Do the winter holidays drain every last ounce of energy out of anyone else? All my fun ends at Halloween. Thanksgiving and Christmas feel like chores. They're not even here and I'm already so busy. TT_TT
Onward! To the Santalune Gym!
Chapter 14: Back on Track
"Frawr!"
"No, Loxley. Hold still."
My grumbling did little to placate my starter. The yellow fox huffed a puff of steam as he swung his nose up in the air. The haughtiness lasted only a moment though, before Loxley was yelping under an amusingly underpowered water assault. The attacker in question was not Levi, my now snuggly azurill, but rather a snickering Zen that had just jumped out of the tub. She'd shaken her wet fur all over poor Loxley.
I highly suspect my father had spent his first night in Kalos at the Ranger station with Lt. Moreau and the rest of the detectives working on my mother's case. I'd been trundled back to the Lieutenant's apartment and they'd pretty much disappeared. The second night had been a completely different kettle of eels. After thanking Lt. Moreau profusely for his aid, and having the handsome Ranger point blank refuse compensation for hosting me for nearly a fortnight with some rather insinuating nonsense about 'just doing what was right', the flirt, my father had helped me pack what things I had laying around the flat and drove me to the hotel he'd booked. After the city buses and clunky rangers' jeep, it was a little odd to be in the rather nice private sedan my father had rented for his stay in Kalos. Despite my own familiarity with driving from Earth, I got the feeling that I, as Gryffin, was also used to being in cars, at least with Patrick Higashi. Considering the state of Pokea, it really drove home the idea that in this life my social class was going to be …different.
If I'd had any lingering doubts about my family's financial status, they vanished when my father pulled into the valet parking for Hôtel le Crésus. The enormous building was faced in sleek black granite with huge windows and gleaming brass accents. I blinked up at it and realized that, being on the Avenue de l'Arche Norde, that this was what I knew from the English version of the games to be Hotel Richissime. Thinking back to my first few days on Pokea and my relentless budgeting, to the revelation of my own income from the League… The term "Life isn't fair" had real meaning, and while I'd rather it be unfair in my favor this was taking it a little too far.
I still wasn't switching my difficulty settings back anytime soon. I got 5 points to my Charisma just for checking in with my dad.
The lobby had been a marble and gold-gilt Rococo haze and the elevator up to the fourth floor looked like it had been taken straight out of a Parisian Art Nouveau catalog. The actual suite of rooms dad had booked were simpler, but still painfully luxurious. I'd almost felt bad letting all my pokémon out. But I'd wanted to show them off to my father and, since neither the Pokémon Center nor Lt. Moreau's apartment had had a suitable bathroom, they all desperately needed a bath. Something Patrick Higashi had been absolutely delighted to help me with.
"She's a mischievous little thing," he chuckled, scooping the dark type up in a fluffy white towel and giving her a delicate rubbing. Zen purred, practically melting into my father's arms and shamelessly licking his cheeks before he set her down with another laugh.
"She is a dark type," I glibbed, shaking my head at Zen with an exaggerated frown that had the little fox nearly cackling.
"I'm surprised you got one," he replied, unrolling a small carrying case on the counter above me and pulling out a steel comb.
"I was too," I admitted with an embarrassed laugh. Dark type pokémon definitely had a rough reputation on Pokea. Only ghosts were more feared, and the gym leaders and elite four members who trained them were held in high, if dubious, regard. Kikuko-sama from the Kanto Elite Four actually owned a number of various ghosts from around the world and had beaten most challengers, even champions like Steven Stone, at least once in her life. Everyone spoke of her with absolute respect... and no small amount of terror. Dark types had a reputation of being vicious and sneaky. Ghosts frightened people on a much more primal level. After seeing the trevenant in Santalune Forest, I completely understood why.
"I got her in Santalune after all that mess." I continued after my musing. My father frowned deeply at the mirror. "She was hiding with a group of psychic types as we were trying to getting out."
My father shook his head lightly, frown leaving his face for a more pleasant expression. "They've got a tendency to cause trouble, but if she already trusts you this much I'm sure she won't be a problem. But." He gestured to Loxley with the comb. "This little fellow is going to give you plenty."
I frowned, looking between my father and my starter completely confused.
