"Doduo first?" John muttered and I nodded. From what I could remember, Ledyba was an offensively atrocious Pokemon, meaning that its grounded ally would be much more of a physical threat. As such, I had absolutely no interest in fighting Duduo at the same time as whatever Pokemon Aeric was using from his roster intended for trainers with one badge already under their belt. Satisfied that we were on the same page, John ordered Wooper to use Water Gun and the Pokemon started waddling further onto the battlefield.
"Quick Attack Doduo!" I ordered and felt momentarily elated at the novel experience of being able to tell Blitz which attack he should use.
My good mood ended when Aeric gave his first command with a wide grin, "Supersonic." John and I groaned as Ledyba started making buzzing noises at various different pitches, only to be confused ourselves when the large bug angled itself towards its ally instead of Blitz like we'd expected. Both of Doduo's heads stilled for a moment before starting to rock back and forth erratically. While John and I were baffled, Blitz seemed unconcerned with our opponent's unusual strategy and continued streaking towards the much larger bird's body. At the last possible second before Blitz connected, Doduo squatted and moved its heads to the left and right, making Blitz fly right between the veritable goalposts.
"Peck and Setup," Aeric said with more calm than his previous order while Blitz scrambled to reorient himself after his unexpected miss. Doduo reextended its legs at the command and sprung forward towards Wooper at a full sprint while Ledyba simply closed its eyes. While it ran, both of the Doduo's beaks began to softly glow, though the sight was made a bit less threatening when one of the heads began to lightly Peck the other.
"I think that's Tangled Feet," John said hesitantly. "I've never actually seen someone run it before." I decided not to comment since I barely remembered that the ability existed and instead silently watched as Blitz rocketed after Doduo. Thankfully, he was able to outpace his opponent and reached Doduo at the same time that Wooper fired a jet of water, sandwiching Aeric's Pokemon between the two attacks.
The effectiveness of the two attacks was ruined as two semi-transparent barriers appeared in front of and behind Doduo, deflecting much of the water and slowing down Blitz. Blitz was able to force his way through the barrier and land a glancing blow before being forced back when the floating barrier sprung backward. Undeterred by the two attacks, Doduo took the last few steps towards Wooper and brought both of its heads down to hit Wooper on the top of the head.
"What in the…" John muttered as Wooper cried out, "How did it use Reflect and Light Screen so quickly?"
"Time out!" Aeric called out, the grin he had been wearing at the start of the fight now completely vanished.
"The gym leader has called for a timeout!" Larim announced without missing a beat, "All Pokemon must return to their trainer's sides!" John and I looked at each other surprised and confused while Blitz reluctantly flew back to where I stood and Doduo stumbled back to Aeric.
Aeric pointed at John and sharply said, "You. How long does Barrier last?"
"Five turns, or eight with a Light Clay," John answered instantly.
Aeric slowly moved his hand so that he was pointing at me, "And you?"
I was fairly sure that this was a trick question but without any other ideas, I mutely nodded.
Aeric groaned exasperatedly, "Ugh, no! It depends on what the Pokemon ate for breakfast, how much sleep it got, what the temperature is, what it thinks of its opponent, any number of things." With each example, Aeric held up another finger before reclosing his hand into a fist. "Whatever it is, it definitely isn't five blasted turns because those don't muking exist!"
Any expectations I had for the gym battle had already been thrown out the window when it turned into a double battle, but I still surprised to receive an impassioned lecture in the middle of it. While I had already known that battles here didn't follow all of the same rules that I was used to, it was finally starting to sink in that relying on my previous knowledge would do more harm than good. In the suddenly silent arena, John frowned thoughtfully while Larim gave Aeric a look of pointed disapproval similar to the ones he had been giving Sally not long ago.
After a few seconds, Aeric withered under the judge's glare and sighed, "Sorry. It's been a while since I've had to give this talk and it always bugs me. Dunno how Lizzie and Oliver handle it. Long story short: the sooner you can stop thinking of this as a battle sim, the better trainers you'll both be." Aeric's grin returned once I nodded and a moment later John did the same. "Well then, I think we're ready to get back to it. Let me see what you've got!"
"The battle will resume on the count of three," Larim declared, "One!"
