Disclaimer: You don't own Pokémon. Or do you? That's the question. But I never said I did - or that I was trying to earn money. There.
Author's Note: I have called the HM Waterfall, 'waterwall' in my story, and the the HM Whirlpool, 'watergyre'. I hope no confusion is caused.
Dedication: To all the people at Zeth's Pokémon Library, Oddish's Fanfic Website, and Togepi's Message Board. They are very original and great writers, and they helped me with some information… Of course, they don't know me as 'Morbane' there…
The Pokémon Gods
by Morbane: A Pokémon Fanfic
Chapter One: A Month in Cinnamon
"Today," Loren told Bluewing, "is our day."
The Mantine looked sideways at her face, chirped questioningly, and waved a fin/wing at the forest on their right, which they were walking past.
They were supposed to be walking through the Cinnamon Woods, not past them, but today, a week into their new training scheme, Loren had given up. They were getting nowhere. All of the team, including Loren herself, were depressed, and Loren needed to break them out of the cycle.
"We need a break, so I'm taking you to the city today," Loren explained.
Her Pokeballs stirred.
"Yeah, I'll let you out later."
It wasn't as if she didn't have the Pokémon - Mantine, Skarmory, Sunkern, Clefairy, Pikachu, and Charmeleon, and several more back at Professor Cedar's laboratory - but she was no good at training them.
For whatever reason.
Everyone expected her to be - 'I mean, gimmeabreak, this is Loren Kisachiro, daughter of two of the League's Masters...' Loren's mother Tara had even been a member of the Elite Four for a few years.
Most of her supplies - and many of her Pokémon - were gifts from family members, who expected her to beat Gymleaders with them. They were still waiting. After months on the road, Loren still hadn't won a single badge.
She thought she'd never hear the last of it. Just yesterday, for instance, her mother had called her on the cellphone and talked about a new book that she'd bought on ebay™ and which had just arrived at home.
"Where shall I send it, darling?" asked Tara.
"Here in Cinnamonville is fine."
"Oh, are you planning to stay there a while? That's good. Keeping up your training, I guess?"
"Yes, Mum."
"Not going into the town all day?"
"NO, Mum."
"Just wondering - you know, it does seem that way. Your Pokémon's levels are rising very slowly, you know, you can hardly blame your father and I..."
"Well, I have been training."
"Yes... yes, darling. I hope this new book helps."
Loren saw no reason why it should. The last ten hadn't. Most of them combined the basic diet principles with really wacky, unusual ideas. Loren didn't have any psychic Pokémon, for instance, so she saw absolutely no need for her Pokémon all to learn how to interpret and control their dreams.
In high school it had been so different...
Loren pushed the these thoughts away as they entered Cinnamonville. It was a pretty town. There was a Pokéball maker here, so Loren planned to drop off the various Apricorns she'd collected recently. Then she could give her Pokémon a checkup at the Pokémon Centre, then take them all to a breeder for a session, as a special treat.
If she couldn't get them more powerful, she might as well make them happy.
Loren sat quietly through the session, watching and envying the breeder's skill as he gently massaged and groomed Loren's Pokémon.
"They're in top condition," the breeder, a young man, said appreciatively. "You treat them very well. You're not a trainer, are you?" and when she was slow to respond, "Didn't think so. Most trainers keep their Pokémon at it day in, day out, they rely on the Pokémon Centres to keep their Pokémon in o.k. health."
"Actually," Loren said, "I AM a Pokémon trainer."
"Oh!" The breeder turned and stared at her Pokémon. "You must be a good one. I don't see many Skarmory come by with this kind of sheen to their feathers."
Lance cooed smugly. Loren knew that he was saying, Look! The breeder says that my being healthy proves you're a great trainer! Ha!
"Wishful thinking, Lance."
"Huh?" The young breeder looked up, startled.
"Uh, nothing."
After the session every one was energetic, hungry, and refused to get back in their Pokéballs. Loren led them to a park, told them to guard a picnic table set in a nice little clearing, "you too Bluewing," and walked off to get takeaways.
There was one thing that was making her quite happy about being in town, and that was the fact that her rival wouldn't be there. Sudayo had dared her to spend a month training in the Cinnamon woods, and Loren hoped that Sudayo would stay there almost the entire time. She didn't want to see her rival until the time was up, at which point Sudayo would beat her into the ground. Sudayo, who was also Loren's cousin on her father's side, was a natural Pokémon trainer and battler, and felt no restrictions in showing it.