"What," an unexpected smirk appeared on his lips, "do you remember about grooming fire types?"
Something niggled at the back of my mind and my heart swelled with an emotion I couldn't pin down. My father's smirk turned into an outright grin that lit up his whole face and he held up a single blue pokéball of his own.
"Good boy!" I rolled on the floor with a crimson pile of fur
"Gryffin, he is not a pet, he is a highly trained police dog."
"Nuh-uh!" I denied, tiny hands disappearing into creamy belly fuzz. A hot tongue slaked across my face and I gasped with laughter. "He's a puppy! My puppy."
"Sarge!" I cheered, the word escaping from my lips before I could process it or the memory that poured into my head.
Sure enough, my father clicked the release on the pokéball with a happy shake of his head, and a deep orange growlithe emerged from the golden light.
"Gwoof!" the growlithe chuffed, already sitting in a perfect salute. He smiled up at me in delight, turning to my father for permission before jumping up to put his front paws on my shoulders for a hug.
Warm memories came with warm fur, and I squeezed the suddenly familiar dog close before gently ruffling his ears. A rounded muzzle snuffled my ear, and I shoved the hot snout away with a giggle. Logically, it made sense for my dad to have a growlithe. They'd been seen with police quite often in the anime and the games. But I still didn't have all of "my" memories as Gryffin yet, and I drank in the sight of Nintendo's most famous puppy pokémon.
He was about as large as a Labrador, but much more muscular. Huge paws and a broad face gave the dog a stocky appearance that would have been intimidating if not for the giant puffy pompadour of white fur on top of its head. If a pit bull were as fluffy as a Saint Bernard, that would be a growlithe. I booped his nose, earning myself another lick, before looking up at my dad again.
"I missed him."The admission slipped from my mouth as well. But the statement feelt true now that I'd said it out loud. I didn't really remember this dog. But I knew him. And I loved him all the same.
Kind of like with my dad. I smiled up at him, his whole face set in a gentle expression that made him look even more handsome than normal. So glad I got those genes.
He pulled a second steel comb out from the case and handed it to me. I grinned at him, and turned to Loxley, my pokémon sitting very still on the stool where I'd left him watching the growlithe carefully. Shaking my head, I could see Zen had retreated back to the edge of the bathtub. Tobio and Delacour were perched on the edge of the white porcelain, nearly tucked into the cloth curtain. From the tub, my new bulbasaur had planted himself firmly in the corner while Levi was balancing on his tail above the shallow water inside, peeking at the strange newcomer.
"Aw, you guys." I tried very hard not to laugh at them all. They'd only just been introduced to my dad. Sarge (short for Sargent Yamato Blaze Tipton, my brain suddenly, not-at-all-helpfully supplied) was new, and clearly an older and more experienced pokémon. My team wasn't used to being around other people's pokémon yet. Lt. Moreau had a rather stoic furfrou, but his apartment had been too small to have any of them out together, so I'd only seen a few times, briefly, for meals. My pokémon hadn't met it at all.
I scooped Levi out from the tub, ignoring the water that drenched my shirt and moved to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of Sarge.
"You guys already know my dad." Humans my team was good with, having met Louis and Lt. Moreau and a few others. They'd taken an immediate liking to Patrick Higashi. Especially Zen, who was as smitten with my handsome father as any of the human women I'd seen eyeing him. Or the lieutenant. Poor Loxley. Poor Dad. Laughing at the thought, I adjusted my grip, holding Levi in one hand and reaching out with the other to rub the growlithe's ear again.
"This is my dad's pokémon," I continued. "Sarge, meet Levi. Everyone, this is Sarge."
Levi quirked his head for a moment, before bouncing in my lap and spitting a single, but large, bubble at Sarge's face. The dog blinked as it burst on his nose, already steam before it could really touch him, and stayed sitting perfectly calm as all my pokémon's ears pricked in his direction. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, and bopped my azurill on the top of his bouncy little head.
"He is way too strong for you to be trying that, you tiny, blue menace," I scolded, not without affection. Levi had stopped chewing on everything and everyone, but the tiny fairy type still enjoyed his Bubble attack far too much. He was stuck at the level cap like the rest of the team, but I hoped he'd be friendly enough to evolve once in was gone. Speaking of which…
"Sarge is still a growlithe…" I wondered lowly. Not lowly enough though.
