamics so powerful you could drive a car on the ceiling of a tunnel." I chuckled as Blake's eyes sparkled in the sun.
"Maybe I will."
"And I'll be there to watch it happen." I grinned as Blake pushed me back so that I was lying back against a sloping rock, staring up at the sky with her.
"Do you want to go explore the falls?"
"Sounds like it could be fun."
"Let's go then." Blake swung herself up, putting away the remnants of our small picnic basket as I slowly rose to my feet. She waited for me to catch up before walking along the white rocky formations down to the entrance to the caverns.
I looked at the hewn entrance in the mountainside, the open cavern visible beyond it with plenty of light flooding the cave somehow. Taking the first step, I walked inside, looking around me. Barely twenty feet ahead of me was a wall, or more accurately a sharp cliff of about twelve feet. Pouring over it to the side was the smallest waterfall inside the cave system, flowing through a naturally carved path and off another, much taller fall. A log bridge spanned the width of the river, about thirty or so feet across where the water was flowing flat. The ceiling above wasn't towering for us, only a dozen or so feet above the cliff wall next to us. The lower levels on the other hand, were a good forty feet below, and from there the ceiling must have seemed cavernous.
Blake's eyes were fixated on the cavern ceiling above the lower levels, and I followed her gaze to see what exactly was hiding amidst the stalactites. The rock formations weren't all that frequent, nor particularly long or jagged, but quite bright and formed out of the same whitish grey stone that the entire mountainside seemed to be made of. The light seemed to be reflecting off of them and all around the room, lending the massive cave the luminosity it shouldn't have had. Then it caught me.
Nestled in the ceiling, holding themselves to the rock surface and to the stalactites with their eerier psychic powers, were constellations of Solrock and Lunatone, all softly glowing in their sleep and giving the ceiling of the cavern the appearance of a star speckled sky. Pale orange hues and cream light bounced around the stalactites and bright walls of the cavern, scattering and illuminating the vast space.
"This is amazing." I stopped and stared at the sight, taking it all in. It was nothing like I had ever seen before. A pleasant warmth radiated from the ceiling, the slightly yellower colors of the light blending in a way with the proximity to make it seem as though we were beneath the surface of a cooling sun, looking at the flares and spots up close as its life slowly passed, pulsating.
"It's gorgeous." Blake sighed, staring at the glittering Pokemon sleeping in the cavern ceiling, casting light all around. "The rest of the caverns are kind of walkable, at least until the lower levels. This is always an amazing sight for people who haven't seen it before. There isn't a ton else to do other than meander about and explore the visible space."
"What's in the lower levels?" I turned towards Blake as her gaze shifted towards a lone figure in a dark purple robe walking the lower level of the cavern.
"The Draconids' locale. As the site of so many of the meteor landings in Hoenn, this place became an interest of theirs as they tried to unearth the secrets hidden in the stars. They're rumored to have shrines and possibly even an underground residence down below them ground."
"People living in caves. Why that isn't new to me I don't understand." I sighed with a slight smile, my mind jumping back to the order of monks living in the caverns of the Whirl Islands. The Draconids seemed to be more widely known, even if not much was known about them.
"Should I be concerned?" Blake turned towards me with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
"Not particularly. There's a group of monks who live in the Whirl Islands. They're pretty calm and relaxed about most things." I shrugged it off, grinning lightly as the lights from the ceiling twinkled up above.
"Alright then. Do you want to head outside and look around? There are some cool spots to train around here."
"Why not. I don't know if I really want to train just right now, but I'll enjoy taking a look around and flying back here at some point."
Blake gestured towards the exit, walking back out ahead of me. She stepped out into the sun and look around, heading East, around the rocky white plateaus and hills until the entrance to the falls was out of sight. The giant boulders and spires of rock slowly became predominant, the terrain turning into a checkerboard of ups and downs, to the extent that we were climbing through the gaps between boulders and spires only to sink into the space between another few.
"Well. This is it!" Blake grinned, putting her hands on her hips and staring at me.
"How do you try and train here?"
"Practice using the terrain and taking ranged shots to your advantage. One Pokémon's hiding in here, and the other's chasing. You can try and corner them, but it might not work. It was also a great place for Bagon to keep jumping off of small hills and trying to fly safely."
"I see…" My eyes were already darting around the area, looking at the gaps and what could effectively turn into a giant game of Whack-a-Diglett ™. "This could be fun."
"I know. And that's why this is where I want to fight you. So, I can keep it even."
"What are you talking about? Your Pokemon are amazing."
