Ch.15

Stubbornness

Pokemon is the property of its respective owners

"Alright Shinx and Maris, the very first gym were going to challenge is a rock type gym so that means were going to have to work with Shinx extra hard because there's going to be a good chance that the leader's pokemon is going to have a dual rock/ground typing," Dmitri said to his partners while Shinx just happily nodded and Maris looking at Dmitri with an impressed expression.

"(Wow, you really did your research on this huh?)" Maris complimented Dmitri as he blushed at her praise and bashfully rubbed the back of his head while Shinx looked back and forth between them in confusion.

"(He's really cute when he does that. I really hope he blushes like that when I finally gather the courage to trap him in my embrace and tell him I want to be his mate,)" Maris thought to herself happily as she unconsciously groaned out loud in anticipation for that day to come.

"Maris, are you okay?" Dmitri asked his friend frantically as he placed on of his hands on her forehead.

"(Huh, w-what? Oh, yeah, never better!)" Maris hurriedly replied as she waved her arms wildly in the air before placing them behind her head and whistled nonchalantly in the hopes that it would throw him off what she was truly thinking.

"Well as long as you're okay Maris you can continue training with us, but if you feel light headed I want you to take a break alright?" Dmitri told her concernedly which Maris hurriedly nodded to and folded her arms.

"Alright Shinx lets see what level your currently at and what moves you knew so I know to adjust training for all of us today," Dmitri said calmly as he took out his pokedex and scanned Shinx while she just stared at the red device in awe.

"Wow, you're at level 13 and you already know magnet rise, double kick, iron tail, and spark?! This is a really impressive move set you have Shinx!" Dmitri praised his new partner meowed cheerfully in response while Maris just scowled and turned her head away.

"(It's not that impressive,)" Maris mumbled enviously as she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and found her trusted friend staring at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry Maris I didn't mean to make you mad," Maris's trusted friend told her with a warm smile on his face while she just rolled her eyes and smirked back at him.

"(There's nothing to say sorry for Dmitri. C'mon, let's get some training done cuz that gym leader isn't going to lose on their own,)" Maris said with vigor as she adopted a fighting stance and told Shinx to come hit her.

Shinx nodded and took on an expression of intense concentration as her body suddenly cackled and sparked with electricity. Smirking, she charged as quickly as lightning towards the Martial Arts Pokemon who jumped off to the side to avoid her attack and fired a restrained force palm at the flash pokemon who sprawled in order to avoid the attack.

Surprised at her partner's evasiveness, she smiled in approval and sent a respectful nod towards Shinx who nodded back as her tail suddenly flashed into a burst of ethereal white light before solidifying into the tough, dense metal iron. Maris's eyes wore a face of shock before she brought her hands up in an x in order to block the incoming blow as the ground underneath her gave way sending rocks and gravel flying everywhere.

"(To master that move at such a young age and level, it should be impossible! But like Hope said, nothing is impossible, especially in this world,)" Maris pondered in shock and confusion as she ducked under an attempted strike on her head and threw a punch at Shinx's side causing her to fly back and skid across the ground.

Spitting out dirt from her mouth, Shinx crouched down as if she was on the hunt as her body was once again surrounded by electricity, but this time it seemed more volatile and destructive as the sparks dangerously pulsed and burst around her body as her tail once again solidified into iron.

Dmitri nodded approvingly at how training was going so far and wondered how Delia was doing with the business she had to take care of. A sudden shockwave nearly knocked him off his feet as he saw Maris's drain punch meet Shinx's electric enhanced iron tail sending both combatants flying back.

"Wow, although Maris is holding back…somewhat, Shinx is still giving her a good fight," Dmitri said out loud to himself as his two partners were too busy fighting to notice what he just said.

"Whatever business Delia has to take care of I'm sure she's doing just fine," Dmitri thought optimistically as he saw Maris casually deflecting and redirecting Shinx's attempted kicks and tail strikes.