"If you can pry the method of evolving growlithe into Arcanine out of Professor Oak," my father quipped, dry as the Sahara, or whatever the Pokean equivalent was, "Please let me be the first and ONLY person you tell."
I swallowed everything I wanted to say about that. Old knowledge from the girl I had become dusted itself off in the corners of my mind. There were exactly three known Arcanine in the whole of Pokea, and they were all back in Kanto. They belonged to the fire gym leader Professor Blaine Katsura, the former champion Professor Oak, and the Indigo League's newest darling Shigure Oak. And the whole world was speculating how they'd done it.
Except me, right now, because I wasn't just Gryffin Higashi anymore.
This was neither the games nor the anime I knew, and so much of what I considered common knowledge really was either unknown or draconically hoarded secrets. Probably for the better, though. Arcanine really were nearly legendary in power, so letting everyone with a growlithe know about fire stones was asking for a bloodbath. Not that I could afford one anyway. I'd looked up the stones during a brief daydream of getting an eevee. There were a few more zeroes on the prices than I had been expecting. And very few pokemon outside of eevee were officially known to evolve from them which made them a seemingly unnecessary luxury for most of the world.
I turned back to my father, and let him show me how to properly groom Loxley from smoky nosy to steamy tail tip.
"Don't bother using the standard brushes on your fenniken. Most of them are plastic and will melt after just a few uses." He laughed at the face I made as I continued to mimic his combing. "Steel combs are going to be your best option at the moment. The carbon fiber brushes for electric types work alright, but it's tricky to find one that doesn't have rubber or plastic parts." The comb was nearly parallel to Sarge's skin as dad swiped down his legs, and I struggled to follow on Loxley's much smaller body without risking a knick.
"If you save up enough," my father continued, reaching to put the comb away and picked up a larger, individually wrapped shape. "I would definitely recommend one of these." He unrolled soft velour to reveal a darkly polished brush. It was oval, made out of stone with a black metal handle wrapped over the middle for the hand to go through. There was black fire emblem engraved into the stone body and the actual brush was a thick layer of charcoal grey hairs.
[Emboar Bristle Brush]
A [Rare] quality grooming brush. Adds +50 to REL with Pokémon per minute when used. Removes all debuffs. Adds buff of +1 CSM per minute used to Pokémon for 60 minutes.
I stared at the brush in Patrick's hands, eyes wide at the stats the item offered. My father held it out, and I gingerly accepted it with both hands.
"It looks expensive," I choked. "For a brush at least."
Patrick's chuckle was deep and rich; it felt like home. "It's from the artisans' guild at the Fuego Ironworks, in Sinnoh. They make the best equipment for fire type pokémon in the world." He leaned over to rub Loxley's ear, earning a rumble from his own pokémon. "They're very expensive. But their products last a lifetime."
I very carefully did not ask how expensive "very expensive" actually was. We were currently staying in a suite in the most expensive hotel in the country and my father hadn't acted oddly about it at all (beyond treating the various hotel staff with perfect courtesy). Whatever he called expensive was most assuredly out of my price range at the moment. But I followed his instructions as he meticulously instructed me how to groom Loxley. My starter preened under the ministrations of the luxury brush, and it didn't take long for Sarge and Zen to both nuzzle under my elbows to get attention as well.
The three canines were gleaming by the time I was done.
XYXYXY
It was only a few hours before my dad was out the door again. Apparently Kalos required barrels of paperwork for just about everything, and even the threat of the International Pokémon League only moved things along so much. I was perfectly content to stay out of way, especially when I had a Plot to get back to.
"Instant Dungeon create!" I called, and was quickly swept up in dissolving pixels.
Welcome back to Super Training!
You've unlocked new Super Training Regimens!
I stared at the game window. The blue pop-up was displaying six different pokémon icons, all with a number one imposed on top. Tapping on each one showed the stats they affected, but it didn't give any description of the exercise I'd have to complete or the gym equipment it would unlock.
I curled my lip at the Defense icon. A spewpa, the evolved form of scatterbug, was the pokémon displayed for that routine. The memories of the introductory session were still sour in my mind.
