Chapter Eleven:
Grindstone
Disclaimer: I do not own the series Pokémon. Like, at all. It and all its respectable characters are © to Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri. However, all writing contents and semi-plots here are © to me; unless it is stated otherwise. All shows/ books/ video games/ songs that are mentioned in this chapter are all © to their respective owners, I do not own them.
Notes: I actually had to split this chapter in half, because it was getting much too long. I also wanted to save the gym battle for its own special segment rather than lump it together with everything else piled on top of it.
Additionally, my apologies for the delayed post. I hope everyone had wonderful holidays! If you haven't had any, I am so, so very sorry to hear that. I hope that this chapter can somewhat ease that burden, even by a tiny margin. Please, I hope you enjoy it, it is a wee bit long. Let this be a delayed Christmas gift to you all, and an early New Year's gift to boot!
I'm also plugging in for my tumblr blog solely for this story! It's under the handle blue-skiesand-silverlinings, and art should be coming forth very soon. Please stay tuned for that, as well as a few character profiles!
Current Team: Keno the Mudkip, Sela the Poochyena, Ambrose the Ralts, Faye the Taillow, Breela the Shroomish, Luna the Skitty
"Danger is a side effect of what I do, not the reason behind it."
-Georgia "George" Mason, "Feed" by Mira Grant
Scraps of grass blades flew freely into the air, swirling about in the wind before blowing off into all directions. Luna crouched low in the grass, her pink fur a visible stark streak against the green sea around her. Hunkered low in the grass, watching with wide, beady eyes was a Nincada sitting opposite her. It chirred softly, unmoving, waiting, patient. Luna's soft purr grew to an agitated growl, her tail whipping back and forth like a pendulum, gaining speed and growing lower and lower. The bulbous tip twitched violently suddenly. Shay gathered what it meant quickly enough: she wanted the go-ahead to attack or she'd do it herself, orders or not.
Shay glanced at the Nincada, repressing the urge to shudder and skulk back. It was huge; comparatively larger than any insect she's seen with her own eyes, in person, before. She knew animals from her world, like the coconut crab or the goliath bird-eating spider, were huge—but she's never had to deal with them physically before. Pictures on the internet were as close as she got and that was as close as she wished to get, thank you very much.
And there's even bigger bugs out there in the world, somewhere, she reminded herself, with yet another shudder and urge to itch her arms at the thought. Sudden thoughts of giant insects nearly as large as her, or larger, made her nearly wretch. Shay turned her focus back on what was going on now.
"Disarming Voice!" Shay finally barked, to which Luna was more than happy to respond with a banshee scream that rippled and distorted the air, barreling toward the crouching Nincada. The large insect seemed to realize too late what was happening and before it could flutter off in an effort to avoid the attack, it was bowled over, while the grass around it was flattened to the earth. The Nincada flipped several times over before coming to a standstill, unmoving. Luna slowly lifted herself to her paws, arching her back to stretch before trotting over to Shay.
Shay stared at the Nincada, partly concerned it was dead, and partly afraid that it wasn't and that it would wake up pissed off and attack her next. Sela, wordlessly, got up from her position besides her trainer and trotted over to the Nincada's unmoving body. She sniffed around it, nudged it a couple times, then came trotting back to Shay's side.
"He's alive," she announced. "Just knocked out."
Shay let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, nodding in strained, grudging relief. "Okay," she replied. "Good. That's good." To Luna, she grinned and added, "You did fantastic out there. Here, let me check that scratch out—"
Luna danced out of Shay's reach as she crouched and reached for the small pink kitten. Yellow eyes watched her warily.
"I'm fine," Luna said flippantly. "It's just a scratch. I've had them before. They'll heal."
"You don't know that. What if it gets infected?"
"Then I'll lick it until it isn't."
"That—that literally isn't how you fix infections."
"It's how we do things in the wild."
Sela snorted, and Breela murmured something quietly under her breath. Keno shifted uncertainly on his paws. Faye tilted her head to look at Luna beadily, sighing softly in Shay's ear as she shifted from one leg to another on Shay's shoulder. Ambrose said nothing and merely crossed his arms over his chest. Shay exhaled, fixating an unwavering stare upon Luna.
"Luna, you don't have to do that anymore. I can give you medicine."
"It tastes terrible."
"Then don't lick it," Shay retorted, already slipping her sling pack off and slipping the zipper down its track. "Now, come here. Trust me—it's going to help. It won't hurt anymore, it won't itch as badly when the scabbing comes along. It's like when you go to see the nurse at the center. You don't feel that crappy after we see them, right?"
Luna thought about that for a moment, and after several seconds of pause, she slowly, cautiously, shook her head. She stiffly moved closer, stopping just short of being out of reach from Shay. Shay had to fight the urge to lunge forward to snag the little kitten up by the scruff and instead, dove into her thinning well of patience, waiting for Luna to come closer. She dug her hand into her pack, in the meantime, fishing out through touch alone the familiar contours of the potion vial. The smooth neck and grooved grip were within her grasp in moments and she pulled out the purple and grey bottle, waiting.
The Skitty finally, labouriously, crept even closer, until she was within inches of Shay, staring up at her with wide, yellow eyes, her pupils mere slits. Shay gently patted the little kitten on the head, earning an immediate response: Luna leaned in instinctively into the touch, purring deeply and at length, eyes sliding shut in pleasure, one paw lifting off the ground and claws spreading out until her toes were at full length. Shay noticed the series of ribbons of red along Luna's flank and spritzed them as well while she had Luna's attention. The wound immediately began to coagulate, coated with a quickly hardening case of scabbing until the potion vial ran out.