Meanwhile…

Delia hurriedly jumped to the side at the last second to avoid Hydreigon's reckless charge as he plowed through some unfortunate trees like a wrecking ball with a surprised scream. Roaring, the enraged brutal pokemon blew all away all the surrounding trees with a bestial shout causing Delia and her other pokemon to shield their eyes with their forearms.

When Hydreigon settled his eyes on Delia once again, he made his way towards her only to find that it pained him to move even an inch and with an angry roar he collapsed on the ground.

Confused and enraged at this he uselessly tried to pull himself into the air only as Delia smugly approached him and kneeled down in front of him so they were staring at each other eye to eye.

"Shocked little baby? Turns out that you're not the invincible tank you thought you were and you can indeed take damage and be defeated as you saw in your last battle," Delia coldy mocked her injured pokemon as he snarled at her fiercely while she stood up and kicked a fallen tree that was leaning against another tree.

"Hydreigon what happened to us? You and I use to be so close, but suddenly when you evolved into your final form you stopped listening to me all together. At the last battle you endangered everyone around you and my brother," Delia icily stated as she suddenly gripped Hydreigon's dominant head and pulled her hand back.

Slugging the brutal pokemon as hard as she could again and again with tears rolling down her face, she let all the pent up rage and aggression she felt loose. While the blows did no real damage to Hydreigon, they hurt him emotionally as he never saw her cry before which only meant he must have done something really bad.

"Do understand what you did? He could have been killed because of your foolish actions!" Delia snarled at Hydreigon who stared at her with interest as tried to process all this information.

Hydreigon, baffled, yipped at his trainer who glared at him with look of pure fury.

"Yes, I know you wanted to win, but on this team, we don't win by endangering the lives of others," Delia yelled furiously at her confused and wary partner as she wiped away some tears from her eyes.

"I know you want to show that you're strong and I'm okay with that, but you need to do it on my terms," Delia said sternly to her partner who grunted annoyingly and rolled his eyes.

"You want to do it on your own terms? Fine," Delia replied sadly as she dropped Hydreigon's pokeball and crushed it under her foot causing all of her pokemon to grow wide eyed in shock.

"Go, I wish we could have worked things out, but it's clear you will not listen to me no matter what I do. I'm sorry, but sending you out in a future battle will potentially lead to someone's death," Delia said melancholy as she folded her arms and turned her back on the brutal pokemon who by know regained his strength and floated in the air, watching Delia blankly.

"Are you waiting for a kiss goodbye?! Leave, now!" Delia barked angrily at Hydreigon who began to fly away, but stopped and slowly floated back towards the battle ace, grunting and clicking causing Delia to frown in disapproval.

Hydreigon barked a few more times and tilted his heads to the side which to his surprise caused Delia to look at the brutal pokemon apathetically and point a pokeball straight at him.

"You say you'll behave from now on? Good, but first we need to lay down some rules," Delia said coolly while Hydreigon just stared at her with the same blank expression.

"Firstly, you will have to listen to me from now on and never go on a rampage ever again. I understand now that you need a good fight every now and then so you and Dragonite will spar with each other from now on whenever you have that urge to fight. Secondly, treat your teammates with respect and kindness," Delia ordered her partner who snorted and turned his head away from her second rule.

"Yes you little baby, these are your teammates whether you like it or not. Knowing these rules, do you still want to be on our team?" Delia questioned him warily as he stared at the pokeball interestedly before approaching his trainer while Delia's other pokemon's muscles tensed just in case he tried to harm her.

Hydriegon stared at Delia intently dead in the eye while Delia calmly looked back him with neither faltering in their gaze as the battle ace's other pokemon blood ran ice cold in fear for her safety. The wind the suddenly started to blow harsher and fiercer as Delia folded her arms and sent her pokemon a harsh, commanding stare while Hydreigon just growled at her and barred his teeth.