There was a wailmer for the session to raise HP and a tentacool for wisdom. I considered them for a moment, but I didn't know if the water type pokémon meant there would be a water based exercise. The weather had taken a turn for the worse outside; Loxley and the litleo had staunchly refused to go outside for days. The last week of March had been decisively chilly with an oppressive drizzle, so I didn't really feel up to dealing with more cold and wet at the moment no matter how useful those particular stats would be.
But I'd been watching several gym battles online in preparation for the Santalune gym, and what I really needed to have any chance against Violette's formidable swarm with the level cap I was under was speed. A noibat represented the session for DEX, and I figured that was as close as I was gonna get.
Good luck! Time to work out!
[Quest Alert!]
Super Training Part 2: Noibat Barrage!
Dodge the ballon bot's Gust attack and hit the noibat enough times to deflate the balloon.
Completion: +1 DEX, ST bag, access to treadmill
Failure: n/a
Accept? [Y/N]
The gym equipment vanished and the ceiling opened up to reveal a grid of tracks. At the far end of the room a mechanical arm descended; a noibat balloon even bigger than the scatterbug inflating at the end of it. Black and white footballs rolled gently from openings in the wall. I sighed deeply before kneeling to pick one up.
"Let's get this over with," I consoled myself.
There was barely time to roll my shoulders before the mechanical monster screeched to life. It slid along the tracks in the ceiling, swinging on the metal extension and blasting gusts of air that scattered the balls on the floor. No goo this time, thank the gods. Without the trip hazard of congealing glue it was easy enough to dodge the balloon and lob footballs at it from behind.
The session was over much faster than I anticipated, and I called the program back up with a satisfied grin.
I pulled one of my pokéballs loose from my belt with a deft twist.
"Let's try this again, shall we?"
Neither of my birds were very happy with me after that.
Delacour was still on the smaller side, not quite 50 centimeters long, and it was easy enough for him to fly around the small arena the Super Training Dungeon provided. Getting started was rough, as the fletchling was still appearing from his ball on the floor and the noibat balloon would pretty much attack immediately. Delacour was sent sprawling on a few occassions, vermillion feathers puffed up in fury as he clumsily bounced into the air. It was definitely something we'd have to work on. Once he got going though, Delacour cut through the air with a lingering shimmer that promised the power of his eventual evolution, and slamming the balloon powerful gust attacks that left it shuddering in his wake.
My shoulders quaked from suppressing the evil laughter I wanted to let out as I imagined him fully evolved as a talonflame.
I couldn't wait until he was a proper fire type.
After several successful run throughs of the program, Delacour's dexterity was all the way up to thirty-six. That had to be enough for the Santalune gym. I spent a few minutes smoothing his feathers and praising his amazing progress before recalling him and releasing Tobio for the same training.
Progress for my pidgey went much slower.
"Come on Tobio!" I called as my pidgey swooped around trying to avoid the noibat balloon's air blasts. "You're getting better!"
It was his fourth run through of the training program, and he was looking distinctly ruffled. He squawked in annoyance as another attack left him tumbling through the air. I winced as he landed on his belly with a thud, and quickly threw two balls at the noibat, knocking it out. It deflated with a whine, and I jogged over to scoop up the struggling bird.
"Atta boy," I cooed as I cuddled him close. "That was close! You almost had it that time!"
Unlike Delacour's immediate success, Tobio had yet to defeat the noibat balloon on his own. It had taken me two whole frustrating sessions to figure out why. Nearly twice Delacour's size, Tobio was simply too big to fly easily in the close quarters of the Super Training room. It made sense, in a fashion. Delacour's final evolution would be (at least what I considered) a reasonable size for an eagle. Pidgeot were ...MUCH... bigger. Smaller individuals of the species were still as tall as I was now. Tobio was NOT a small pidgey, and the larger end of pidgeots easily reached over two meters tall, some even getting to two and a half, with wingspans between five and six meters.
Pidgeot were absolutely enormous birds, with only the steel type avians Skarmory and Corviknight regularly outmatching them in sheer size. And even then there was a lot of overlap in the ranges.