Shay let out a breath of relief, glad that the Skitty was at least letting her treat her. It was a step in the right direction. Shay reached to scratch the arched back presenting to her. Luna flopped over in reply, curling over on the ground, looking pleased as punch while Shay continued delivering her assault of affection. She began to vigorously move to rub Luna's side and got a mouthful of sharp teeth for her troubles when her hand reached Luna's pale, creamy belly.
"Don't touch there!" Luna yowled, paws flinging forward to latch onto Shay's hand as an extra precaution.
Shay, in spite of herself, hiccupped with laughter. Luna rolled onto her paws, curling into a loaf of pale pastel pink fur and narrowed yellow eyes as she stared up at Shay indignantly.
"Worth the sharp and pointy! I touched the soft and squishy!" Shay crowed. "I touched the belly!"
Six sets of eyes watched her in dubious amusement before Sela barked with glee, joining Shay's raucous laughter.
"Her scratches are, nonetheless, still very super-effective. Look at our trainer. You broke her, Luna." Ambrose said flatly, motioning vaguely to the thin red scratches now blooming across Shay's hand. There was a brief pause, silence falling on all of them before everyone, including Luna, fell into tattered giggles.
The Rustboro Gym was an architectural oddity in and of itself. Shay had thought she'd be looking for structure more closely aligned with the games; a building that was statuesque, orderly in appearance with a golden rooftop, white stucco walls, shiny glass windows.
Instead, it was irregular, blocky, asymmetrical in design. It looked as though it had once been a part of a mountain, but then that self-same mountain had been carved into and plopped down in the middle of the city. Craggy stone precipices jutted upwards into the air, not unlike the great mountain of Pride Rock from the Lion King, with slabs of great mountain wall piled together to create a somewhat structurally sound edifice where training with rock-types could be conducted.
Attempts at modernizing the building had been made, of course. Gleaming steel bones and glossy glass doors slid open on a pneumonic track, near silent and gliding as they split apart down the center. Large viewing glass windows peered into the building, revealing gleaming black marble shot through with veins of gold as the choice of flooring for the lobby. Twin Rhydon effigies loomed on either side of the entrance, standing atop square pillars and totaling well over eleven feet in height. Their stony countenances were menacing, as their pebbly eyes glared down at all who dared enter the Rustboro Gym.
To Shay's left, an alcove sat, where a receptionist was seated in the cozy confines behind a sleek desk and underneath bright florescent lighting. To her right, a waiting area complete with cozy armchairs and loveseats and tiny coffee tables lay up against a wall slab of dark stone. Off to the side, tucked out of place and nearly missed entirely, were three vending machines: the first distributed hot coffee, hot cocoa, and hot tea; the second had a variety of snack foods such as chips or candy bars; and lastly, the third had cold beverages, like soda or water.
The real eye catcher, however, was the wall décor chosen for the seated waiting area. Swirls of ancient fossils were impressed upon the dusty stone slab. Shay studied them briefly: Omanyte and Kabuto were easily the most recognizable, but the others, she struggled until it hit her. Anorith and Lileep, Hoenn's regional token fossil pokémon. Fragments of fern leaf root feelers and severed claw appendages littered the stone wall, mixed in with Kanto's regional fossil pokémon. She studied the wall a little further, before turning on her heel to step toward the receptionist.
Her boots squeaked along the polished marble flooring, and she winced at how loud it all sounded in the empty space around her. No one else sat in the waiting area, and beyond the lobby, it was all open space. Everything was made of heavy rock—the walls, the floors, the vaulted ceiling. Lights were imbedded in the stone high above them, bright and glaring, leaving no corner shadowed or hidden. A set of bleachers were pulled out and pressed tightly to the wall opposite the gym entrance, a concrete wall dividing the battlefield from any onlookers who wished to observe.
Two kids were strolling the open battlefield, their team of rock-types littered over the open floor plan, socializing and chatting away. A few people lounged away on the bleachers, their voices tinny from where Shay was, but they bounced off the walls, nonetheless. Shay rubbed her hands on her pants, trying to wipe away the sudden outbreak of excess sweat. Licking her lips and trying to not think about her racing pulse, her rapid heart rate, or the buildup of pre-performance anxiety she most likely was experiencing, she leaned on the receptionist's counter.
A young man, perhaps in his late teens, looked up at her and offered a brief smile. He was clean shaven, his white button-up shirt pressed and spotless. He probably didn't have to deal with much of the dirty work down in the battlefield beyond.
"Hi, can I help you?"
Shay nodded, smiling back.
"Hi, yeah. My name's Shay—Shay Kenway. I'm, uh…I'm here to challenge Roxanne?"
The receptionist, she noted, had a nametag pinned to his shirt. It read 'Daniel' in crisp, indented letters on the metal plating. She flicked her eyes back up to meet Daniel's eyes and smiled again.
"First gym match?"
"How'd you guess?"
"You've got that jittery look. It's okay. It happens to a lot of people who come through here." Daniel's smile broke open into a wider grin and he laughed. "I swear, it's the truth. You'd think some of the kids who have been battling for years with their childhood friends and rivals would be ready for a gym-sanctioned battle, but they get just as nervous as the people who hardly ever battle and just decide to up and do it one day. Relax. You'll be okay."