"Should I switch to Ledyba?" I hurriedly murmured to John who still looked thoughtful.
"Two!" Larim called and John slowly nodded. "Three!"
John and I gave our commands simultaneously, "Quick Attack Ledyba!" "Mud Shot Doduo!" Wooper began waddling forward once again and was passed a moment later as Blitz shot off towards the gym leader's side of the field again.
"Now you're getting it! Peck Wooper and Swift Fletchling!" Once again Doduo began sprinting towards Wooper while five small white stars began to form in front of Ledyba, making me wince. It turned out my previous Pokemon knowledge was even less helpful than I'd thought, considering that I'd forgotten one of Ledyba's signature moves.
"Switch to Peck," I called out to Blitz, and was surprised when he managed to put on a final burst of speed as he switched attacks. The extra boost allowed him to reach Ledyba before Swift was fully ready, but he was still knocked back from their small explosions and the still present Reflect. Despite the obstacles in his way, Blitz managed to score a decent hit on Ledyba with his beak, and his target was likewise sent careening backward.
"Keep at it Blitz," I called as Aeric ordered another Swift from Ledyba. I momentarily turned my attention to John's side of the battle and saw Doduo already bearing down over Wooper. One of the bird's heads was completely covered in mud while the other was hitting John's Pokemon with Peck after Peck. Wooper was attempting to split his attention between dodging and caking his opponent's second head with mud but didn't seem to be having much success with either.
A familiar buzzing noise forced me to return my attention to Blitz and I was relieved to see that it didn't look like Ledyba's second Supersonic had been successful. Blitz was doing his best to avoid two Swift stars that were following him through the air while simultaneously coming around to make another pass at his opponent. "Try to fly erratically; don't be an easy target!" I wasn't sure if that actually was good advice given that it wouldn't help against any future Swift attacks, but I absolutely didn't want him getting confused. The updated strategy seemed to be enough of a deterrent since Aeric soon ordered Ledyba to switch back to using Swift.
"Wooper is unable to battle!" Larim announced at the same time that the room was filled with a loud 'Oooop.' John returned Wooper before I could see what exactly had happened and just as quickly his starter bounded onto the field.
"Double Team and Tackle," John said, unphased by his first Pokemon's defeat. Rockruff's outline blurred and when I blinked there were five of the dog Pokemon surrounding Doduo. Both Doduo heads jabbed down at a different Rockruff but neither connected with the real Rockruff. The mud-covered head missed and the other went right through the illusion, barely avoiding slamming its beak into the ground. Two of the Rockruff then darted towards Doduo with the first phasing through Doduo and the second sending the flightless bird stumbling backward.
An annoyed screech reminded me that I had my own battle to pay attention to and made me decide that I disliked live double battles even more than ones in games. Blitz was much more battered and frazzled than the last time that I'd looked at him, with several feathers sticking out at odd angles as he did his best to avoid Swift stars while also closing in on Ledbya. After watching his attempts for a bit, I called out, "Switch targets," and Blitz instantly banked back towards Doduo. The gym trainer's Pokemon was busy playing wack-a-mole with Rockruff clones so it didn't notice Blitz's approach until it was too late. Blitz struck Doduo's back with Quick Attack at the same time that Rockruff landed another Tackle and the flightless bird's legs gave out.
"Doduo is unable to battle!" Larim called when Doduo collapsed and Blitz was struck in the back by several Swift stars.
"Great job you two!" Aeric enthused at us while he returned Doduo to its ball and pulled out another Pokeball. "But can you handle this guy?"
There was a loud trill and I took an involuntary step back when I saw that Aeric's final Pokemon was a Pidgeotto at least three times the size of Blitz. I couldn't help but recall seeing videos of songbirds failing to fight off much larger predatory birds and worried that we might be in a similar situation. My fears were far from assuaged when Aeric gave his first command to Pidgeotto, which was to use Gust to disrupt Blitz. Blitz's already difficult task became almost impossible as a Pidgeotto beat its wings and formed a veritable minefield of miniature tornadoes between Blitz and Ledyba. Thankfully, it seemed that it took all of Pidgeotto's effort to maintain the tornados, so Blitz was able to focus on finding a route without dealing with any additional obstacles.