Loren ordered food from a little kebab stall in a plaza and then sat on a bench waiting for it to be ready. To pass the time, she got up and walked around the plaza, looking at all the little stalls. *Cool place,* she thought. *I really should spend more time actually in this city. It won't hurt to take a day off from training, anyway, to wander round.*
"TIINE!"
At that cry, Loren raced into the middle of the plaza, scanning the skies for Bluewing. He dived onto her shoulder, chirped urgently, and took off again. "Okay, Bluewing, I'm coming!" Loren ran along the streets of Cinnamonville, wondering what had been so urgent that Bluewing had needed her.
"HEY YOU! GIRL! Come back!" Loren stopped and turned around, beginning to pant.
Oh, ***! She still held the last piece of merchandise she'd been looking at, in her hand. And that was the shop owner!
"I'm really sorry! Catch!" Loren yelled, not having enough time to go back. She drew her arm back for an overarm pitch and sent it hurtling towards the shop owner.
He reached for it but it slipped out of his grasp and fell hard on the pavement. Something in it tinkled.
Oh damn. Now she was going to have to sort it out. She cringed.
"You're going to have to pay for it now," the stall vendor yelled, reddening. Loren turned and jogged back.
"How much is it," she asked resignedly, and handed over the the money, avoiding the vendor's eyes. The item was expensive, too. She slipped it into her shouldersack and returned to Bluewing.
Jogging steadily, Loren reached the park five minutes later.
"I want the Pikachu!" she heard a voice yell. "Get out of the way, Sunkern!"
"Just one more flamethrower on that Clefairy, Cyndaquil!"
"Charger!" Loren shouted as loud as possible. "Defend with Fire Spin! Keep it above the grass!" A blaze of light flickered from the clearing. She wasn't too far away now.
*Damn, girl! What a stupid mistake! You know your Charmeleon can't control Fire Spin! ...Well, it should drive the trainers back... I'll tell her to stop now and use Smoke Screen. That's a lot easier to control.*
"Drop it, Charger! Smoke Screen! Sand Attack, Lance!"
The flames shivered raggedly and went out with a puff and a hiss. Smoke filled the glade and billowed out.
"Pidgeotto! Gust it away!" someone else's voice commanded.
Loren reached the clearing and stopped, leaning against the picnic table as she got her breath. The smoke cleared and she found herself facing five trainers and three Pokémon.
"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO WITH MY POKÉMON?!" she yelled above their orders.
"They're yours?" the tallest of the two girls asked, taking the offensive, as she added, "Well, what kind of a trainer are you, leaving your Pokémon out of your Pokeballs and on their own?"
If they wanted to play that way... "They're usually fine... when not being attacked by trainers who can't tell the difference between wild and trained Pokémon!"
She quickly scanned the Cyndaquil, Pidgeotto, and Nidorino standing in front of her with their trainers. "What kind of trainers are YOU? Do you ever clip your Nidorino's toenails? Your Cyndaquil obviously doesn't get the right supplements in its diet and I bet it takes ages to heat up at the beginning of battle. And when did you last give your Pidgeotto a week's rest? I could hardly tell the difference between it and a wild one! And they say Pokémon benefit from being trained!"
There was a very shocked pause.
Hah! See what they think of that! Then, suddenly, Loren was worried. They were going to think she was such a b**** now. She could think of other words they were going to call her. She remembered Sudayo's most recent insults, about her total lack of friends... and the reasons for that.
"Look," Loren said very fast, "I didn't really mean to insult your training abilities - I mean, I know sometimes training takes a lot out of you and it's kind of hard to know when to pamper and when to push your Pokémon, but you kinda made me REALLY mad by attacking my Pokémon, I mean they were all in a group together out in the open and you don't usually see wild Pokémon acting like that!"
"Pokémon battle." Said one of the three boys, touching his weary-looking Pidgeotto.
Now Loren was actually angry. Lance cawed once behind her, warningly, as her hands curled up, hiding her stubby nails.
"I'm sorry, I'm not battling today. Unlike you, I respect my Pokémon's limits and I don't make them battle any time an idiot challenges me over personal issues. And did you know that on the first page of the Trainer Code booklet is a rule saying 'don't use Pokémon to settle personal disputes'? That's barely better than fighting it out.
"So," Loren finished sweetly, "I refuse your challenge."