"Half-truth and half flattery. Yes, they're evolved and they're amazing and powerful species on their own, but we don't train that much. Milotic evolves with care. Froslass has an evolutionary stone. Salamence, well yes some more training than the others was involved, but half of that was bodily ergonomics and preparing it for flight." Blake crossed her arms and focused on me. "This isn't at all a dismissal of my Pokemon, but you live and breathe this. You think about battling, your goals center on it. You plan, you train, you tackle gyms, you travel. You are a trainer. I'm an engineer."
I stopped for a moment and stared at her across the gap of a few feet we were standing in, in the small patch of flat land between four massive boulders rising up eight feet into the air each. Her eyes were focused. A little bit of hesitance was visible in the green, but her face didn't let anything by as she locked her jaw, staring at me.
'I could probably just stand here all day and stare at the way her hair is shifting with the breeze…. Is this a good idea? How do I do this…?'
"Alright."
A smile formed on her face, but the hesitation didn't leave her eyes.
"One on one. This isn't a fight to knockout. This is a fight to land blows. First to five. I'll pick my Pokemon first." I laid out my conditions, waiting for Blake to respond before I even thought about reaching for my belt.
"… Okay." A little bit of tension seemed to leave her shoulders and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding in. One hand immediately darted to my belt, running over the cool surfaces of the pokeballs housing my team. I lingered for a moment over each one before I finally picked one off, tossing it up into the air.
"Scizor. We're just going to be sparring a bit. Fighting to land blows, not to knockout. This whole messy terrain is the battlefield." The metallic Pokemon looked around the area, wings buzzing with excitement as it clicked its pincers and nodded at me. "I'll be talking to you, but I trust you to move on your own as well. Your senses are better than mine for this kind of a thing, except for if I see something you can't. On which note," I jogged further off to one end and climbed up a boulder, standing atop it to look at the battlefield.
"Hm…" Blake looked at the field and Scizor carefully, before releasing Froslass and talking briefly to the ice type before climbing up a boulder a hundred feet away from me.
"Go! Scizor! Vacuum Wave!"
Before Blake could react to the command Froslass could move out of the way, Scizor leaped out from behind a boulder, leaving the ice type directly in its line of sight as its pincer whirled and snapped, blasting a focused vortex directly into Froslass's midsection.
"That's one." I called out from the other boulder as Blake stared at me incredulously. "What! I set the conditions so that we don't have to hold back. Hit me with everything you've got. Don't just let me win! Show me how close you and Froslass are!"
Realization seemed to dawn in Blake's eyes and I breathed a sigh of relief as it was accompanied by pure determination rather than annoyance. Silently, I reached for another pokeball and released Lucario onto the boulder alongside me to have company while Scizor avoided hits.
'An interesting exercise Ethan-Gold.' Lucario seemed to have plucked the scenario straight from my head and watched on, standing on its toes as always. Bright red eyes darted around the field, often closed, as aura flooded its senses and it analyzed the battlefield. 'Why aretaking this seriously? Do you not want this partner's good will?'
'For all her downplaying of her efforts with her much smaller team, it takes a lot of effort to get those Pokemon to evolve. I know, which means you know by extension, that Clara trained a bit, and Blake went a bit further than her, from what Steven tells us.'
'It does seem that she is quite driven.'
'How else do you get to working on spacecraft? As far as her approval…. You tell me. I think I made the right choice taking this seriously.'
'…You have chosen well Ethan-Gold. It was my desire to understand if you knew what you were doing.'
'On some level this is about us too. She's right. We live and breathe this. There's a reason I chose to become a trainer. To a degree, this is about proving to myself that I can wipe the floor with someone who hasn't put in the time and effort we have.'
'… It remains a choice I am grateful you made. The desire to prove to yourself what you have achieved is understandable trainer-friend-Gold. Let us battle. To Victory.'
'Why do you say that like Victory is someone?'
'Details trainer-friend, details.'
Scizor was ducking in and out of the rocks, putting its natural agility to good use as it avoided blasts of ice from Froslass.
"Bullet Punch." I called out, watching as Blake tensed, waiting for the blow that wasn't coming. Scizor was taking its time and working out its own strategy with movements and coordination faster than I could have tried to direct it. Bullet Punch would just come whenever Froslass was within striking range.
Scizor seemed to be closing in on Froslass in the far corner of the arena, ducking deftly under a shadow ball and leaping in to land another blow with a Bullet Punch.