Daniel motioned toward the battlefield. "We have a medical team on standby in case things get too nasty. We try not to kill each other's team mates, but accidents can happen. Just keep that in mind." He paused and motioned for her to wait a moment. Shay remained quiet, staring, as he rolled his office chair to a series of file cabinets, opened a drawer and rifled through the files until he found what he was looking for. He took the pages and clipped to them to a clipboard and handed it to Shay.
"Here. If this is your first gym battle, you'll need to fill out some paperwork. Some liability stuff, consent and understanding, all the good stuff. I'll also need to see your ID when you finish the paperwork."
"You need my consent on file?"
This was…way more complicated than the games. And Professor Birch hadn't really covered this either. Shay hadn't even thought of asking Norman what gym battles were like, or what they entailed to, or anything of that sort. She had spent more time studying and reading and trying to keep Professor Birch on track with her tutoring lessons rather than where she originated from, that it had all slipped her mind entirely.
Daniel bobbed his head to her and turned to the computer wedged against the corner of his desk. His fingers clattered away on the keyboard hidden from Shay's immediate line of sight.
"Yep, we do. It's standard now in Hoenn, really. It used to be more…fluid, I guess you can call it, in terms of tradition and how we used to do things: a challenger comes in, declares they want their team to fight the gym leader's team, a pokémon battle ensues, and whoever wins walks away victorious."
He paused, fingers pausing briefly, and he glanced at Shay, clutching the clipboard, but signing nothing yet. His eyebrows beetled together, and he pursed his lips together, cocking his head to the side as he considered her.
"Don't you know all this already?"
Shay shook her head, raising a hand in mock-surrender. "I'm from Kanto. We kinda do things differently there. Just like you said. Challenger comes in, battle ensues, a winner walks away."
"Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes sense, but why's a Kantonian taking up the Hoenn League Challenge?"
"Change of venue, change of scenery. My…uncle thought it'd be good for me to get out into the world and see what's what out here."
"So, he basically kicked your ass out, huh? Savage," the young man chuckled. Shay decided to neither correct nor encourage him. The less details, the better. She skimmed through the paperwork, shifting her weight from her center of gravitas to her right leg out of habit. Her left hip and thigh burned in relief at the change of position. Standing for too long made her lower back and hip ache.
She furrowed her brow at the statement of understanding and the requirements section, her lips tugging into a deep frown the more she read.
"I have to fight two trainers before hitting up Roxanne?"
"Two trainers, minimum. Standard for all the gyms across Hoenn. The maximum for most of the gyms is eight, if you're looking for a real challenge. I hear in Sootopolis, though, Gym Leader Wallace has about ten trainers you can challenge before getting to him." Daniel paused, sucking in a breath as he swiveled in his chair to face Shay. "The minimum requirement you have to meet, though, is two trainers. For every gym. You can request to fight all trainers under each gym leader's tutelage, but that isn't a requirement. After that, you can battle Gym Leader Roxanne."
"Is there anything else I need to know?"
"You can use a maximum of five items in a match, excluding evolutionary stones on pokémon eligible for that type of evolution. It's up to you what they are. They're listed in the paperwork, if you need a frame of reference. Gym leaders are also allowed to use items, but given that this is their territory, they're allotted unlimited numbers." Daniel motioned to the paperwork again. "One last thing: once you start through the circuit, you can't leave. I mean—you can leave, we're not keeping you prisoner, but if you leave after, say, one trainer battle, to go heal your pokémon at the center, you'll forfeit your streak and have to come back and start all over again. It's all there in the paperwork, but I figure some context is nice to have, in case it isn't clear enough."
Okay, wow, way to be overwhelming. Jesus Christ. Okay, positive thoughts, positive thoughts. I can do—we. We can do this. No problem.
Powering through the mantra in her head, Shay nodded automatically, turning to head back to the waiting area before stopping and pointing at Daniel and then at the clipboard. "Do I have to do all of this for every gym?"
"The consent forms, liability and understanding statements, yes. The other stuff underneath is just required to get your name registered officially into the system. That way, the League can keep track of your progress. If you decided to drop out, figure that this isn't the life for you, you can just go to any gym and unregister."
"Who has access to all of this?"
"Umm…official personnel, like myself. Not any of the trainers under a gym leader's tutelage, if that's what you're worried about…oh, the gym leaders of course, and the League members too."
"Pokémon Centers? Professor Birch?"
"No. No, they don't have that access. The League and Professor Birch work in tandem, but they try to keep things like this separate. Less of a hazard, I think, as far as conflict of interests go. Professor Birch wants research and information, not tally marks on kids trying their hand with their League Challenge. And personnel come and go in Pokémon Centers, mostly because they might leave the region or move to different cities. Giving them unfettered access would be problematic." Daniel watched her carefully, sucking in a breath, his body slowly turning in his seat to shift towards his computer. "Is there anything else you need to know?"
"No. No, I think I'm good. I'll go through this and bring it back when I'm done."
"Okay. If you do have any more questions, feel free to ask. It's what I'm here for!" Daniel chirped back. Before Shay had even turned around, he was back to clattering away on his keyboard at a proficient speed. Shay sighed, adjusting her sling-pack and shuffled over to the nearest loveseat.
Thumbing a pokéball at her waist, Shay finally unclipped it and called Keno out. He blinked into the lights, staring up all around him. She smiled at him, taking in his new form.