After what seemed to be an eternity, he lightly tapped the pokeball with one of his heads, but not before sending his trainer one final bark as he was sucked into the pokeball in a flash of bright crimson light. With that all said and done, Delia let out a much needed sigh of relief and ran a hand through her hair as she couldn't help but smile at the fact that Hydreigon took a step in trusting her once again, however little it maybe.

"(I head what he said Delia, do you really think you can trust him after what he did?)" Haxorus advised his best friend who overlooked the destroyed battlefield and grunted.

"We shall see," Delia responded simply and as she put her hands in her pockets and began to walk back to the pokemon center.

"(Where are you going?)" Haxorus questioned her in an accusatory tone while she just shrugged.

"Hydreigon got hurt remember? I have to go heal him which doesn't mean I don't expect you guys to not train while I'm gone alright?" Delia stated to the axe jaw pokemon who nodded and walked back to the clearing where the puzzled faces of Druddigon and Dragonite awaited him.

"(Delia said to train ourselves while she's gone so how do you two want to do this? Me against Druddigon and then I'll face Dragonite?)" Haxorus suggested to his two cohorts which caused Dragonite to glare at him.

"(That's how we always do it!)" Dragonite shouted indignantly while puffing out his chest.

"(How bout Dragonite and me first then winner takes you on?)" Druddigon recommended which cause Dragonite to glower at him.

"(Bro, no offense, but I'm going to win that fight which of course leads to the dry and unoriginal showdown between me and Haxorus for the one trillionth time,)" Dragonite told his teammate who shook his fist at the annoyed dragon.

"(Fine, what do you suggest then?)" Druddigon asked his friend sardonically while Dragonite just grew an evil smirk on his face before lashing out at Haxorus with a dark blue claw as Haxorus slapped it away from himself and jumped back.

"(Me and Druddigon versus Haxorus!)"

"(Oh makes sense. Haxorus has seen more combat than either of us,)" Druddigon said in admiration for Dragonite as they charged at the startled Haxorus who readied himself for combat.

"(Bring it on!)" Haxorus roared to his teammates as brought his claws up to defend himself from his approaching attackers.

Meanwhile…

"Ugh, it's so great to get out of bed and stretch since someone decided to sleep on top of me!" Catherine seethed as she tried to touch her toes while Luka simply shrugged and folded her arms.

"(I was tired,)" Luka replied dryly which caused her best friend to clench her fists and glare at her.

"Apparently you weren't tired enough to pin down my wrists! Besides, your chest spike really hurts! It was poking into my shoulder," Catherine groaned as she massaged her hurt shoulder causing Luka to sigh and walk over to her best friend.

"(Sit down Catherine,)" Luka ordered Catherine who looked back at her confused.

"Why?" Catherine asked her curiously which caused Luka to roll her eyes and just told her to do it.

Shrugging, she sat down on the bed as Luka held up her paws and let them be encased in aura as she started massaging Catherine's shoulder blades.

"This feels…nice. Thanks Luka, but only one of my shoulder's hurts," Catherine said matter-of-factly while Luka just shrugged and said it was easier this way.

After a few minutes Luka stopped, leaving the potential heiress disappointed as she was really getting used to the massage.

"Oh well, Luka can you find Dmitri, Maris, and Shinx with your aura so we can do some training of our own and maybe catch some new pokemon?" Catherine asked the aura pokemon cheerfully who groaned, but nonetheless complied and closed her eyes as her as she scanned the surrounding area for their aura signals.

Luka's eyes suddenly shot open and she said "there" and grabbed Catherine by the wrist and in a quick blur they were gone from the room.

Meanwhile…

"Uh, guys, whenever you're done hitting each other we can go and get lunch now," Dmitri shouted as he cupped his hands over his mouth as Shinx tried desperately to land a hit on her opponent who yawned and disinterestedly deflected another one of the flash pokemon's attacks.