"Scizor behind you!" I cried out as the redirected shadow ball swung a tight curve and clipped Scizor in the back.
"That's one for me!" Blake called out with a vicious grin.
'Let's wipe the floor with them.'
'Perhaps the technique you have been practicing?'
"Scizor!" I raised one hand and slashed it down through the air, hoping and praying it would work as Scizor neared me. I had no way of knowing whether or not our practice would pay off and be applicable in a real-world scenario. Scizor stilled for a few moments then blasted forward, riding the air as it glided between boulders, finding a natural path to take in leaps and bounds as it narrowed the gap to Froslass in seconds, one pincer glowing bright green with the energy of a Fury Cutter.
Froslass was staring the bug type down, willing to take a chance as it fired off three consecutive shadow balls to try and tag Scizor. The airborne bug type used its wings to avoid all three, careening for Froslass.
"Froslass now!" The ice type prepared itself for another one-for-one exchange, readying an ice beam as Scizor neared and firing it. The beam headed straight for the inbound pincer of Scizor…. Right as the bug type released the Fury Cutter into the air used the momentum to drift offside and release a signal beam with its other pincer, straight into Froslass's side.
"Finish this!"
Scizor nodded to itself, leaping forward and striking the still reeling ice type Pokemon with another Bullet punch to toss it into the mess of Boulders before releasing another Vacuum wave to strike it right on.
"That's three, four and five. Match." I called out, whistling to Scizor. "You did great buddy. Get some rest and we'll all sit together later and unwind."
"That was quick." Blake recalled Froslass after a few kind words and walked over to me, a small smile on her face.
"You're good, but you're also right. I've been hard at work for this since I started training." I folded my arms and looked out at the terrain. "You put up a good fight for someone who doesn't battle much."
"Hmph." Blake turned away for a moment before bursting into giggles. "Yeah I can't really stay mad at that. I asked for it. Besides, if you ever tried to build a rocket, you'd be suck at it."
"Totally." I agreed, wrapping an arm around her.
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One week on…
I stepped out of the Mossdeep Space Center into the sunny day. The island was never particularly cold, not in a region like Hoenn. The coldest place in the entire region was down in Littleroot Town, a small place without much activity surrounded by dense forests. The cobbled roads carried me through the town as I looked around. Most people were out today, enjoying the Saturday afternoon sunlight on the beach or in the parks scattered around the island. Light was breaking through the leaf cover by the edges of the street and shining down onto ground in patches.
I made my way over to Steven's house by the sea, walking up to the door of the modern looking building. I couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation as I reached up to knock on the door. Whatever came now would define the next few weeks. It could set me up for success going forward. It could utterly break my spirit if I failed.
It had been a year since I started training. I had beaten six Gym Leaders in Johto. Eight if you counted the two gym battles I had fought while in Hoenn. I'd survived being marooned in the Whirl Islands running from Team Rocket. I'd raised my team – my partners, my family – alongside myself, and I'd learned from it. Everything I had dreamed about my entire life… It wasn't quite in reach, but if I didn't do this, I'd be throwing away a chance to get there.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door sharply thrice, standing and waiting. My traveling bag was packed and my room in the Pokemon Center vacated. All pokeballs were clipped to my belt and I was stocked up on everything I needed for the next stretch of the journey. This was it.
Clara opened the door a moment later, smiling as she saw me waiting nervously outside.
"Come in. Steven's just on the phone." She gestured down the hall at the path into the lounge and motioned for me to follow.
"Thanks." I stepped in and closed the door behind me as she walked back down the hallway, over the wood and glass floor. I followed her down into the lounge, the open room filled with sunlight just as it had been the last time I was in here.
Steven was standing behind the kitchen counter, pouring himself a cup of coffee as he kept his phone pinned between his shoulder and his ear, speaking indecipherably into it. He swiveled around and saw me standing there, next to Clara. Picking up his mug, he gestured at the chairs and motioned for me to wait a moment, stepping out of the room with his coffee and his phone call.
I made for one of the pristine white couches, sitting comfortably as I waited. Clara headed to the still steaming kettle to make her own drink. The resemblance between her and Blake was evident, but there were differences as well. Clara wore her hair open, and slightly shorter than the ponytail Blake usually tied. Her eyes were also blue rather than green, and she exuded calm, simply seeming relaxed at all times.
"How has your journey around Hoenn been?" she asked, looking at me from behind the counter.
"It's been interesting. I like this place. It's nice, and it's so different."
"I imagine it is. I've been to Kanto but never to Johto. I have to visit with Steven someday. Especially if you and Blake are there."