But that only made Tobio's dexterity training all the more crucial. Pidgeot, Skarmory, Corviknight... there were all known for sweeping flights and powerful dives for their speed. That wasn't available in most competitive settings, which made them unpopular in real life pokémon teams. But with mega-evolution confirmed and basically a whole world for me to explore, there was no way I was giving up one of my favorite pokémon for something as fixable as this. His stat was already up to 25, even with having to split the point gains with me in Super Training.
"One more time buddy?" I grinned down at him.
Tobio took a moment to shake himself, then looked me dead in the eye with a determined chirp.
I started the program again.
XYXYXY
It was surprisingly easy to get back into what I considered the main plot of the XY games. Once my dad heard I'd inadvertently missed a gym battle due to … well, everything, he'd insisted on taking his rental car and driving me back to Santalune City himself. And despite him saying he was just excited to see my first gym battle, I could tell he felt guilty that I'd missed the one I'd scheduled. As if it was his fault my license had been suspended for two weeks. But with more and more memories filtering in of Gryffin's previous existence, I couldn't help but be happy this man, my father, was so determined to spend time with me.
The good mood carried me all the way to the Santalune City gym, where I nearly got body-checked at the front door. I pressed backwards into my father, who quickly pulled me to his side with an arm around my waist.
"Hmmph! Je n'approuve pas!" sneered a strange woman blocking the door in front of me. A pair of Lucario crouched behind her, which niggled at my memory, peering curiously at me, but not hostile like their trainer.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," I replied with absolutely no remorse. I raised my eyebrows in disbelief at both her antics, her pokémon, and her stats. I'd leveled my Observe ability up to level 10 during my time in Lumiose City and the new information available for most people was fairly extensive.
Cornélia Cornichon Lvl ?
-n/a-
The Yantreizh Gym Leader.
She has a mysterious aura.
Cornélia had to be a very high level if I was getting only bare-bones information on her. She was wearing a white and red athletic dress with a reinforced helmet and gauntlets. Armored rollerblades, of all things, came up to cover her knees, though I had no idea why she was wearing them inside. Blonde hair, just a shade paler than Serena's, was pulled back through the helmet, and pale green eyes were narrowed at me as she frowned.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Cornélia demanded, thrusting a fist in my face. One of the Lucario shuffled nervously, blue fur catching the afternoon light with a metallic shimmer.
"I know what my mother's done," I offered, leaning away from the belligerent young woman, giving a cautious glance at the two Lucario and then back at my dad. "Mostly because she did it to me."
The last part was said very pointedly as I deliberately moved my glare between Cornélia's fist and her face. I had the vague feeling of being trapped in cut scene again as the belligerent gym leader loomed closer. My father stood just behind me, and raised one pointed brow at her, shifting so the afternoon sun glinted off the badge on his belt.
The gym leader pulled back immediately, her face red and twisted as she deliberately looked away from my father and rolled away with a huff. I'd never seen anyone make roller-skating look like a stomp before, but Cornélia managed it. It was almost impressive. I watched her go with a frown, the Lucario following with footsteps that sounded too heavy for something normally their size, before turning back to the opening that was now clear.
"Such a delightful young lady. I hope Gym Leader Violette is nothing like her," Patrick drawled after the retreating gym leader.
I gave my father a wry grin as I walked through the door of the Santalune Gym. He'd been rather stressed the entire time he'd been here, which was understandable considering the mess my mother had made, and I'd seen precious little of the calm, dry humor 'my' memories associated with the man. Relief trickled through me as he smiled back. I ignored the green +25 over his head. I didn't need the Game's mechanics to see how much Patrick Higashi loved his … me.
Blinking away the thought, I turned my attention to the gym's atrium. The same secretary from my initial visit was giving me a wide-eyed expression from the front desk.
"Rebonjour." My grin turned much more genuine and I held up a thin, fancy gift bag. "I'm here to apologize. And, if it's not too much trouble, sign up for a gym battle again." I set the bag down with a delicate clink, giving away the bottle of wine within. My father had suggested a gift for the gym leader I'd inadvertently stood up, and bought the bottle himself. I could have done it on my own, but dad still reacted poorly to reminders that I'd been emancipated. Plus it was €10000 I didn't have to spend myself.
Surprisingly, the secretary puffed up in anger at the gift.
"After what your mother did," she sneered at me, "and you think bribery will get you back into the League's good graces?!"