"(So kid you want to take a break and get some grub?)" Maris asked tauntingly to Shinx who growled and narrowed her eyes.

With a loud roar, she charged at Maris who rolled her eyes and jumped over her as Shinx turned on her heel and faced the arrogant Martial Arts Pokemon who was bouncing on her toes with her hands relaxed and on her sides.

"(I won't lose to you!)" Shinx roared as she suddenly was surrounded by a white, ethereal light which caused Dmitri's eyebrows to rise in shock while Maris folded her arms and nodded approvingly.

"(That's the way Shinx. Show me what you've got now,)" Maris thought to herself as she dropped into a fighting stance once again as another creature stood where Shinx once was with angry scowl on its face.

"What pokemon is that?" Dmitri said aloud to no one in particular as he took out his pokedex and scanned Shinx's evolved form.

Luxio, the spark pokemon. Luxio can communicate with its pack memebers with strong electric pulses from its claws.

"Wow, Luxio, I'm really proud of you for evolving," Dmitri praised his new partner who gave him a toothy grin in response while she prepared yet another attack on her sparring partner.

"(Alright, come get me. Let's see what you got…girl,)" Maris shouted smugly at Luxio who grinned crazily and charged right at Maris with her entire tail converted into iron while Maris put her hands to her sides and grunted lowly as the vein on her head started pulsing.

Maris then suddenly gave out a loud scream causing shockwaves to ripple throughout the area which nearly caused Luxio and Dmitri to be knocked over.

"(She's strong,)" Luxio murmured as she readied herself for whatever the Mienshao had in mind.

Dmitri and Luxio saw that both of Maris's paws were swirling with green and azure energy as the energy around her hand sparked and danced around her paws gracefully.

"Maris you managed to combine drain punch and dual chop together?! That's really something Maris, I'm so proud of you," Dmitri complimented his first pokemon who gave him a simple nod in reply to his praise.

"(Let's finish it!)" Maris exclaimed determinedly as she charged at Luxio who managed to charge her iron tail with an immense amount of electricity to the point where it was glowing brightly.

Maris got to her first as she swung both of her fists at Luxio who swatted at her with her tail causing a destructive explosion to ring throughout the surrounding area causing many pokemon to run or fly away in fright. A large dust cloud soon covered the entire clearing as Dmitri swatted at it in an attempt to clear it away and when it finally settled he looked at the scene before him renewed interest. Maris was holding the unconscious body of Luxio in her paws while she just stared at Dmitri and smirked at him. While Luxio looked like she had been in the toughest fight of her life, Maris didn't even look worse-for wear as she barely had a scratch on her.

"(I was holding back a little, but she still put up a semi-decent fight,)" Maris told her friend nonchalantly as Dmitri smiled awkwardly at her and returned Luxio to her pokeball.

"C'mon, let's go heal her so we can challenge the gym and get some food!" Dmitri shouted happily as he pumped his fist in the air with Maris following his lead and throwing her fist into the air.

Meanwhile…

"Wow Delia, you sure have a lot of pokemon," Catherine whistled lowly as she put her hands on her hips while Luka folded her arms and stared at the strange pokemon before her.

"I know, and weren't you looking for Dmitri?" Delia asked Catherine quizzically as the heiress shrugged and said she was looking for either of them.

Luka rolled her eyes and sarcastically remarked "sure" causing Catherine to blush and look down at the grass.

"Well look here missy, Delia and I are going to call Dmitri and tell him he can challenge the gym first because we still want to go over strategies for the gym leader so go socialize and make some new friends," Catherine told the jackal like pokemon frustratingly causing Luka to shudder at the thought of being left with Delia's mystery pokemon.

Seeing she had no choice in the matter, she nodded and reluctantly walked over to the battle ace's injured pokemon looking like they had been in a really tough fight. Walking up to the supposed leader with the overly huge tusks and golden plate armor she tried to strike up a conversation with him.