I coughed and covered my face with a hand, decidedly staring at a wall as I failed to come up with a reply.
"Relax, I'm just teasing." She grinned and walked out of the lounge as Steven entered again.
"Alright! Ethan! Are you ready for this?" Steven was wearing one of his typical suits, complete with violet waistcoat, white shirt and a red ascot like tie. Exactly like his major publicity images.
"Ready as I'll ever be for this."
"Alright. We're going to head north of Rustboro city. Get Knight out. We're flying."
I nodded and followed Steven outside, donning the jacket from my flight suit as Steven released Skarmory. From the last few days a few conversations with Winona I'd come to understand that flight suits weren't completely necessary for anything that wasn't a long trip, or precision flying, but they were still weatherproof and kept the heat in. I released Knight and clambered into the saddle on the Dragonite's back as Steven took to the sky, Skarmory glittering in the late afternoon sun.
I followed him along the straight shot west, Knight easily keeping pace with the sleek steel type in the air as we flew as fast, covering the distance to Mount Chimney in half an hour and diverting around it. Skarmory was an excellent flier, capable of making tight turns and disappearing into the smoke and clouds with an ease that few other Pokemon would have managed. Steven directed Skarmory around to the North and we passed over what I assumed was Rustboro city quite soon, heading into a range of plateaus and hilly terrain that looked similar to the area around Meteor Falls.
Steven headed into a descent and we followed, settling down atop a plateau of familiar whitish stone, clear for a few hundred feet around us before dense forest took over surrounding the region. It was open to one side, to a steeper slope up and a climb formed from the same white rock.
"Welcome to the far south end of the Meteor Plateau region." Steven gestured around as I hopped of Knight, letting the Dragonite sit contentedly in the sun while we talked. "We're an hour's flight south of the main entrance to Meteor Falls and half an hour east of the coastline. It would take the better part of a day here to hike to the Fallarbor entrance to the falls. This is where we train and where we live for the time being. I'll bring food and other things here. There's a stream down that way."
I followed his pointing hand to see the small path in the trees leading East. "What about healing our Pokemon?"
"Medical supplies are waiting in that crate over there, and rest can take care of everything else. When we need more, I'll get it from the city or it'll be airdropped in with other stuff. I'm not as brutally spartan as Lance when it comes to living conditions so I've brought you a slightly larger tent like mine to set up camp with. Speaking of which, let's get going."
I turned to see the large cube like container waiting behind us on the plateau. The edges were beveled off, grey and metallic, and the remaining faces were blue with the Devon Corporation Logo embossed in grey on the top face.
"How did that get here?"
"It was airdropped in a few hours ago. The Devon team know where I am, and they know what to bother for and what not." Steven walked over to it, unlatching it and opening the front face. He hauled out two large packed bags containing the tents and tossed me one. Catching it, I steadied myself so as to not stagger under the weight of it. Once I had a firm grasp on it, and moved it closer to a corner of the plateau near the path to the stream and opened it up, pulling out the tent and setting it up.
Green fabric made up the walls, four of which were almost vertical, with another v shaped piece connecting on top as a higher roof. I stepped inside and looked around. it was easily big enough for me to have almost everybody except Knight out inside of. Throw pillows, a collapsible chair, a heater and a thick sleeping mat and blanket all followed out of the seemingly endless crate as I set up inside the tent, as well as a few small Typhlosion sized beds clearly meant for me to be bonding with my team a bit more. A rain catcher and a small shower attachment had even been produced for me to set up through a fitting in the roof piece and near a patch of the ground sheet made of a different material. A few lanterns and another chair (in case Steven wanted to join me) had been put up as well. The entire thing was quite extravagant by my standards.
I stepped outside and looked around. Steven had set up his own tent quite fast, as well as campfire boundary and a table with some cooking stuff. He had sealed the crate and set it next to everything, having separated it into a few smaller crates, one with the medicine, one with food, and one with general supplies, and apparently, a fully functioning, all-purpose Pokemon center healing machine. An intense looking setup of two solar panels and a mass of thick orange cabling and electronics were mounted to the back of it, setting it up to function in the middle of nowhere.
"Talk about camping well."
"Like I said, we're not actually journeying. There's no harm in it. Besides, you'll be sore enough to want the comfort every day."
"Are we going to get started today?"
"Yes. We are." Steven looked scrutinized me and looked at the wide-open plateau. "Get your team out and take a stand."