Bipedal, but easily suited for a quadrupedal stance, his body was streamlined for both water and land alike, but she didn't doubt he'd have an easier time moving in water. He had enough bulk to his build now that leant additional power to his frame. The orange external gills had dulled in colour, and the blue of his skin wasn't as loud either, but his eyes sparked to life with bright amber chased through his irises. Keno bobbed his twin fin tails, wiping his pawed hands across his pale orange belly as he scanned the open gym floor.
"This is Roxanne's gym?" he queried softly, his voice tight and withdrawn. "Do you think we're ready?"
"Faye won't do well here. She'd be crushed in a matter of minutes. Her Brave Bird is a good move, but useless against rock-types. Breela might work out as a second if you need a break. Ambrose, Luna, and Sela won't fare well either. I hate to say it, but it all comes down to you, bud." Shay replied, just as softly, keeping her voice down. She glanced up, gaze flicking toward the receptionist's cubby and desk, but barely saw the top of Daniel's sandy blonde hair bobbing a little above the height of the desk. She looked back at Keno. "You've got this. I know you can do it. You've got type advantage, and you just evolved! This is what we've been working towards for the last two weeks."
"Yeah, I know, but…do you really think we're ready?"
Shay, in spite of her hammering heart and the sound of her blood singing so loudly in her ears it was like a crashing waterfall, grinned at Keno. She was nervous, but she was also excited. Thrilled. They were so close, so close to the real beginning, that giving up was out of the question. They had barely even started. There was no way she was going to quit now.
"We're ready. You're ready, Keno. We've got this in the bag."
Keno shuffled closer and hesitated before throwing his bulky arms around her, leaning heavily into her and the loveseat, face buried against her side. "If you think we're ready, then I believe you."
Shay chuffed softly, and returned the embrace, not even minding the slight buildup of sticky film coated over Keno's skin. It was like being hugged by a salamander. A very large, bipedal salamander who could talk and loved to snuggle. It wasn't long, however, before Keno had to pull away and began scratching at himself.
"I'm still itchy," he complained in a whining voice. Shay snorted, returning to her task of filling out the administered paperwork.
"Professor Birch said it was normal after an evolution. If it keeps up in the next few days, though, he said to have the nurses at the center check you out. Your body's mostly adjusted by now, but we'll keep an eye on things. You'll barely notice it when we get on the field, though."
"If you say so," Keno sighed, plopping down on the ground beside the loveseat. He began to stare at the people and pokémon still milling about on the battlefield.
"After you're done with all that, we're fighting Roxanne, right?"
"Her pokémon, yes. But we have to battle two trainers and their pokémon before that happens."
"Aw, what? Seriously? Why?"
"Rules."
"Human rules suck."
"Yeah, I know. But if I have to abide by them, so do you." Shay paused in her writing and reached out to gently rub Keno's head, mindful of the large sailing fin that sloped along his skull. He leaned into her touch with another sigh.
"What pokémon does Roxanne have?"
Shay answered without pausing to think on it. "Geodude and Nosepass. Both rock-types, through and through. You're a water-ground dual-type. You'll blow them out of the arena, guaranteed."
In the games, Roxanne had one of the easiest teams to beat…so long as the player character's team had any pokémon that had advantages over rock-types. It would have really sucked if Shay had had a particular taste towards any pokémon that would struggle greatly or be outright outclassed by Roxanne's team. Like a team consisted solely of bug-types or flying-types, or normal-types with low-grade moves like Scratch or Pound attacks.
She was doubly glad she had chosen to stick with Keno. He had advantages over nearly half the gym leaders in Hoenn.
But that won't mean anything if we aren't ready, she mused, pursing her lips as she had to reread what was on the paperwork she was staring at for the third time. She finally managed to get the words to soak in: It was for her consenting to battle with the gym leader, as well as a list of liabilities the Rustboro Gym would not be held accountable for, once she signed her name on the forms.
"In the case of death, dismemberment, or maiming of any sort of any challenging pokémon team members, the Rustboro Gym is not to be held responsible for those events."
Jeez, they aren't kidding around here. They really don't want any shit to hit the fan in case something goes sideways under their rooftops. Shay wouldn't have any grounds or a leg to stand on if she tried to sue for reparations or compensation if any of that happened.
"If a pokémon is too injured to continue in battle, they must be recalled. The gym and its staff are trying to avoid any unnecessary deaths or risks, but in gym battles, there is always a risk. If a pokémon is too injured to make the trek across the city, medical personnel that are on-call in the gym will help stabilize the injured pokémon and in highly urgent cases, transport the injured party to the healing facility after stabilization."
It continued on like that for the whole page and then some on the following page, before she had to sign and date the paperwork. When she was finally done at last, she got up and trekked over to the desk, handing the clipboard and her trainer ID to Daniel. He thanked her and told her she'd need to wait so that the challenging trainers could get ready. He did something with her trainer ID first, and within a few seconds, was handing it back to her, smiling.
"I'll process the rest of this in, but it shouldn't be more than ten minutes. They'll call your name when they're ready."
"Oh, I have one more question. Why is there a mandatory requirement for challengers to battle trainers before taking on a gym leader?" She hesitated before quickly adding, "They do things differently in Kanto, so that's why I'm asking."
Daniel, bless him, seemed to accept the explanation and didn't prod any further, his features smoothing out easily as he swiveled his chair to face her.