While Blitz tried to worm his way through to get back to Ledyba, John called out, "Let's get some pressure off, Rockruff! Double Team again and then Sand Attack Pidgeotto!" After a curt nod from Rockruff, three new illusions appeared to replace the ones that Doduo had destroyed and a small pile of sand materialized in front of all five Rockruff. They began kicking the sand up towards Pidgeotto but after a command from Aeric, the bird flew up another foot and the conjured sand barely scrapped Pidgeotto's talons. "Damn it, it's like Wingull all over again," John muttered darkly from my side.
Despite John's despair, Rockruff's efforts had given Blitz a small window to advance when Pidgeotto had paused from Gust to gain height. Blitz shot forward as soon as the tornados had begun to dissipate and he almost made it to Ledyba before a new wall of Gusts formed directly in front of him. Unable to stop in time, Blitz attempted to power through but he was too injured and the winds created by Pidgeotto were too strong. He was forcibly knocked off-course, allowing for the remaining Swift stars to catch up and knock him out of the air.
I waited a moment to see if Blitz would be able to recover, but when he didn't react I returned him before he could crash into the arena floor. Once Blitz had been declared out by Larim, I nodded at Peren who walked into the bounds of the arena with his head high and stopped to stand next to the five Rockruff images. All five Rockruff looked over at their new partner and they confidently nodded, which Peren returned. Despite the Pokemon's mutual assurances, I definitely did not share their faith. While Blitz had been able to land a couple of decent hits on Ledyba, Pidgeotto was completely untouched and the battle had turned into even two on two match.
A bark of laughter from Aeric returned my attention back to the field and my doubt was replaced by puzzlement. A deep green aura had surrounded Peren while all of the Rockruff were covered with a soft brown light. Even stranger, neither Pokemon seemed to notice or care about the phenomenon and maintained their intent stares at their opponents.
"Now things are really getting interesting! If you needed extra proof this isn't a battle sim, then here you are!" Aeric said loudly. John and I glanced at each other before returning our attention to the gym leader, expecting another mid-battle lecture. Instead, he waved us off, "I'll explain when we're done. Let's go!"
Almost as if they were waiting for Aeric's permission, Peren and Rockruff sprung into action. Several small pellets suddenly shot out of the flower atop Peren's head and flew through the air towards Pidgeotto. At the same time, piles of small rocks appeared next to Rockruff, just as the sand had moments ago before they also were fired up towards Pidgeotto. While a hexagon-shaped barrier appeared in front of Pidgeotto and blocked all of Peren's pellets, some of Rockruff's pebbles made it through the Reflect to buffet the bird.
"Rock Throw and Leech Seed," Aeric mused before flashing us another grin. "Let me see how you use these new tools to win!"
Since Aeric wasn't going to provide us with an explanation, I decided to push back my bafflement and focus on the battle for now. It seemed likely that Ledyba had set up Safeguard as well, so despite Peren's new move he wasn't actually any better off. John either reached the same conclusion or simply wanted to make full use of his type advantage since he told Rockruff to take out Ledyba with Rock Throw. With not much else for him to do, I told Peren to protect Rockruff from Pidgeotto which earned a mildly concerned look from John and another short laugh from Aeric.
"A grass type defending a rock type from a flying type. That's definitely a new one," Aeric chuckled. "Well, let's oblige him. Pidgeotto, Wing Attack the Deerling!" After a final flap of its wings, Pidgeotto descended from its previous vantage point and dove towards Peren. Rockruff and Ledyba continued using their ranged attacks, but Pidgeotto was completely unconcerned as rocks and small stars shot past it. I glanced over to see their targets and was glad to see that Ledyba had been hit by some of the rocks and the supportive Pokemon was barely staying afloat. Unfortunately, its last round of attacks had also made contact and had destroyed the remaining Rockruff clones.
When Pidgeotto had almost reached Peren and just as the bird's wings began to glow for the upcoming attack, I shouted, "Camouflage!" Up to this point, Peren had stayed resolutely still but he suddenly flashed a bright white before turning the same slate gray as the arena's floor. Unfortunately, Pidgeotto was too well trained and the flash of light didn't deter it like Blitz had been when Peren had used the move during our initial battle with him. Even without that potential bonus, the move still had the desired effect and Peren was only winded instead of badly hurt. I had hoped that his type would change to rock and steel and resist the attack, but judging from his reaction to the Wing Attack, I guessed that he had instead changed to pure normal.