I nodded and made for one side of the plateau, releasing my Pokemon one by one as Steven took care of a few final details. Samurott settled down on the stone by Lucario and Scizor. Specter flitted around, sticking half out of everyone's shadows in turn as Knight walked over, having never been recalled. Typhlosion joined the group last, examining the area before engaging in a bit of chatter with the others.
"Alright everyone. This is the beginning of our training with Steven. We'll be here for a few weeks." Typhlosion's ears perked up and the fire type sat still, looking right at me as the others quietened down. "Expect to be worked hard. I honestly have no clue how we're going to fare here. But whatever happens, we will try our hardest and come out better for it. I'm glad all of you are here with me for this."
Steven walked over finally, looking at my team. He smiled at each of them, waving at the group as a collective before turning towards me.
"Alright Ethan. I've read all of your records. I've gotten my reports from Cassian, from Wallace. I heard from Norman as well about your battle with him. We're going to be pushing hard for the next three weeks. That's all of you. Do you understand that?"
"Yes sir." A variety of growls, clicks and soundless affirmatives followed from around me as Steven's eyes narrowed and his expression hardened.
"You have only one task today. You are going to be fighting me."
The world seemed to slow down around me and the breeze stilled, an uncomfortable chill settling in. The Tailow chirping from the trees quietened down, watching carefully as the mother Swellow settled in to watch the confrontation. A lump stuck in my throat as I stared at Steven. It was real. Ethan Photon, little boy Gold, had made it here. I wasn't ready, but I was to fight Steven? I didn't have all my Johto badges, but I would get to take on one of the best there ever was.
"Is there a problem with that?" Steven's hard gaze settled on me, staring right into my eyes.
Time was ticking ever so slowly. I could hear my heartbeat; I could feel it in my chest as I stood on the verge of something I had never pictured would ever happen.
'I'm just a boy from the middle of nowhere in Johto. How am I here?'
'We are with you Ethan-Gold. We will stand by you and fight with you.' Lucario's calm, settled voice sounded in my head from behind, the influence of its aura cooling down the heat threatening to engulf me. 'We are all with you.'
I took a deep breath and focused again, my eyes still meeting Steven's. I straightened my back and folded my arms behind it, looking right back at him with the same intensity he was giving me.
"No sir."
"Good." Steven's expression didn't soften, but a smile did grace it. "It's going to be all of your team, together, against one of mine. Your only objective is to try your utmost to beat us. Clear?"
"Clear."
Steven turned and strode far off to the other side of the clearing, leaving a healthy gap between us for the battle to ensue. He had taken his coat off and set it down by the tents, so he stood in his waistcoat, sleeves still rolled down to the cuff. He picked a single pokeball off of his belt and released Metagross onto the rock. The behemoth steel type settled down onto the ground, its claws giving it a firm grasp as its red eyes took in the entire scene. Metagross were famous for having brains paralleled to supercomputers, and I highly doubted Steven's Metagross was any exception.
"Alright everyone. Let's do this. Lucario, your coordination is going to be key here if we have any chance of making an impact. If I'm not acting fast enough, all of you need to think on your own as well. Let's show Steven what we're made of."
"Samurott, Ice Beam! Knight, Dragon Pulse! Lucario, Aura Pulse! Scizor, Signal Beam! Typhlosion, flamethrower! Specter, Shadow Claw!" I called out my instructions as low as possible to the Pokemon still located near me so that Steven wouldn't hear what I had ordered and I could try and retain some element of surprise as an advantage.
Five ranged attacks fired off, first two then one then two as Specter darted forward, a wicked grin spread across the Poison type's face as it charged the waiting Metagross.
The steel type shrugged off the incoming Ice Beam like it was nothing and a shimmering light barrier caught the signal Beam and stopped it dead, absorbing the brunt of the blow. Dragon pulse blasted at it and crashed through the weakened barrier only to strike Metagross's glowing fist and get blasted into the sky. Another Light Screen took the brunt of the flamethrower, outwash pouring around the edges as Aura Sphere hit the shield, pulsing against it for a moment before shattering it and hurtling through. Specter followed the fighting type move through as Metagross swung two arms out, rebounding the Aura Sphere through Specter's incorporeal form with one as the grinning Ghost slashed across the front of Metagross's face.
The Gengar's grin melted into abject horror however as a Bullet Punch slammed into its side and sent it flying back towards the rest of the team. Metagross hadn't moved an inch from its original position the entire time as it continued to stare down my team, not taking any action as Specter gathered its bearings.