"(So what were you guys doing before me and Catherine got here?)" Luka asked the mystery pokemon who glared at her and stood up to his full height.

"(That's none of your business,)" Haxorus told her coldly as Luka narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms.

"(Geez, sorry for asking,)" Luka retorted viciously as she turned her back to him.

"(Don't mind grumpy he's just mad that he isn't as strong as he thought since he narrowly won against us,)" Dragonite said cheerfully as Druddigon snickered under his breathe.

"(Shut it Happy,)" Haxorus seethed between clenched lips as Dragonite fake pouted and casually put his hands behind his head.

"(So girl it seems you, that annoying other annoying girl, and my best friend seem to be getting along well. Delia always seems to have a strange taste in friends, but it's never lead her astray before,)" Haxorus stated offhandedly which unknowingly offended Luka.

"(So you're calling me, Catherine, Dmitri, and Maris strange?!)" Luka growled furiously at Haxorus who held his claws to calm her down.

"(Relax, I didn't mean to offend you. Dmitri and I are like brothers and while I can hardly stand Maris most of the time, she's…alright. I barely even know you and you're weird trainer who appeared out of the blue and by the looks of things, she's really weird,)" Haxorus told her bluntly which caused Luka to open her mouth to argue, but quickly closed it as she couldn't argue with what he said.

"(So, it's just you and you're trainer on this journey? You guys won't get far if she's just expecting you to power through all the gyms by yourself,)" Haxorus stated matter-of-factly while Luka just nodded and sighed.

"(I know, that's why we're going to go into the forest and see if we can catch any other pokemon and hope that it will be enough to stem the tide in our first gym battle,)" Luka responded unsure as Haxorus was right, if Catherine was expecting her to fight all the gyms by herself then she wouldn't go far.

"C'mon Luka, look alive! We've already called Dmitri and told him so that means we're going to have to go into the forest and catch some pokemon," Catherine yelled as Luka sighed and let a tired smile grace her lips as she walked over to her trusted friend.

"(Well Luka it was nice meeting you. Good luck in your quest as your surely need it,)" Haxorus said smugly as Luka rolled her eyes and followed her friend into the forest.

Meanwhile…

"Oh, Delia, Catherine, how's it going guys? Huh, I can challenge the gym first? Are you guys sure? Alright, if that's what you guys want then after we eat we'll go challenge the gym. Ok, you guys stay safe out there. Bye," Dmitri said as he took small bites out of the salad he bought from the cafeteria in the pokemon center.

"(Well I'm done with my food and I'm just itching to hit one the leader's pokemon right now,)" Maris said in low, dangerous tone as she cracked her knuckles.

"(Yeah, let's go!)" Luxio agreed as she poked Dmitri in the leg with her claw as he winced a little from the electric pulse in her claw.

So after paying the check, the trio made their way to the gym while receiving the expected disgusted and odd stares. No matter how much they wanted to tune out the ugly murmurs, they all still winced and stared down at the ground as they heard the whispers of "Why does he have his pokemon out with him?", "He's disgusting!", "Can't he just put them in a pokeball like a regular person?".

When they neared the gym, both Luxio and Maris noticed that their friend was emotionally shaken as they both could see him trembling and hear his rapid breathing. Maris pulled him into a hug while Luxio purred and rubbed her head against his leg in an attempt to calm him down as neither of them moved for a few minutes as they just enjoyed the warmth and care of the hug.

Finally, they broke off the hug as Dmitri petted Luxio on the head and shot a warm smile at Maris he opened the door to the gym ready to face his first challenge of his journey.

"You guys ready?" Dmitri asked his two partners seriously.

Maris glowered and cracked her neck and knuckles with a loud crack while Luxio simply let mild electric charges emit from her body and growled determinedly as Dmitri grinned and stepped into the gym ready to face the first obstacle of his journey.

"(Dad, please lend me some of your strength and courage to overcome this challenge and watch over me from the next world.)