&
Twenty minutes later, Loren was stomping along a quiet lane in Cinnamonville, heading for the Pokémon Center so that her team could be healed before they finally had their delayed lunch. Bluewing, anxiously chirping, seemed to feel guilty for his mistress's bad mood.
"'S'not your FAULT, Bluewing," Loren muttered. "You did the right thing."
Yeah, I know, Bluewing replied. But you're still in a bad mood, for some reason.
Loren was surprised. When not actually asked for conversation, Bluewing usually just 'talked' using the Mantine equivalent of "hmmm" "mmhmm" and "mmm". Even yes and no were rare.
She called out Lance, who was in perfect condition, and sent him, with money, to collect the kebabs she'd ordered. It was probably quite a normal thing to do here; Cinnamonville was a popular town for Pokémon trainers.
By the time Lance was back, her Pokémon were healed, and they were all sitting around a table eating lunch in the Pokémon Center canteen, Loren was feeling a lot more positive.
She ran her eyes down her checklist. She had a few errands to run; nothing major.
"Anyone got any ideas for what they want to do today?"
No response. Her Pikachu and Clefairy looked up guiltily from the table, where they had been trying to steal some of her Charmeleon's hummus. "Watch your food, Charger," she murmured. Charger growled softly and waved her tail from side to side in the two Pokémon's separate directions. Sunkern, Lance and Bluewing shrugged in Pokémon fashion.
So half an hour later, Loren, feeling like a good Pokémon trainer, was sitting fairly high up on the seats of a covered stone arena, which was the Cinnamon Gym. Below her, two kids younger than her little brother were duking it out with a Pidgey and a Rattata. Loren decided she wasn't going to need her strategy notebook.
"So, which Pokémon would you rather be in this situation?" she asked her team dutifully.
Pidgey, said Bluewing, it can fly.
Same, said Lance.
Rattata, it's got teeth, said Charger in a gangster-type hiss.
Pidgey, it's older, said her Pikachu and Clefairy together.
Rattata, said Sunkern, they have more interesting lives.
Loren gave up.
She was discussing a TV program with Sunkern when five particular trainers walked in. *I don't need this,* thought Loren.
"Hey YOU," yelled one of the boys. "I thought you weren't battling today?"
"I'm NOT! I'm WATCHING!" Loren yelled back.
"Still scared?"
"Still immature?"
"How can you be a Pokémon trainer if you don't battle? That's what training is all about!"
*Got him there!* "Need I reply?" That guy had lost the argument. There were many other observers dotted around the arena, and most of them would disagree. Pokémon wasn't just battling; that was a little kid's answer.
One of those observers stood up. "So, trainer. You're not familiar around here, but you seem to have very strong opinions on the ideals of Pokémon training. Care to tell us what they are?"
The tone was light, but the speaker's manner wasn't, and Loren saw that she was being put to a very important test. *This is just not my day. Earth, Water, Fire and Air, how do I say this? I'm going to bungle up like that kid down there.*
This can't be any worse than the essay that clinched your title of Pokémon Tech Top Student, Bluewing chirped.
*I wasn't THE top student, Bluewing dear. I was one of them,* Loren thought. Sometimes she suspected Bluewing was a telepath, although the Water/Flying type wasn't ostentatiously psychic.
"Well, you might say that I'm an idealist," she began, "because my visions of Pokémon training follow closely to ideals. I think you have to be friends with Pokémon, that you have to understand them, and that your choices should not always be based on Speed or Special Defence, but sometimes on whether you and a Pokémon have compatible personalities.
"You have to know a lot about Pokémon too. There is no use in having the skills to capture a Chansey if you don't know what it eats or whether it needs daily Vitamin C tablets, which, by the way, it does. And a lot of soy protein. If your Pokémon learns a new attack, you need to know exactly what it is and what its statistics are. You shouldn't need to check its power by Pokedex.
"Battling is fine, but it is not merely the most obvious way of showing your skills. It is also important as part of a fitness routine. And even if battling is your way of life, you need to remember that other things are important for your Pokémon - like rest, new things and situations, having fun every now and then, and meeting their own goals.
"I'm not really into the battle side of Pokémon training. Partly because I'm not too good at it. Partly because I find that people obsessed with battling don't take the time to explore their Pokémon's personalities, and burn them out too quickly. Having a level 100 Pokémon is not as important as having a Pokémon whom you understand as well as it understands you. If you think that raising a Pokémon to level 100 is the best way to develop its personality, though, I'm not going to interfere; I just have different opinions."