"Arceus that thing is strong. We need to coordinate better and not give it time to breath. Start with a barrage of water pulses and try and get close with aqua tail Samurott. Knight, carry a heavy onslaught of Dragon Pulses and then go in for a Dragon Tail or an Extreme Speed. Your physical strength should help there. Scizor, I have a feeling you're going to be playing distraction this time out. Specter, try hypnosis if you can. Keep pouring it on to see if you can get Metagross under. If you can't just try and rain chaos on it."
The ghost type's massive frown was still there but, its eyebrows showed its frustration and determination to take on the massive steel type. Knight shuffled its feet to get a grip as it readied itself to take to the air.
"Lucario, Typhlosion, this is your time to shine. Alternate your attacks Lucario and keep mixing Drain Punch in. Typhlosion, keep the fire coming. We don't stop moving from here. Lucario will relay commands as needed, otherwise, work with your best judgement."
The team rolled into action. The ground near me shook as Knight took to the air, the others all bounding towards Metagross or taking up good vantage points scattered around the steel titan.
The octagonal light screen surrounding Metagross flickered into existence as water slammed into it, Dragon pulses from the side and Signal Beams from above. A clear panel formed above Metagross's head, taking the absorbing the Signal beam right as Specter blasted a shadow ball into it, ripping through the barrier and slamming into Metagross's head, albeit weekend. Metagross's bucked under the blow, but the Light Screen's re-established themselves faster than I could blink, and I watched as Samurott hurtled straight in towards them, firing a water pulse along the way as it dove into Aqua Tail.
The barriers collapsed from an octagon into just three sides holding back Knight's attack as the Water Pulses were allowed to impact Metagross. I gritted my teeth and prayed as Samurott blasted in, aqua tail making contact with the steel type, even if it didn't hurt it much. Faster than I could blink, Metagross swiveled around and the full force of a Thunder Punch slammed straight into Samurott, tossing it a hundred feet across the battlefield.
"Samurott!"
The water type got to its feet and dusted itself off, but the effect of the attack was visible on it. It wouldn't sustain more than two more blows like that one. The only upside was that in the meantime, Knight saw its opportunity coming and blasted through the light screen physically. Metagross weighed about half a ton, but two hundred kilos of Dragonite behind a dragon tail was still a lot.
The impact shoved the unprepared Metagross back a dozen feet, the blow visible on its blue body as the ground erupted with lava beneath it. The eruption sent Metagross a few feet into the air, scorching its underbelly with the sheer heat released from the Magma. The steel type moved over to a new spot, slamming a Bullet Punch with each arm into the oncoming attacks from Lucario, Specter, Scizor and Knight, not even bothering to deflect Samurott's Water pulse.
'Hydro Pumps when the barriers shatter.' I felt a small tug of affirmation in the back of my head as Lucario leaped in for a close combat attack, barely avoiding Metagross's swinging fists. The aura Pokemon was a blur, raining blows into Metagross's body, up until a massive psychic wave slammed into it and tossed it back.
Hydro Pumps rained in through a gap in the barriers, slamming into Metagross's side and forcing it back a few feet. Its claws dug into the ground, holding it in place as it glared at Samurott, simultaneously focusing on holding back another flamethrower. The outwash from the flames poured over the edges, snapping at it. Another Dragon Pulse crashed through the flames and shattered the barrier, letting them through as the onslaught hit Metagross. Scizor dove in from above with a Fury Cutter, slashing at the metallic surface of its body. Metagross lifted itself off the ground, levitating with psychic power in the face of the attacks.
'EVERYONE JUMP! IN THE AIR NOW!'
To my immense relief Lucario relayed the command in time. Knight, Scizor and Specter were all floating as is. Typhlosion and Lucario bounded as high as they could, and Samurott made it into the air, but not by much as Metagross slammed straight into the ground and a massive Earthquake rippled through the ground, stopping ten feet short of me at a momentarily visible, glimmering psychic barrier.
'Watch out, it's getting serious! Clearly it can focus on all of us at once, so we need to think differently. Chain things together and give each other the best chance you can.'
A water pulse slammed into a Light Screen, followed quickly by Lucario shattering it with a fist as Hydro Pump sailed in to replace it. Shadow Ball ripped through another light screen, paving the way for Flamethrower and Dragon Pulse behind it. Signal Beams rained in from everywhere as Scizor danced around opponent, firing whenever the chance was present to tax the barriers.