"Ledyba is unable to battle!" Came the announcement from Larim and I realized that Rockruff had continued his assault while I'd been watching Peren.
"Well done you two!" Aeric loudly said as he returned his knocked-out bug. "I suppose it's time to-"
"Leech Seed!" I interrupted and Peren fired another salvo of seeds towards Pidgeotto who had begun to swing around for another pass. I felt a little bad about the interruption but it was possible that Safeguard had worn off now that Ledyba had fainted, and if that was the case I wanted to get the condition applied immediately. Aeric looked a bit miffed, which was only exacerbated when a few of the seeds nestled themselves among Pidgeotto's glowing wings. However, before Leech Seed could actually do anything, Pidgeotto once again rammed its wings into Peren and almost knocked him over. This time when Pidgeotto flew away after the attack, it was beaned in the back by several small rocks and a bright green globe began to slowly move from the bird towards Peren. Peren appeared refreshed the moment the orb touched him and disappeared but he was still clearly hurting from the two Wing Attacks.
"Stay in the air and use Gust," Aeric ordered and Pidgeotto resumed its previous strategy of hovering above the arena while sending small tornados down towards our side of the battle. Without any ranged attacks of his own, Peren stayed between Rockruff and Pidgeotto, occasionally stepping in front of a Gust attack so that Rockruff could continue to focus all of her attention on using Rock Throw. Unfortunately, the incoming attacks were deflecting some of the rocks which meant that Peren was ultimately taking damage at a faster rate than Pidgeotto. Occasionally a new green orb reached Peren to slightly revitalize him, but it wasn't nearly enough and he was the first to be knocked down after being struck by a pair of Gusts.
"Deerling is unable to battle!" Larim announced while I returned Peren and gave John an encouraging smile. While I had been eliminated from the battle, I was still fairly confident in our chances of being able to take the win. Peren had ensured that Rockruff was still mostly healthy and between the type advantage and Leech Seed, I was pretty sure it was going to stay that way. Unless it turned out that Pidgeotto knew Steel Wing and I really didn't want to think about that possibility.
Aeric must have come to the same conclusion about the relative health of the remaining Pokemon, "We need to end this. Get back in there with Quick Attack." At the order, Pidgeotto stopped generating Gusts and sharply dove down towards Rockruff. After a moment of hesitation, John told Rockruff to stand her ground and keep up the volley of Rock Throws. A few more of the rocks hit Pidgeotto but not enough to deter it from its flight path.
When Pidgeotto reached its target, Rockruff whimpered in pain as she was knocked backward to almost the edge of the arena. Without waiting for new orders, Pidgeotto opted to stay hovering above Rockruff and resumed buffeting her with new Gust attacks. Watching as Rockruff struggled to stand back up under the force of the wind, I was starting to once again reevaluate my thoughts on us winning the match when the Gust attacks unexpectedly stopped. Rockruff managed to regain her feet at the same time that a pale green orb was absorbed into her body and Pidgeotto crashed to the ground directly in front of her.
"Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Challengers John and Thomas are the winners!" Larim announced with a smile while John and I turned to each other dumbfounded. Our shared disbelief only lasted a short second before John rushed to Rockruff's side to pepper her with grateful attention. There was a small flash of red light as Pidgeotto was returned and then Aeric began to slowly clap as he walked towards us, once again wearing a wide grin.
"Whooie! That was some battle! Better than most two or three badge challenges, and that was the first synchronize I've seen in a gym battle in years! I should do these more often!"
John glanced up from Rockruff, "What's a synchronize? I mean, I know what the ability is but none of the Pokemon had it."
"Was that when they started glowing?" I ventured.
Larim broke off the annoyed look that he was giving Aeric over his last comment, "Correct. It occurs when two or more Pokemon with a deep bond strongly believe in a joint cause. It can propel them to new heights, such as learning new moves or even evolving."