"Thank you, that's enough," the boy said dryly. He was tall and lanky, with longish dark brown hair and an almost olivey complexion. His eyes were also dark, and serious. Maybe just a little humorous too. "What's your name?"
"Loren, of Cianwood City."
"Cianwood... I suppose that accounts for the Mantine. Well, Loren, if that's your opinion of the trainer theory, I'd like to test your skills on the practical. I challenge you to a four-on-four Pokémon match."
Everyone collectively gasped. Loren wasn't sure why. "Umm.. you may have heard that I'm not battling today. I like to give my Pokémon breaks every now and them, and today was supposed to be one of them."
"I see I haven't introduced myself," the boy said. A grin escaped his control and turned into a smirk somewhere along the way. "I am Dylan, the gymleader of Cinnamonville."
"Oh," said Loren, and there wasn't really anything she could say, except, "Could we make that three on three?" Because you can't decline a formal challenge from a gymleader unless you have a serious medical reason. Usually it's you challenging them, not the other way around. Dylan nodded, accepting her modification.
She didn't even know the gym's specialty. But that was easy enough; clearing the arena, Dylan called out a Jolteon.
Jolteon were fast and accurate, and Loren decided to go for the type advantage. "Go, Sunkern!" she commanded. Her Sunkern, at level 26, was her second-highest-levelled Pokémon, and because of his species' usual bad stats, she had fed him extra nutrients (such as Calcium and Protein) as often as was healthy. Besides, Grass Pokémon were a decent match against Electric types.
"Sunkern, Growth!"
"Jolteon, Pin Missile!"
*Good choice of attack, I think. His Jolteon seems only to focus on one thing at a time. While she's attacking, she's not prepared for a counter attack. But Sunkern can attack at the same time as he receives one.*
"Sunkern, Wrap!" Two vines extended from Sunkern's sides and tied Jolteon up like a parcel. With a twitch, he had her lying helplessly on her back. *Hey, that was easier than I thought!*
"Jolteon, Thunderbolt!"
Loren took a risk, something she did often in Pokémon battles.
"Giga Drain!"
The fact that Jolteon was pouring her electricity down Sunkern's vines made it easy for Sunkern to draw even more power from the Pokémon. The risk here, of course, was that her Sunkern would not be able to handle the increased voltage zapping through his tendrils.
Because by pulling energy from Jolteon at the same time as she sent it to him, Sunkern was helping her hurt him, lowering his own resistance to her electricity. Which was already weak, since Dylan's champion was in physical contact with Loren's.
Sunkern paled with concentration, trying to get the electricity he was drawing from Jolteon to flow harmlessly into the ground, while at the same time absorbing the HP he was also drawing from her. She was obviously a lower level than he was, and she fainted. "Not bad at all, Jolteon," Dylan murmured. *Not bad at all, Loren,* his opponent told herself.
Loren, I'm not up to any more battling, Sunkern said.
"Understood. And that's MORE than fine."
She recalled him, then released him on the steps behind her. (It saved either of them the journey). She knew without looking behind that Charger and Lance were pulling Potions out of her bag and using them on their teammate. In this, at least, they had had a lot of practise.
Dylan's next Pokémon was a Pikachu, and Loren couldn't resist. "Shimmerzag, why don't you have a go?"
Are you crazy? Loren's Pikachu retorted.
"No. Have fun."
Shimmerzag's ears dipped as she considered this, then they perked up again with Pikachu mischief. Dylan definitely raised his eyebrows. It wasn't generally a good idea to match a gymleader's Pokémon with one of the same evolutionary chain AND stage. He didn't comment, though. Probably saving that for after the battle.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt." He said.
"Speed up, Shimmerzag."
But Loren wasn't dumb. Electricity takes the shortest and easiest route to its destination whenever it can, and the easiest route for Dylan's Pikachu's Thunderbolt was through Shimmerzag, wherever she was in the arena. "Quick Attack," Loren said, timing Shimmerzag's impact for just after when her opponent had released the Thunderbolt. It came down and struck them both equally.
"Shimmerzag, Tail Whip, then Slam!" Oops. Loren covered her mouth as she realised her mistake. In battle, you almost never call out a sequence of moves - just one at the time. When you call out a move that your Pokémon isn't going to use just yet, you give the Pokémon you're battling the opportunity to prepare for it. And your opponent gets your gameplan, free.