Without warning Metagross slammed one leg into the ground faster than I could react. The airborne Pokemon avoided the shockwave easily. Lucario had bounded into the air and Knight had picked Typhlosion off the ground, but Samurott took the hit from the Earthquake getting tossed into the air.
Metagross wasn't the fastest of Pokemon when it was accelerating, but it could get to some mighty quick speeds once it got there, and the time during which Samurott was airborne was enough for it to rocket over, legs spinning around it like a disc as it slammed another Thunder Punch into the vulnerable water type, sending it flying all the way back to me. I ran over and check on the clearly passed out Samurott, recalling it with a grimace.
Typhlosion blasted through the Light Screens ahead with a Flame Charge and slammed into Metagross, taking a Bullet Punch to the Stomach and landing twenty feet away on all fours.
'Change up the assault plan. It's used to what we're doing.' I instructed from afar, watching as Lucario leapt forward and slammed a drain Punch into Metagross's surface, picking up a little bit of energy from the interaction before another Psychic blasted it back.
Metagross was holding back. Lucario was still standing and able to go, as were most of the others. With the ease it had taken Samurott out I had no doubt it could annihilate us without thinking.
Scizor was the next to go as Metagross swiveled around and slammed a massive Meteor Mash into the Steel type's body, creating a crumpling sound as the injured steel type fell to the ground with a massive bruise and a dent in its steely armor.
"One hit. Arceus." I recalled Scizor, looking at Steven. He was simply watching the fight. I looked out at my remaining four Pokemon. Realistically these were the four with the best chance of taking it to Metagross, and Steven knew that.
'Have Typhlosion team with up Knight. Get dropped in mid attack and carry the fight on.' I relayed another set of instructions through Lucario. The fight didn't stop for even a moment as Lucario continued to dance around the open arena, flinging Aura Spheres and trying to get close for the occasional Drain Punch. Knight rocketed in from above, firing an ice beam out of its maw as it closed in on Metagross.
A classic Light Screen manifested to hold back the ice type attack as Metagross kept its eyes on Specter, the ghost dancing around malevolently and firing Shadow Balls.
The frost poured off the Light screen and cracked it slightly as Typhlosion was unceremoniously hurtled directly into the barrier, body alight with flame. Knight diverted upwards, back into the air as Typhlosion crashed through the Light Screen, Flame Charge striking Metagross head on.
"Lava Plume!" Typhlosion refused to give Metagross an inch as it blasted out heaps of Lava coating the top of Metagross's body, following it of its own volition with an Eruption from beneath. The ground burst open, lava and rocks jetting out straight at Metagross's underbelly.
Specter took the chance and divebombed the distracted Metagross with a Dark Pulse as it shook off Typhlosion, slamming it with a Sucker Punch as well.
Steven snapped his fingers from the other side of the field and Metagross roared. A cold spell settled onto the area, making the hairs on my arms tingle as its red eyes glowed. It's supercomputer of a brain calculated whatever trajectories and information it needed, and without warning Psychic blasted Lucario out of contention. The burst of energy slammed into Lucario and tossed the fighting type back towards me like a rag doll.
"Specter, it's now or never!" I called out from afar. The ghost slunk back, doing its best to retreat from attacking range as Metagross raised an inch into the air and spun, slamming back down with a hard Earthquake. Knight had picked Typhlosion up again, and just barely this time around as the ground rippled and tore.
The Gengar's eyes began to glow red as it stared directly at Metagross, its usual malevolent grin strained as all its effort was poured into Hypnosis. I looked at Metagross, trying to discern any visible effects of the technique, only to see nothing. The Psychic type seemed almost unaffected by it. Almost. Its legs were sagging just the slightest bit, and that was likely the best sign that it was a little preoccupied, the best we would get.
"Flamethrower and Dragon Tail!" I called out as Typhlosion immediately poured a stream of fire directly at Metagross. A weak Light Screen popped up in place, but it shattered in under a second as Typhlosion overloaded the attack. Metagross's distractedness helped as the fire type kept up the onslaught. Dragonite soared as high as it could, letting Gravity and Extreme Speed bring it down with its tail glowing a dark indigo. The mighty dragon crashed into Metagross from on top, making the Steel type buckle into the ground under the weight of the impact.
"Specter, Shadow Ball!" I hoped Specter would still be able to pull it off. The Ghost type was straining under the effort of trying to keep Metagross occupied with Hypnosis. Its best effort was amazing, but it was taking its toll. I watched as the fire in its eyes stayed lit, but the red glow disappeared and a Shadow Ball formed in its hands, firing off a little slower than it would have liked.