"In the simplest and easiest terms to explain it? We're trying to weed out trainers that aren't all that serious in challenging the gym circuit and the League. We've had problems in the past with trainers who came swaggering through, carrying a whole team of greenhorn pokémon that just weren't ready or they were too ill-fit for the strenuous gym challenges, or they weren't properly cared for at all and the trainers just…flung bodies at the gym leaders. It was a really bad problem, with unnecessary deaths or permanently injured pokémon at an all-time high across the Hoenn region. When Steven became Champion, he implemented systematic changes to how things were run, drafted new regulations to protect not only pokémon but their trainers as well."
Daniel shrugged and huffed out a breath. "I was just kid when all this happened, but it drastically changed up how we were taught in school, and Steven even changed the law to how old a trainer has to be before they undertake the League challenge. It used to be ten. Can you believe that? Ten-year-old kids barely understand what's going on with their own bodies, never mind how to understand and care for the individualistic needs for a team of pokémon. Plus, they don't fully realize how dangerous some pokémon can be, especially when they're in the hands of some hormonal little shithead, ya know?"
Shay laughed and stole a glance at Keno, who had come over to her side. He gazed up at her, his mouth pulling into an awkward, but recognizable smile, his amber-orange eyes glinting happily. She palmed the side of his head, running her thumb up and down. She turned back to Daniel, curiousity stealing over her.
"Did you ever try to go for it? Challenging the gym leaders, I mean."
Daniel guffawed, shaking his head. "God, no! I'm too busy with studying, when I'm not working here. I hope to become a regional professor's assistant someday. Maybe not with Professor Birch, except maybe if he decides to step down in the next decade or so and someone else takes over. He's pretty picky with his research assistants and they tend to stay on for quite a while, so it's always a fight to get into the program. But maybe somewhere outside Hoenn, if that doesn't happen? I hear Professor Sycamore in Kalos is always looking every couple of years."
"That sounds like fun." Shay hummed back, before politely thanking him and returning to the waiting area. It wasn't long, however, before she had to get up, a slight pull of hunger tugging her toward the vending machines. Alien food brands stared her down from their coiled perches. Some she recognized, vaguely, from the times she and Norman had gone shopping, but the others were still oddities to her. She finally settled on some chips that looked like they were salt and vinegar flavoured, and two water bottles from the other vending machine. She opened one and handed it to Keno. He gratefully took it and chugged it messily as Shay opened her chips and took a tentative, experimental nibble. It tasted a little off, but it would do for the time being.
"Thanks, Shay. I feel little bit better."
She patted his head again, smiling. "Not a problem. Do you itch as much?"
"A little, still. But maybe I should soak when we get back to the center. It might help."
"Yeah." She sighed, her attention already waning and drifting to the battlefield. Daniel was crossing the distance to the kids and they gathered around him, briefly, before splitting off into different directions. Most remained on the bleachers. One moved off to a door off the side of the bleachers and disappeared through it. The last was trotting up to the lobby.
It was a young kid, perhaps ten or a little older, donning a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a plain t-shirt with a simplistic, repeating rock-like patterns and sneakers. His chestnut brown hair stuck up at odd angles, like he had rolled out of bed and hadn't bothered to comb it down. Shay's first thought was, Nasty ass, before she shook it away.
It didn't matter what the hell the kid looked like. It didn't negate his battle skills, whatever they may be. She shared a look with Keno.
"Hey, you're Shay Kenway, right? The challenger?"
"No, Shay Kenway's invisible. She's over there." Shay pointed to the couch opposite her. The kid snickered and she grinned back, standing and slipping her bag of chips into her sling-pack. Keno crunched the water bottle in his paws, looking between her and the trainer uncertainly.
"Oh, hey, you can throw it away in that trashcan over there. See it?"
Shay and Keno looked at the same time and saw the little black trashcan the kid pointed out. Keno shuffled over and tossed it in, then shuffled back to Shay's side, looking pleased as punch.
"So, where do you want us?"
"Follow me," the kid said, turning on his heel and waving for them to do as such. There was a set of stairs leading to the arena, and as soon as her boots hit the terrain, gravel and dirt and pebbles crunched underfoot. Daniel passed them on his way back and he flashed her a thumbs up and a grin.
"Good luck, Miss Kenway!"
She nodded to him, returning the smile. The kid split off from her and motioned for Shay to take up the other side of the battlefield. She stood at the far end, right behind the painted white lines she hadn't noticed until she had gotten closer and turned to face the young boy opposite her. He nodded to her, and then to a tall woman with dark hair and donning a pair of casual charcoal black shorts and a halter top with floral patterns dotting it off by the bleachers. She took this as a cue and leapt over the barricade to trot over to the middle line just outside the arena.
"Challenger Kenway, you can use as many pokémon as you want in this battle, with the maximum being six. You can use a maximum of five items for this battle. If you win this battle and then choose to leave the gym before you battle Gym Leader Roxanne, you'll forfeit the chance to battle her. If you return to the gym at a later date, you'll have to start your challenge all over again. If your pokémon are too injured or are knocked out and cannot continue, you must recall them. The first trainer that has an entire team that cannot continue on is the loser and the trainer with at least one pokémon still standing wins."
The tall woman looked Shay over, before turning to look at the boy standing opposite her. He nodded to her and flashed a thumbs up.
"I know the rules, Julia. Let's get this going."
The wall behind the bleachers suddenly trembled and hissed, sliding on pneumatic tracks to reveal a jumbo screen behind it. The screen was dark for several moments before it winked to life, flashing brightly. The boy's picture along with his name—Tommy Shanks—showed up on the bottom of the screen, his team of pokémon filling up only one out of six slots: a solitary Geodude. Shay's picture appeared above it, from her trainer identification card, along with her team of pokémon. All six slots were filled out, with Keno sitting front and center in the first.