I could feel Patrick Higashi become very carefully still behind me. Instincts shrieking alarm, I leaned back from the tirade, hands up in a pacifist manner when another voice cut through the room.
"Eanette! Ca suffit!"
I turned in time to see another woman, blonde again but more wheat colored than gold, with deep blue eyes, coming out from the long photo gallery the gym atrium boasted. The long curls and camera around her neck gave her identity as the gym leader away. What stood out the most however, were the bandages wrapped around her head and shoulders. They were fresh, with thick pads trapped beneath them, and her skin was pale and flushed.
Violette Lepage Lvl. 29
HP: 1036/1648 (-200) MP: 32/75(-16) ED: 20/27 (-9)
A talented photographer and the Santalune City gym leader.
She enjoys sweets and mysteries. She never stops looking for the perfect shot.
Status: Moderate Injuries: Caution should be taken so as not to aggravate wounds further.
Chance for injury increased to 25% when exhausted. Physical stats reduced.
Dread: The target is discouraged. Mental stats reduced. Charisma reduced.
"Are you alright?" I couldn't help but ask. What in the world could have happened to do that to a gym leader?
Violette smiled wanly at my father and me as she approached the desk. I gulped as she teased open the tissue wrap with two fingers to peek inside. Her expression became even more morose, and she turned to us.
"For the wine, merci beaucoup," she thanked, and bowed to us in the Kanto style. "Though I don't understand why you feel the need to apologize so profusely."
Shocked, I merely bowed lowly in return, my father giving only a stately nod, as the secretary spluttered behind us.
"They're from Kanto, Eanette," Violette explained for me as she rose, and I felt my chest warm when I realized she might truly understand. "It's tradition there to give a gift when making an apology. It's not bribery, simply what is expected." She turned back to us. "Here in Kalos, we usually only give flowers or fruit. Liquer and candies are … for dates, non? But it's a very nice wine," she complimented, "Mais, encore une fois, you really don't need to apologise."
"Thank you for the advice," Patrick demurred; cool as a cucumber despite any implications from the gym leader. I had truly thought wine was a safe gift, but I'd definitely remember that tidbit for the future.
"But I missed my appointment with you," I insisted, "And with the situation as it was, I couldn't even call to cancel properly." It was unacceptably rude under normal circumstances, and even though my situation was extraordinary, my father had suggested the gift would help smooth things over.
+100 [Rel] with Violette Lapage.
+100 [Rel] with Kalos League.
+100 [Rel] with Kalos. You are now Friendly with Kalos.
Definitely a good idea. I looked up to see a rueful smile on Violette's face, and her secretary appeared somewhat mollified and was giving me an assessing look. When she wasn't staring openly at my father at least. Patrick Higashi really was too handsome. It was almost a shame Lt. Moreau hadn't come with us, trapped by paperwork as he was, because I'd love to see his reaction to the secretary. Dad, bless him, had ignored every ounce of such attention from everyone with no apparent effort.
"You were still hoping for a gym battle then." Violette's statement pulled me out of my musings; her smile had gotten just a little bit friendlier. "I'm free now, if you're ready."
Excitement welled up quickly, and I grinned back at her. I'd done so much grinding in the Instant Dungeons these last few days to blow off steam that I had almost leveled up the skill again. All of my pokémon, even my soon to be traded litleo were stuck at the level cap. And I wanted that gone yesterday. I felt my expression twist into something just a little feral, and my dad gave me an encouraging smirk of his own.
"Definitely."
XYXYXY
"Normally I have challengers battle a few of my junior trainers," Violette explained as I followed her through an arched doorway to an open-air battleground. "Just to be sure they are ready, you see. People get the oddest ideas when they hear insecte."
"I understand," I replied, my grin still a little on the wild side. "Most bug trainers don't put in the kind of dedication needed to become a real challenge. But you're a gym leader, and that doesn't happen without being really, really good. Anyone who thinks your gym will be easy just because it's bug pokémon is delusional."
Violette gave me a smugly satisfied smile in return. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Madamoiselle Gryphonne." I kept smiling; after the past few weeks with Lt. Moreau I'd given up on the name corrections. "But not today. C'est la première fois que tut e frottes à un défi d'Arène? Tu vas te battre deux dresseurs. If you win, you may face me."