"Thundershock, Pikachu," said Dylan. His Pokémon sent concentrated voltage down Shimmerzag's tail, making her wince.
"Shimmerzag, don't fight it! Absorb it, relax!" This was one thing that they had never managed to perfect in training. Shimmerzag unclenched her paws and absorbed a little of the shock. But most of it decreased her HP, because she couldn't resist it as well as an electric-type should.
Dylan's eyebrows went up further. But Loren was still confident. Six years ago, when she had been allowed to choose one Pichu from a group of seven, she hadn't chosen the most powerful or the most speedy. She had chosen the one that was the hardest to catch, the most observant, and the most ingenious; and she had chosen Shimmerzag because she liked the little rat. The two had gotten on so well that the Pichu had evolved two levels later, at level 3. On a stats chart, Shimmerzag looked less than impressive. Her Special Defense dipped way below average, and the rest of her stats were just average. But a stats chart doesn't show intelligence quotient, or measure friendship.
So Loren wasn't down yet. "Shimmerzag, thundershock!" Shimmerzag nodded, crouching down to the ground so that her opponent couldn't see her cheeks, then leaping up to release the shock. Dylan's Pikachu leaned back a little, taking the shock with ease.
"Pikachu, Thunderwave," Dylan commanded. *Oh oh*.
Again, Shimmerzag received the full attack without absorbing much. She stiffened, with a very small "Chu," and hunched down.
"Pikachu, Slam!" Dylan called. "Front on!" Apparently, he was aiming for the highest possible effect on Shimmerzag's morale; no Pokémon liked being hit in the face.
Loren grinned. This required only a very small movement from her partially paralysed Pikachu. "Shimmerzag, get ready!" A Pikachu's claws are not very long or sharp, which is why they don't tend to learn attacks like Scratch or Slash. But hitting them is a little like throwing yourself up against a blunt tack. Shimmerzag was setting Dylan's Pikachu up for exactly that sensation; at the last moment, she raised her arms, and Pikachu hit Shimmerzag's claws instead of her head and chest.
Dylan's Pikachu recoiled from the attack with a pitiful "Chuuu...", probably hurt more by the attack than Shimmerzag. "Shimmerzag," Loren said, "try the agility stretches."
This was another weak point of Loren's training. Shimmerzag could never remember the exact sequence of stretches that Loren tried to teach her to help her use Agility, and so instead, she started with her cheeks, went on to her tail, then one foot after another... These stretches were supposed to help flexibility and Loren had hoped that they would help Shimmerzag shake off her Thunderwave-induced stiffness.
Loren had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to see Dylan's eyebrows if she looked - they'd be lost in his hair. "Agility, Pikachu," the gymleader said.
What happened next was unexpected. Shimmerzag somehow stopped wigglying her limbs like an upturned bug and began to stretch properly. "YOU GO GIRL!" yelled Loren, delighted and wondering if she had any Rare Candy left.
Shim-mer-ZAG! Clefairy and Bluewing yelled in unison.
"Keep going, Pikachu!" Dylan yelled, as his Pokémon continued with agility, building up her speed. At this rate, Shimmerzag would never be able to catch up. But now she had finally got rid of the paralysis and, without waiting for direction, she began to use Agility.
Now this was something to watch. The two yellow Pokémon appeared only as blurs around the arena, but soon the blurs began to show a pattern. The two Pikachu weaved around each other in an intense dance. "Pikachu, you'll need to use Quick Attack now," Dylan said sharply.
Loren sighed. It was, of course, the right move, taking advantage of Pikachu's increased speed before Loren's own Pikachu also reached the maximum level of speed. "Leap up, Shimmerzag, and begin to charge."
Dylan's Pikachu couldn't effect an air tackle, continuing Agility without instructions. Shimmerzag surprised Dylan with Thunderwave, and now it was Shimmerzag's turn to run circles around her opponent.
"Quick Attack, Shimmerzag, make it your best!" Dylan's Pikachu was knocked back, and Shimmerzag finished her with Slam.
The audience gasped.
Shimmerzag tottered back to Loren and her team. "Well done, Shimmerzag," Loren whispered. "That was worth every defeat we've ever suffered." She turned back to face the gymleader.
On the other side of the arena, Dylan's eyes narrowed. It was true, Loren thought, that she had won both battles with a large amount of luck, but she had still won them, and her Pokémon had come through. She was winning a Gym match... and drunk on adrenaline, she decided to challenge this Gymleader's authority once and for all.