"If both of you are ready, bring out your first pokémon," the tall woman, Julia, announced. Shay met Tommy's eyes from across the arena and his face split into a wide grin.
He immediately sent out one of his Geodude with a loud cry of, "Let's go, Clay!"
Spilling from the light, a Geodude formed, hard and still and balled up on Tommy's side of the arena. She studied the Geodude, momentarily fascinated by it. It was a squat little thing, a bundled ball of craggy, uneven stone, with two appendages protruding out of its sides. In all honesty, it was rather faithful to the original game art. It even floated above the arena floor, and while curiousity bit at her, she didn't the time to ask questions. She shook the thoughts away and Keno, standing beside Shay, took only a simple glance at her, before trotting onto the battlefield.
"Are you both ready?" Julia called, looking first to Tommy, and to Shay second. They both nodded in agreement to her, and she raised a hand into the air, letting the seconds linger, before cutting her arm down and shouting, "BEGIN!"
Tommy was quick to rouse his Geodude into action. "Clay, use Rollout!"
Shay was just as quick. Her heart gave a sudden thump against her ribcage and words swelled up in her chest, building up into her throat, before spilling out of her mouth in a matter of seconds.
"Use Mud Shot, Keno! Blow that Geodude out of the water!"
"But there isn't any water!" Keno replied, looking over his shoulder uncertainly. Shay made a noise of frustration before flapping her arm at him to turn around. The Geodude was barreling straight for Keno at a frightening speed, spinning too impossibly fast to keep track off. Dust, grit, and pebbles flew in the wake of its rolling rampage, obscuring parts of the arena for several, lingering moments.
"MUD SHOT, NOW!"
Keno didn't argue the second time around and spat out a mud-glob against the oncoming Geodude. Tommy's cry to his pokémon to change course and avoid the attack fell on deaf ears, and got hit, full-on. Clay's Rollout attack guttered to a clumsy stop and the Geodude bowled over itself clumsily, gunky sludge tarring its entire body. It shuddered on the spot, an arm trembling visibly as it lifted it before flopping to the ground, useless.
Tommy was quick to recall his pokémon, staring at Shay with wide eyes. Julia didn't hesitate to call the victory in favour of Shay, motioning with a sweep of her arm out to the young woman.
"Challenger Shay Kenway will proceed to her next match, with Georgia Wuntch. Challenger Kenway, if you wish to check over your pokémon before your next match, now is the time to do it. Your item restrictions will restart once the next match begins. You have five minutes to prepare."
Shay nodded to Julia, whilst Tommy traipsed off from his side of the arena, his head hanging low. Keno came trotting back to her, and practically leapt into her arms, grinning like mad. She stumbled back several steps, taken aback by Keno's overenthusiastic reaction and at the sudden feeling of his heavy weight slamming into her. She couldn't blame him, however; he's been excited and anxious for weeks on end for this day.
"Didja see me?! I blew that Geodude out of the water, just like you asked! But I don't really get it, we don't have any water around here, just rocks. So, wouldn't it be more like 'blow them out of the rocks'? But that doesn't sound as good."
"It's an expression," Shay whispered, laughing when he nuzzled her face and squeezed her tightly. She squeezed back, pride swelling in her chest. Shay was reluctant to let go, but she had to. Slowly, she pulled back, and gathering her intent, Keno did the same. She checked him over, but he was, overall, unscathed. There was a fire in his amber-orange eyes. She wasn't about to put it out by discouraging him. Giving him another grin, she nodded.
"You're good to go, Keno. You ready for the next round?"
Keno whipped around and trotted back out onto the battlefield as his way for an answer. She straightened, nodding to Julia off to the side. A young girl had taken up a position on the other end of the arena from Shay whilst she had been checking Keno over, looking ready to go. She too donned a similar t-shirt as Tommy bore—plain and simplistic, with repeating chains of rock-like patterns emblazoned across it. She too wore shorts and a pair of sturdy-looking tennis shoes, but hers were louder and bore more vibrant—bordering on neon—colours. Her pale frizzy red-gold hair was swept back into as tamable a ponytail she could probably manage, although smaller strands had popped out and were flying freely now.
She grinned at Shay and waved excitedly to her. Shay, hesitant, gave a short wave back.
"Let's have fun, okay?!" The girl—Georgia, Shay belated remembered her name as—shouted to her, her hands cupped around her mouth to amplify her voice. Shay shrugged—then stopped herself and flashed a thumbs-up to Georgia. She jumped a few times into the air enthusiastically before Julia cleared her throat loudly.
"Challenger Shay Kenway, are you and your team ready?"
Shay flashed another thumbs-up.
"Georgia, are you good to go?"
"Ready, Julia!"
"All right then." Julia raised her hand upwards, just as she had the last match, and the air was tight and tense, if only for a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime had passed before Julia sliced her arm downwards, signaling the start of the match with a bellow, "BEGIN!"
Georgia immediately tossed a pokéball out, and from the confines of the little device, a Geodude emerged, looking as craggy and squat and long-armed as the last. Only, something caught Shay's attention, brief and surprising. Little pink bows were tied to the biceps of each arm on the Geodude. It boggled Shay for several, belated moments. She startled when Georgia shouted a command to her pokémon, and it jumpstarted into action immediately.
Another Rollout attack, Shay recognized, as the Geodude dove into a curled position and was ripping down the arena straight for Keno.