I nodded in acceptance. My Kalais was still improving, but I understood enough. There'd been two gym trainers in the DS game too.
The gym stadium was roughly as long as a football field, with a low wall separating the turf from a verdant curtain of trees. A path stretched around the field and out through the trees, and the whole gym felt more like an arboretum than a sports complex. There were several rows of decorative benches behind the wall. A few people ran along the sides, already setting up cameras and such for the match. My father gave me a pat on the shoulder and went to sit with the few spectators already present. I grinned after him.
It was time to get rid of this horrible level cap once and for all!
[Quest Alert!]
Kalos League Gym Challenge (1) Badge of Honor: Santalune Gym
Defeat the Santalune City Gym and earn your first gym badge!
Completion: +1000 EXP, +€20000, +100 [REL] with Kalos and Kalos League, the Bug Badge
Failure: +100 EXP, -100 [REL] with Kalos and Kalos League
Accept? [Y/N]
Disguising my acceptance as a fist pump yet again, I looked at Violette on the opposite side of the field. She was talking to two boys, roughly twelve or thirteen, both with brown hair and what looked like a green sports uniform of a polo shirt and athletic shorts. One nodded as Violette finished speaking and jogged to the trainer's box drawn in chalk on the ground.
Gym Trainer Kenneth wants to battle!
"C'est toi qui viens nous défier? Je veux me battre!" Kenneth demanded as he released a large, fluttering ledyba, level 10.
"That's why I'm here," I retorted. "Delacour, you're up buddy!" My fletchling hovered for a moment with wide sweeps of his wings before dashing off to circle the field. The strategy seemed simple, but I'd run into several trainers back on Route 22 who simply let their bird pokémon appear on the ground. They'd been easy prey for a cunning zorua, so I'd used Super Training to drill Delacour and Tobio both on that basic entrance to any battle, the speed and movement of flight necessary to keep them away from enemy attacks while they launched their own. I was about to see if it paid off.
"Coxy! Utilise ultrason!" the boy ordered. The ledyba chittered in mid-air, spitting out ripples of sound.
It was such a shame that Delacour had already encountered such an attack before. And the boy's ledyba wasn't nearly as fast as the zubat from Team Flare. Or as mean.
"Delacour! Flap three!" I commanded, and was pleased to see Delacour start to make his own ripples through the air as he flew. The little robin couldn't produce actual fire yet. That typing would only come with evolution, which would only come after I'd gotten rid of the damnable level cap I was currently under. But as close as he was, Delacour could produce heat. I grinned as I watched my bird spin away from another supersonic attack just to dive back in with a steamy gust.
The Ledyba wasn't much of an opponent in the face of a double type advantage. Three short spins through the air from Delacour had its HP in the red.
"Quick attack to the ground!" I shouted, and Delacour chirped in triumph as he launched himself feet first at the insect. Only a meter or so in the air, the ledyba hit the dirt with an uncomfortable thud. Delacour stayed perched on top of it, chirping threats, but it was already unconscious.
[Quest Update!]
Kenneth was far from pleased with the quick match.
"Tout le monde utilize l'avantage élémentaire!" he whined, nearly stomping his feet.
"It's the first thing you learn about battles," I clucked at him, subtly wiping away my game screens. At his age, and working in a gym he should definitely know better. "Plan for people to use it or you won't last long."
"C'est vrai," a familiar voice cut in, causing Kenneth to wince with his whole body. "C'était une piètre performance."
"Louis!" I cheered, turning to see my friend standing behind the barrier on my left. "What are you doing here?"
"Le défenseur est incapable de continuer!" a referee cut in from the other side, causing me to twist all the way around to pay him my attention. "Le challenger remporte la recontre! La prochain recontre commencera dans cinq minutes."
After a quick nod to my recalcitrant opponent I beckoned Delacour back to me by hand. Settling the fletchling on my shoulder, I trotted to the side of the pitch where Louis now stood beside my father.
"Well done," dad complimented. "Not a difficult opponent but your fletchling fought cleanly."
I mumbled thanks, trying not to look at the sorrow in Loui's eyes as he watched the bird on my shoulder. The pain wasn't as raw as it had been back on Detourner, however, and his expression quickly morphed into a smile.