A blast of silver energy fired from the other side and shredded through the shadow ball, slamming into Specter and knocking the steel type back, quickly followed through by another shadow ball which ripped the ghost into its vaporous form.
"Specter! Return!" I recalled the fatigued Gengar, looking back at the field. This was almost over.
"Metagross! End this!" Steven called out audibly from the other side of the plateau in a harsh gesture. The Steel type slammed into the ground with an Earthquake that even Knight couldn't save Typhlosion from this time, dealing an immense amount of damage to the fire type before a similar steely silver attack slammed into it and knocked it back.
To its credit, Typhlosion was still standing. Most of the other Pokemon had taken fewer hits from Steven's powerhouse before collapsing. The titanic steel type followed through by rocketing in and slamming a Hammer Arm into Typhlosion, and another, before capping it off with a bullet punch.
"Return! I'm proud of you Typhlosion!" I clipped the pokeball back to my belt, looking at the two Pokemon standing on the field. Metagross and Knight.
"Extreme Speed!"
In an orange blur, Knight slammed into Metagross, the Steel type's legs buckling again under the weight of the impact as it pushed back, keeping its underbody from touching the ground. Knight rocketed back into the Sky as Metagross's eyes took on an eerie glow.
A shining white orb formed in front of its maws, deliberately slow as it charged up. The air crackled and shimmered around it, distorting my view of Metagross as it levitated into the air. Its two front legs rose, the claws at the end of its bulkhead legs lining up as a scope in front of the orb.
"Dodge!" I shouted as hard as I could. Knight immediately began weaving in the air, cutting wide circles and flying as fast as it could as I watched Metagross wearily. One of its fists began to spark and crackle as its eyes stayed locked on Knight, following its relentless flight.
"Hyper Beam!" Steven pointed to the sky as Metagross finally released the attack. To my horror the beam blasted forward with a speed unindicative of the charging time and slammed right into Knight. Shining electricity had chained itself in bolts around the Hyper Beam, and a tunnel of frost had bored through the center as the triple attack slammed into Knight and the dragon fell out of the sky with little else to say.
I recalled it from midair, turning towards Metagross in awe. Steven was simply looking at me and thinking. Metagross slowly walked over to its trainer and he mindlessly ran a hand along the top of Metagross's body, his eyes unfocused.
Without another word he recalled Metagross and began walking towards the recovery machine setup. I made my way over and slotted all of my pokeballs into six of the twelve available spots. Steven made it a moment later and put Metagross's pokeball in as well, returning to his tent as I stayed outside, standing in the evening breeze.
I simply waited outside, watching the Tailow and Swellow dancing around the trees and enjoying their evening together. I spent the better part of an hour watching the flying types have their fun as the machine lights slowly ticked over to green. I picked up my pokeballs unceremoniously and clipped them back onto my belt, setting to work on a campfire to sit in front of. For all the heaters and throw pillows, a good old-fashioned campfire was still comfortable. Within a half hour of gathering broken branches and boughs I had a nice fire going in front of which I sat down.
Steven emerged from his tent soon, claiming Metagross's pokeball and sitting down by the fire as well. His silver hair was a little tousled, and he was still dressed as he had been earlier, without his jacket.
"Whenever you start your climb up again, you need someone to wipe the floor with you. It shows you where you are and forces you to start pushing hard again. It takes you down a few pegs." Steven was staring into the fire. He wasn't quite lost, and he didn't have the haunted look about him that some people did, but he was thinking as he spoke.
"There's a lot to work on in the next three weeks. Of course, there's general training, making you stronger overall. But you're also sloppy."
I wanted to stare incredulously at him, to ask him what he was saying, but I bit my tongue and held it in as he kept talking. He was right. I'd just been utterly thrashed, and Steven was holding back. He might have taken me seriously, but he most definitely could have held back while doing so.
"We'll work on technique on top of brute strength. Coordination with your other Pokemon is going to be key. You have the groundwork, which is more than most people can say. A little bit of work on your own fitness. We'll be working from an educational point of view over the contents of the dossier I gave you, as well as over everything technique and battling related. Days will start at six. I'll detail the plans in the morning and we'll go from there." Steven stood up and moved towards the cooking setup, getting supplies out as he began to put together a simple meal.
"I would have bet on your catching Lance's attention at some point anyway, but now it's going to be sooner. My goal at the end of this, aside from your education and development, is to have you up to a be more than exceptional when you inevitably do catch his attention. Get some rest tonight. We'll be going hard from tomorrow."