"Keno, use Mud Shot! Slow it down!"
"Dodge it, Marble! Swing out of the way!"
Keno spat out a tremendous muddy glob toward the oncoming Geodude, but just as the shot was about to connect, the Geodude change direction suddenly, spinning right out of harm's way. Before Shay could shout a warning for Keno to get out of the way, Marble the Geodude landed a hit. It sent Keno flying across the arena, and he tumbled over himself several times and lay on the ground, unmoving. A dust cloud settled over the arena, making it hard to see Keno for a few seconds. Shay could hear her heartbeat pounding through her head so loudly, she could barely hear anything else.
Relief swelled inside of her like a growing tide when Keno finally moved after an eternity of waiting, hoping, fearing. Marble was doubling-back for another hit and was picking up speed at a frightening pace. Keno was on his feet when Marble came barreling down the arena at him, and before Shay could open her mouth, he was already dodging Rollout attack. Losing some momentum and steam, the Geodude tumbled over to a stop before its rocky girth lifted off the arena floor and turned to face Keno. He wiped his chest and winced visibly.
"You okay Keno?" Shay called to him. He glanced over his shoulder at her, nodding.
"I'm okay. Let's keep going."
Shay let out a heavy breath she hadn't known she was holding, and realized she had her hand gripping Breela's pokéball on her belt. She reluctantly dropped it and nodded back.
"Okay. Let's keep going," she agreed.
"Marble, gear up for another Rollout attack—!"
"WATER GUN!"
Keno obliged, rapidly blasting a stream of water from his maw, and it hit the Geodude square on. The Geodude squealed in surprise—a noise Shay hadn't expected it to make—before collapsing on the arena floor, the pink bows sopping wet and sagging to the soaked ground. Georgia stood stock still, eyes wide and staring. She only moved when Julia declared Shay the winner. She returned her Geodude and fled without saying a word or glancing Shay's way once.
Julia crossed the battlefield to join Shay, smiling sympathetically as Shay watched Georgia disappear from sight.
"Don't feel too bad for her. She only ever has fun when she's winning. A bit hypocritical, but Georgia will be fine in a few hours. She bounces back real quick." Julia sobered, before offering a hand. Shay reached out and grabbed it. Julia's hand engulfed hers. Keno came trotting up from behind Julia and swung around to cling to Shay's side. She reached back with her other hand and laid it atop his head in comfort. "Congrats on making it this far. If you'd like, you can challenge the third and last trainer of this gym before facing Roxanne, or I can get her right now and we can get this thing underway."
Shay beamed up at the taller woman, excitement coursing through her. "Let's get this show on the road and rock it."
Julia snorted and laughed. "Okay, not the first rock pun we've gotten, but definitely not the worst one. I'll be right back. Take this time to check on your Marshtomp while I'm gone."
As soon as Julia was out of earshot, Shay ducked to one knee, immediately checking him over. An angry, red scrape decorated a good chunk of his chest, and a few smaller cuts were sprinkled across one of his cheeks beside his external gills, a shoulder, and the palms of his hands. She was already whipping out a few potion vials. Keno held still as she applied the spray, and his wounds nearly all closed and healed up, but she could feel him practically vibrating with elation.
Satisfied after checking him once again and seeing no other injuries, he finally leapt at her, arms flinging around her neck and gripping her in a tight hug.
"I won, didja see that? Even though I got hit, I won!" When he backed up, he rubbed at his chest and his cheek, this time without flinching. "But that really hurt. Rock-type pokémon are hard and heavy."
"Well, this is your first time fighting one."
"Yeah, I guess so," he mumbled back, mouth pressing tightly together. He looked back up at her, searching her face. "D'ya think Roxanne will be easier?"
"Gym leaders tend to be pretty strong…but I think Roxanne might be easier to battle than other ones."
Keno perked at that, the external gills along his cheeks rippled and twitched, and his amber-orange eyes glittered brightly.
"How're you feeling?" Shay pressed, eyes flicking from his momentarily when she saw Julia returning—and in tow, Roxanne was trailing behind her.
"I'm good, Shay! I can keep going! Please don't send Breela out, she's still really timid. She'll get hurt. And I don't wanna see anything bad happen to her…Shay?"
She blinked, shaking her head and looking back at Keno, but he turned and began to stare as well. "Is that her," he whispered, leaning closer to her. His external gills tickled her face and Shay leaned back, gently pushing his frilly gills away. He leaned away, apologetic as he preened himself before returning to his open staring.
"Is that Roxanne?" he repeated, and Shay muttered an affirmative to him. His dual tailfins quivered and twitched as he, alongside his trainer, watched Roxanne approach.
She was faithful to her game design, Shay noted almost immediately off the bat: Her warm-grey dress was latticed through with dust-grey designs and while it wasn't as poufy or blown out, but it was short, stopping just above her knees. It was accompanied by bright pink tights that complemented the grey, along with dark and sensible flats. The top of the dress was layered over a short white blouse and pink scarf, giving the impression of a business outfit…or perhaps that of an educator, at the very least. It was something she expected a second-grade teacher to wear. Her hair was pulled up into twin buns atop her head and the excess was allowed to flow freely down the sides, like pigtails. To top off the ensemble, a magenta bow was clipped to the back of her head, just barely peeking out to be visible from the front.
Roxanne was laughing at something Julia said, her hand covering her mouth to hide her smile, eyes closing momentarily. When they were within earshot, Roxanne glanced Shay's way, the gym leader's hand dropped and she flashed a smile her way and dismissed Julia with a wave of her hand and a friendly goodbye.