"Bluewing!" she announced. Dylan looked disappointed, calling out what was probably his strongest Pokémon, a male Ampharos.
"Halcyon!" he yelled.
Mantine and Ampharos took the time to size each other up silently before they struck. "Supersonic, Bluewing!"
"Tackle, Halcyon." Bluewing immediately stopped his attack and glided out of the way. He was disadvantaged in this gym. Mantine are unable to fly very far or high; they are best at gliding, and of course, swimming. They are amphibians, with very small, tough taloned flipper-paws that usually lie flat against their stomachs when in the air or water, however, they have a hard time on land.
At the moment, Bluewing was intelligently trying to avoid contact with Halcyon, whose electricity would then overpower him. This strategy would at least prevent Halcyon from using the powerful Ampharos attack, Thunderpunch.
But Loren had a different idea.
"Bluewing, PERCH!"
Loren could not repress a smirk as Dylan - and most of the audience - looked around for something that her Mantine could perch on. But the command was completely clear to Bluewing. With his antenna crossed briefly in a Mantine grin, he slipped air and plummeted down in a curve that had his wingspan vertically spread... and landed... on the back of Halcyon's neck. One flipper-claw was positioned exactly in each of the two spaces between the three rings on the neck of the Ampharos. As Halcyon bent helplessly, Bluewing pushed off, sending the Ampharos stumbling forward.
Loren BEAMED. Her face just split open as she mentally replayed what her first and favourite Pokémon had just done.
*We are having a celebration party after this,* she thought. *Whether I win or not.* Behind her, all the rest of her team was cheering. Even Pikachu, supported by Clefairy – although unlike the others, she wasn't in any condition to bounce up and down.
Loren's Skarmory, in his excitement, looked as ridiculous as an uppity giant chicken.
Back to the battle – Ampharos was furious. He was charged up with an ionic aura that fizzed and spat. High above him, Bluewing flapped, relying on his height rather than speed.
And Halcyon miscalculated the Mantine's height with his first attempt to shock his opponent. The thundershock leapt into the air and fell short. It made Halcyon madder. The second shock hit, as Bluewing swooped tantalisingly lower. But to Ampharos' brief surprise, nothing seemed to happen.
Loren grinned. If they didn't get it, she didn't think she'd spell out exactly what Bluewing had done. It should be obvious…
"But it's got a double weakness!" some hapless observer gasped. "How's it doing that!"
Dylan snapped out, "P. R. O. T. E. C. T."
THAT member of the audience was Out of the Royal Favour.
Another thundershock missed, and in the breath just after Halcyon had flung the attack, just before he had regained his electrical field, Bluewing landed on the ground behind the Ampharos and aimed Supersonic at the back of his head.
It was too close to miss. Halcyon reeled – unfortunately, he reeled backwards.
Bluewing was effectively trapped, because he would have no time to get out of the way if Halcyon stumbled into him. He flapped up, slowly, gained control, and began to panic, because he was too close to Halcyon, and Mantine cannot gain height quickly. He readied Bubblebeam in his mouth.
"Not Bubblebeam!" Loren yelled. "BUBBLE!"
With one slight falter, Bluewing obeyed - "And glide backwards!" she continued. Bubblebeam would have shown Ampharos exactly where Bluewing was, and was not strong enough to KO the electric Pokémon. But Bubble would help to confuse Halcyon, and aid in Bluewing's next move -
Gliding - it was something he could do well in the air. Using his jet of bubbles to help propel himself backwards, he tilted his wings to coast backwards, landing on his stomach on the ground, a good distance away from Halcyon, who had just tripped over his foot.
"Cotton Spore, Halcyon!" Dylan cried.
Halcyon got up - but now Bluewing was up in the air, rising higher and higher above the audience. A few spores reached him, not enough to make a difference.
"Thundershock!" Dylan called.
Loren saw it as if in slow motion -
Bluewing was still straining up, still inside Halcyon's range. Every wingbeat seemed agonisingly lethargic; the Ampharos' furious lightning rose and rose... If Halcyon hit Bluewing, he would practically have won. So far Bluewing had been succeeding because Halcyon's electricity hadn't touched him - but if it caught him now, while he was putting all his energy into flying upwards, he would fall and Halcyon could finish him off. And Loren's other two fighters, although they were technically undefeated, were not really in a condition to fight any more.
Only the tip of the thundershock touched Bluewing, and his next wingbeat carried him out of range.