"Championne Violette likes to give new trainers a rough time," Louis grinned. "Mostly to make sure they actually know how to fight. Kenneth is usually faster than that. Ultrasonic can be very … rusée."
"Tricky," my father supplied. "Though your Common is impeccable."
"Thank you," Louis answered, cheeks pink at the compliment.
My father hummed thoughtfully before continuing. "So how exactly do you know my daughter?" he asked, pleasant smile belying the suddenly dangerous aura about his person. Louis and I both gulped nervously.
"Um, this is Louis Pierre," I introduced my friend quickly. "He was in Santalune Forest the same night I was and he got attacked by Team Flare too." A frown slashed across my dad's face, but his posture relaxed. "They took his whole team!"
"Gryffin and I met a few days after," Louis continued, shoulders back in a formal stance despite any trepidation. "She helped me catch new pokémon so I could continue the gym circuit."
Patrick Higashi's face was a masterpiece of overprotective concern. "That," he intoned, "was not in the reports I got of the Santalune Forest incident."
Louis and I looked at each other in confusion. "Then you need to talk with Lieutenant Moreau again, Dad. Because I know he knew."
His lips twisted as he looked between my friend and me. Any response was cut off by the referee, however, as I was called back to the field. Reluctantly, I jogged back to my square with Delacour.
"Bon chance!" Louis called after me.
My second match was against a boy named Dannie, and he analyzed Delacour as I launched him into the air again. Dannie released a spewpa with a simple command of "Armure!" and a frown.
"Delacour, again!" I shouted to my pokémon. He was quick to respond, wings rippling with the promise of fire-to-be. Spewpa just huddled down, however, and I grimaced. Ledyba had been in the air, and an easy target for the little red bird. Spewpa was not.
"Pull up!" I shouted in the nick of time. Delacour had moved to dive, but the insect had spat a sticky line of string shot in retaliation and nearly clipped a wing. Stuck without a proper elemental typing until he evolved, Delacour's heated gusts required him to get close to his opponents. Diving too close to the ground put him at risk of crashing, as would the spewpa's glue-like mucus if it got on his feathers. Without Delacour's double advantage, it would be a battle of attrition.
"Breeze!" I declared, the word I'd taught him and Tobio for a gust attack. "Stay high!"
"Peggy!" Dannie countered. "Encore!"
I tensed, worried what kind of mental affect an Encore attack might have on my pokémon. Luckily, encore in Kalais was not Encore in Common. Pushing away the Faith spell that lingered on my fingers, I sighed in relief as the spewpa shimmered with another defensive move, likely Harden, and continued to spit slime and the occasional supersonic attack at Delacour. The match lingered like I thought it would. The spewpa was too slow to get a hit in on the nimble bird, but its defense was so high it took several long minutes for Delacour to wear it down.
Finally, deciding that having his pokémon faint was a waste of time, Dannie called to forfeit the match.
"You win," he admitted in Common. "You have good patience. Many people run in; they want a fast fight." He grinned. "Peggy can catch them then."
We shook hands amiably as Violette walked forward herself.
"We will take ten minutes for you to rest," she nodded stiffly. "I hope we will have a good match."
If you've got the time look up the prehistoric bird argetavis. It was the largest flying bird ever to live and it approached the sizes given for pidgeot.
Next time we crunch some bugs and lose that nasty level cap.
...If I can finish editing the next chapter. What little free time I have is going to wasted on the new game. PKMN Diamond here I come!
Barcas: Glad you liked the disaster drama. It was awful to write.
WispInABottle: I would be so mad. Wish I could change real life to Easy Mode OMG.
DodemGM: I love you and your awesome reviews. The Game affects all aspects of Gryffin's life so difficulty affects not just battles but also general life events and how much hassle people give her. And there will indeed be numbers. Just as soon as she beats this gym. I'm not the kind of girl who obsesses over stat pages, so there's really no point if there's a level cap stopping all progress. And Oscar is there for a number of reasons... exp, karma, plot... looking pretty. I'm not gonna say much about the other regions yet but if I keep this fic going we'll get there'
To my Guest Reviewer: you are indeed correct :3 I like Looker, and I needed a Dad Character.