I frowned at the explanation, now feeling bad about all of the doubts that I'd had throughout the day, both silent and audible. When I had discussed the gym battle this morning, Peren had seemed almost disinterested in the upcoming battle but I now suspected that it had been closer to quiet confidence. While I still thought that the reasons for my low expectations had been valid, I hadn't been giving my Pokemon nearly enough credit. Despite my doubts, both of them had gone all-in on the battle and we had decisively won what logically should have been a loss. I found that I was equally impressed with Rockruff, who seemingly had been unphased by the losing streak that she and John had faced over the last week and still put in her all.
I'm not sure if Aeric sensed my mood or simply wanted to move things along, but the gym leader suddenly clapped his hands together making me jump slightly. "Let's get these two their spoils!" Despite his statement, Aeric didn't move and instead looked expectantly at Larim.
"I'll get everything together and be right back," Larim said with a sigh before looking over at John and me. "Why don't you all heal up your Pokemon in the meantime." After we nodded, he slipped out of the room and I walked over to the healing machine to get Peren and Blitz's recovery started. John joined me at the machine after he had returned Rockruff while Aeric stayed in the middle of the arena checking something on his phone. I thought about starting up a conversation with John about the battle, but it felt weird to do so while our opponent was still within hearing range, so we ended up silently watching the healing progress on the machine's display.
Shortly after my Pokemon's health indicator reached about a third full, Larim came back into the room with a small pile of things held in one hand. He waved us back over and jabbed his elbow into Aeric's side when the gym leader didn't look back up from his phone, making him mutter something before sulkily putting away the device.
Ignoring his reaction, Larim pressed on and handed John and I each a small stack of items containing two debit cards, a small disc, and a badge in the shape of a plane propeller. "Here are your rewards for the victory in the gym battle. First off each of those cards has 250 dollars. The-"
"250?!" John and I incredulously interrupted and I was surprised when I realized that Aeric had made the same exclamation.
After taking a moment to rub his temples, Larim pointed at Aeric, "You're the one who decided to double the prize money. You don't get to complain now." Nevertheless, Aeric grumbled something about having to skip coffee for a while, while Larim turned back to the still stunned John and me. "Even discounting the doubling, your first few badges will have an elevated monetary prize. The amount will begin to fall off once you're qualified for the amateur league since the assumption is that by then you'll have a sponsor or be otherwise somewhat self-sufficient."
John nodded his understanding and I did the same after a few moments of hesitation. I was certainly glad to hear that I would have a semi-stable income for a while, especially with this extra-large initial infusion, but I was worried to hear that it would start to go down over time. I would just have to hope that I would find a way to get back home before money would become too dire of a concern.
Unaware of my inner turmoil, Larim resumed his explanation, "The disc is TM Pluck which, as I'm sure you both know, is a move that takes an item from your enemy."
"How do you use it?" John blurted out and before Larim or Aeric could answer, added, "And how do you know what Pokemon can learn it?" I had the same questions but had planned on looking up the information online instead of asking.
Aeric muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'simmers,' before returning to a normal volume. "Just insert the disc into the back of your Pokeball to use it. If the ball flashes red then the Pokemon can't learn the attack. And even if the Pokemon can learn the move on a TM, it doesn't instantly make them an expert at it. They still need practice."
Larim nodded at the explanation before finishing off his own, "Last is the Propeller Badge which certifies that you defeated the gym leader and that you're qualified to progress further into the league. That said, the badge itself is only just a memento. The important bit is that your league status is updated, which I've already taken care of."
I glanced down at the items in my hands, still with a little disbelief, before thanking Aeric and Larim. A soft ding from behind us distracted John but he followed suit a moment later. Aeric waved us off and for the first time he actually sounded professional, "It was a good battle and you guys earned that win. It sounds like your Pokemon are done so you can head out whenever. I'm looking forward to seeing both of you in the Grandstand next year." I hadn't thought that John could have been any more pleased after our win, but he grew visibly excited at that and even more so when Larim echoed the sentiment. With that, the two men made their exit out the arena with Aeric giving us one last lazy wave goodbye as he walked through the doors.
The moment the doors slammed shut, John widely grinned at me, "Duuuude! We won!"
I could only smile back as we hurried back to retrieve our newly recovered Pokemon. I was just about to release Peren and Blitz from their balls before I remembered where we still were. "Maybe we should leave first," I suggested, stopping John right before he sent out his own Pokemon. "They might need the arena for another battle."