Shimmerzag let out a fierce cry of delight. Now Bluewing had won. Loren didn't even need to call out the next sequence of moves.
Bluewing reached a point directly above Halcyon, and stayed there, 'hovering' with long, deep wingbeats. Then his antennae twisted, and writhed, and a ring of water appeared in the air around him.
It fell, more and more cool rings plummeting after it, and Bluewing's tail began to move in a circular motion.
The HM Waterwall. Then HM Watergyre.
Halcyon shot electricity upwards desperately, but couldn't reach Bluewing. The Ampharos was obviously smart enough to realise that if he stepped through the wall of water, his electricity would backfire onto himself. He was too low-level to know Light Screen, so he resorted to Growl.
But the water drowned him out. He crouched into a defensive position, and the water closed over him. Dylan watched his Ampharos uneasily, hands clenched. He didn't give Halcyon any orders.
Near the bottom of the hollow column of water, the water raged, twisting itself round into a vortex that pummelled Halcyon ruthlessly. Bluewing's calm, dry, steadily flapping figure could scarcely be connected with the whirlpool, which twisted itself up, and up, and up. Before it reached him, Bluewing's antennae strained again – and the rings of water stopped coming from thin air, and the waterfall fell.
To reveal a sodden, shaken Ampharos. And Bluewing tilted, angled straight down, and dived vertically straight at Halcyon in a brutal, conclusive Take Down attack. Halcyon fainted.
&
The whole audience broke loose. As if startled, Lance took flight, and flew towards Dylan. The gymleader dodged the first pass, then realised what the Skarmory wanted and showed him the badge of his gym. "I've got to give it to her," he yelled at Lance. Halcyon stirred and growled at Lance, and Dylan quickly recalled him.
"Come back here, Lance," Loren yelled, while Shimmerzag and Clefairy giggled. She ran to Bluewing, picked him up, and strode forward to meet the gymleader. He had to raise his voice to be audible over the crowd – "I, Dylan, Electric Gymleader of Cinnamonville, present Trainer Loren of Cianwood with the Blitz Badge!"
&
It was evening by now. Euphoric, Loren and her team returned to the Pokémon Centre in a kind of triumphal procession. Not one of the six Pokémon was in a Pokéball. Shimmerzag and Sunkern had taken a shoulder each, while Bluewing claimed her lower arm – under any other circumstance, Loren would have been growling with the combined weight, but now, she didn't care.
As they walked through the door of the Pokémon centre, Joy greeted them with a grin. "What should I congratulate you on?"
"The Blitz Badge!" Loren declared. "Fought by Shimmerzag, Sunkern and Bluewing," (she indicated with her hand).
A sudden hush from the other trainers, and virtually everyone else within the centre. Then applause; her three fighters were given a practical shower of Potions and Berries; Shimmerzag shamelessly jumped up to grab a Przecure Berry from an offering trainer; and everyone wanted to shake her hand.
Five minutes later it had all died down, and a few other trainers pulled her over to the counter and made her describe the battle while Shimmerzag, Sunkern and Bluewing waited in the queue for the rejuvenation machines.
And that, too, died down. Tired and happy, Loren and her team thanked them all, tipped Nurse Joy, and set off towards the Cinnamon Woods again.
It was part of the bet she'd made with Sudayo. She had to sleep in the woods every night, until the bet was up.
Finding that she did, indeed have a bit of Rare Candy left, Loren broke it out among her six Pokémon, and they stayed up, celebrating around the campfire, until well past 2:am.
&
The gymleader of Cinnamon also stayed up. Not so happily.
Dylan sat in the gym office, slumped in a chair. Almost all of the light in the office came from the center security screen, in front of him, which was replaying his battle with Loren of Cianwood, again.
He switched to a different screen, rewound it, and watched her progress into the gym, and how she'd acted with her Pokémon. He got bored pretty quickly. Back to the centre screen; he watched her Mantine perch on Halcyon's neck, startle the Ampharos, defend himself with Protect, and confuse his opponent.
"Where have I seen that battling style before?" he muttered, resting his forehead on his right hand.
"I very much doubt you have," his prize Pokémon replied, from behind him. He sighed.
"Didn't mean to wake you, Caira..."
"You can't. I have psychic control over my waking and sleeping." The rare feline didn't sigh, but he got the message. She didn't speak either - not really, not in Pokémon language, but in a sort of psychic sound-illusion-projection that gave the impression she'd talked.