"You must be Shay Kenway. I'm Roxanne, Rustboro City's gym leader. It's great to meet you," Roxanne said as she extended her hand out. Shay took it in her hand and shook it. "Julia said you took out Tommy and Georgia in record time. Most newcomers that come through here have a hard time. You must have trained especially hard before coming here, and exceptionally with an evolved starter from Professor Birch."
"I figured it was the smart thing to do, instead of just coming straight here from Littleroot and not having done any training."
Roxanne and Shay pulled their hands back and Roxanne looked her up and down.
"True. But you also look a little older than most of my opponents, so you have some wisdom on your side, I assume."
"How old do you think I am?" Shay blurted, genuinely curious. Most people, like Norman and Professor Birch alike, assumed she was in her late teens, early twenties at most. A majority would never have guessed her age accurately.
"Twenty-seven," Roxanne chuckled, and for a brief second, Shay was speechless. Then she laughed.
"My trainer ID."
"Right. Surprising. You don't look like you're nearing your thirties."
"Thanks…I think?"
Roxanne smiled again, before motioning to her side of the arena. "How about we get this battle going, huh? Good luck."
With a wave, she turned on her heel and strolled across the length of the open space to her side. Shay glanced at Keno, sharing a look. "You ready, bud?"
He nodded to her, mouth pulling back into that awkward, toothless smile that reminded her of a certain, playful, and loveable dragon. She smiled back, ready to offer another encouraging platitude, when suddenly she stopped before she even began.
The ground beneath her was shuddering, quaking, like it was the beginnings of an earthquake—and then seams appeared along the rocky soil and split apart. Shay and Keno alike scrambled out of the way just as the floor broke and slid back, allowing for a tower to arise from the depths of the hidden compartment. No, not a tower—a battle platform. The glossy paint finish was covered in a light coat of dust, but otherwise, it looked largely unmarred…at least, it did from the back. She couldn't speak for the front, which no doubt had been battered with multiple past battles.
Shay approached the platform, while Keno circled around to the other side. When Shay was settled, it moved up on a track, allowing her to see over the entire battlefield. Roxanne was already atop her own platform, looking ready as ever. Julia took her place along the median, just as she had the previous two battles.
Keno hovered below, right against the base of Shay's platform. She had to lean over to see him, staring out at Roxanne.
"Keno!" Shay stage-whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. He looked around, puzzled, before throwing his gaze upwards. He twirled on his feet until he was facing the platform and stared at Shay.
"You okay down there?"
"Um…I…I guess."
Shay frowned at the uncertainty and anxiety lining his tone. "You sure? I can send Breela if you're not up for it—"
"No! No, I can do it. I can do it. She still gets really scared in battles. I don't want her to get hurt just because I'm a little nervous. Please don't do that to her, Shay."
She was taken aback by his altruistic plea, but bobbed her head to him nonetheless. He was sweet, worrying about the others like this. He was right, however. Breela was still very timid and modest, especially in battles. She hoped the little Shroomish could overcome that, especially if she wanted to evolve.
"If you feel up for this battle, I trust you, Keno."
"Challenger Shay Kenway! I welcome you again to the Rustboro City Gym!"
Shay and Keno alike looked up to see Roxanne looking directly at them. A small microphone hovered by her face, popping up out of the front of the platform's rim. Shay glanced down and saw another like it sliding into view from her platform. Roxanne continued.
"Julia has already explained the rules to you, but would you like a reminder of them again?"
"No, I think I'm good," Shay said, leaning toward the microphone. Her voice, now greatly amplified, bounced across the gym walls, same as Roxanne's had. A strange hush had fallen around them in the wake of their voices, and Shay glanced at the bleachers, realizing that the crowd of children lounging about had grown silent.
Anticipation hung heavy in the air, unspoken yet felt nonetheless. Roxanne's sigh carried across the void between them.
"All right, then. I hope you're ready, Challenger Shay Kenway."
With a nod to Julia, the tall woman stepped forward, looked to Roxanne first and then to Shay. She lifted her arm for a third time that day, high above her head, and the wait was palpably tense. It was a physically blissful relief when she finally sliced the air with her arm and hand, thrusting it downward like the swing of a sword.
"BEGIN!"
Additional Notes: As a reminder, I am always super-careful in my battles and tend to be paranoid, so I carried a lot of medicines to prevent or fix status-encumbering inflictions or low HP statuses.
With that reminder in place, for story purposes, there were some obvious restrictions and regulations that I felt were necessary to throw in. Hooray, exposition! Also, Keno evolved right before the first gym battle, and it wasn't anything special at the time. I didn't feel every nitty-gritty detail needed to be showed off for the story's sake, so I excluded showing the evolution—although in all fairness, it was originally included. It was cut, however, due to length and the scene dragging on.
I have a majority of the story written down somewhere—major events, plot points, minor changes here and there—and as a result, I've also drafted up a tentative playlist for this story. I'm still tweaking it and adjusting what should go where, but if anyone is curious to listen, let me know, and I'll post it on 8tracks! (I will say I wish I could have more Gustavo Santaolalla pieces, but alas, the two songs limit on 8tracks constrains me so…)
Lastly, Keno is my little brave guy and he is a Good Boi. You can't change my mind.
And if you'd be so kind, please leave a comment or constructive critique in the review box! I'd greatly appreciate it, and as always, I'd love to hear from you guys!