"That was an odd variation on the style of fighting which belongs to Syuto." She continued. "You've never been there."
"Syuto?" He turned round fully in the swivel-chair, regarding her. Syuto was the region beyond the northern mountains. There was little traffic between it and the Southern World.
She met his eyes with her great golden ones, then yawned. "I'm going back to sleep." She blinked again, then curled her huge dark-gray body up in the corner.
He turned restlessly back to the battle display. The girl's Mantine finished his two HM moves, and used Take Down, and Halcyon fell.
He'd thought he would go easy on her! And she'd given him his first defeat in a year! *Never underestimate your damn oponent, Dylan.*
She'd used a Sunkern - a Pokémon species with no battling potential to speak of. She'd used a Pikachu that couldn't absorb electricity. And she'd used a Mantine, a Pokémon which was completely vulnerable to electricity. She'd won.
She had to have the best Pokémon rapport he'd ever seen. Because, looking back at the tape, he could pick her battling style to pieces. If his Jolteon had used Agility then Sand Attack first, she would have defeated the Sunkern. If his Pikachu had kept using electric attacks after he'd used Thunderwave, Loren's 'Shimmerzag' would have practically short-circuited. If Halcyon had been able to land a millivolt of electricity on the Mantine, the Mantine would have lost.
If.
Hindsight was so, so perfect.
He was just glad he hadn't had any more challenges for the rest of the evening. He'd put his Pokémon through the Gym rejuvenator, and they were still in it. Although Caira could have answered a challenge, being psychic/ electric.
*The first time I actually issue a challenge, instead of receiving one, I get hammered. It could only have been worse if her Mantine had fought all three of my Pokémon... she hammered me!*
Back to Loren then. He needed to find out more about her.
He called up the League database on his laptop, searching for her name.
*So she comes from Pokémon Tech. She's trained... 22 different species of Pokémon, including evolved forms.* "I don't believe it! That was her first badge!" He'd hadn't meant to speak aloud. Instinctively, he turned and looked at Caira. Her tail twitched irritably, although the rest of her looked fast asleep. He turned back. "Loren Kisachiro... that must mean her parents are Tara and Anthony. Tara and Anthony! No wonder she's good..."
Tara had been a Rock Gymleader from Cameo Town in Southeast Kanto. Then she'd gone on to the League, become a Master almost immediately, and an Elite not long after. She'd dropped out of the Elite Four after the Cloudwraith had been vanquished, and married the skilled Bug trainer Anthony, also one of the League's Masters. *Some impressive family history here.*
But he was more interested in Loren herself. He went back to the Pokémon Tech records. Along with a picture of her, nine other people, and some Pokémon, there was a short article claiming her to be the top Pokémon Tech Graduate of last year. Along with the nine other people... who were apparently her best friends.
They looked deliriously happy.
Dylan checked Pokédex records. None of the Pokémon Loren had seemed especially remarkable, although they varied a lot. And that was all the information he could find. He sighed, stretched, and regarded her picture again on the central security screen, as the tape went again past the point where she brought out her Pikachu.
She didn't look remarkable either. As fit as most Pokémon trainers, who needed to keep in shape; tallish, almost his height. Long wispy dark-brown hair with subtle green highlights, and brown eyes. It was interesting the way she'd balanced between hair trends; that of keeping your hair colour and style completely natural, and that of permanently dying it a rainbow shade.
Loren looked like an okay person to travel with. If she could cook, that was.
It wasn't an entirely new idea of Dylan's. He'd wanted to begin his journey again for months. And it was Caira's idea that he should travel with someone else. He'd argued, but she was stubborn.
His Pokémon had finally won him over with the argument that on a journey he was undertaking solely for security reasons, it only made sense to take safety precautions. And however good he thought he was, he wasn't prepared for everything.
As a trainer from Cianwood had just shown him.
He could offer her his battling knowledge for the favour of travelling with her. Caira could help negotiate.
He stared at the display screen for a while, but by the time the tape had reached his defeat again, he had begun typing a message out on the laptop, to wait for Loren at the Pokémon centre.
&
Thanks for everyone. Especially Briar, Lightning-Strike, tremor3258, Maiku Zwei, and Zita the Celestial Houndoom. You who are reading should know that these people are very good writers themselves - although in the case of Zita, I couldn't find anything she/he had written. *puzzled*. Could ZtCH, or anyone who knows ZtCH, kindly direct me? Thanks. And people, I've tried to implement your comments…