"Oh. Sure. Don't want to make them kick us out," John conceded and the two of us headed back outside through the gym's lobby. Once all four Pokemon had been sent out and sufficiently praised for their efforts, John looked over to where I was still petting Peren, "So what's next in your plans?"
I took a few seconds to reassess my plans now that we weren't in nearly as big of a hurry to reach our next destination, but I ultimately decided that not much had changed. I shrugged and replied, "Take it easy for the rest of the day and then tomorrow continue heading up towards Brainerd I guess."
John shook his head, "No, I meant short-term. As in, where are you sleeping tonight?"
"Oh, uh, I guess I'm not sure. Maybe see if there's a park on the north side of town that I can pitch my tent in?"
"Alright, you're crashing at my place tonight," John decided. I was about to argue that it wasn't needed but he cut me off. "If my parents found out how much you helped me out today and then I let you sleep outside, I'm pretty sure they'd kill me."
I had to admit that the idea of sleeping on something other than a bedroll for a night sounded amazing. Even so, I didn't want to impose so I hedged, "Well if you're sure…"
"Yeah, c'mon. Or actually, do you need to stop anywhere else first?"
"Nah, I'm good. And thanks."
"No problem at all," John assured as he returned Wooper, clearly not trusting the lackadaisical Pokemon to cross crosswalks in a timely manner. That done, he began walking west with the rest of us following close behind, except for Blitz who predictably flew ahead. We had barely gone a block before he spoke back up, "So what's your rank in Pokemon Showdown?"
Pushing past my surprise that there was a site with the same name here, I shrugged and honestly answered, "I never played ranked actually."
"I'm in low masters," John declared proudly then deflated after a second. "But I guess that doesn't matter as much as I thought it would… What sorts of teams did you use?"
It took me a few seconds to try to remember since I was pretty sure that I hadn't touched the website since shortly after Black and White had come out. The one Pokemon that I clearly recalled using was Magic Guard Toxic Orb Facade Clefable, but I didn't want to mention that one. That particular rogue setup had been ruined when Clefable became fairy type and I wasn't about to try to explain that. Instead, I answered with the next two that came to my mind, "I don't remember full teams, but some of my favorites were Toxic stall Hydration Lapras, Serene Grace Togekiss, and Poison Heal Gliscor."
John considered my choices for a moment before laughing, "You really like status conditions huh?"
I shrugged, knowing he had definitely pegged me correctly even without the primary example. "Yeah, I guess so. What about you? What sorts of Pokemon did you use?"
"I like to experiment with mono-typed teams, but my last one was a Drizzle rain team."
I barely held back a laugh at the memory of reverse sweeping my friend's rain team with an Imposter Ditto. Twice. My poorly suppressed chuckling made John give me a curious look, but I waved him off, "Just remembered something. Anyway, any particular reason you use mono-type teams?"
"Eh, I just like the challenge, though I guess I've already sort of moved away from that with my real team though. I suppose you're kinda in the same boat. Talonflame isn't exactly known for status moves." Blitz briefly looked back at us at the mention of his final evolution and his expression clearly showed what he thought of the idea of non-damaging moves.
I hummed non-committaly and let the conversation die off. The idea of building a fully competitive team hadn't even crossed my mind before now since I planned on returning home long before that happened. On a related note, I decided that I was particularly glad to meet John since I had been somewhat agonizing over what would happen to Peren and Blitz once I left. That worry was mostly gone now since I had a feeling that someone like John would be willing to look after them or at least help me find a new home for them.
We continued walking in silence for several minutes before John spoke up again, "So do you know anything about Houndour's trainer?"
"Uh, yeah, I battled her actually. She seems… nice? Kinda intense though."
Interest piqued, John asked, "Oh really? How'd that go?"
I chuckled humorlessly and gave Peren a guilty look at the reminder, "Well, let's just say that her Houndour knows Ember." John winced sympathetically and I shrugged before continuing, "Cait was actually who suggested that I head up to Brainerd first. I think she said she was going to Moorhead or Duluth first." I intentionally omitted the other overly direct, but fair, suggestions that she had had for me. One other thing did come to mind so I added, "She was pretty excited about us being rivals though, so she might challenge you to a battle if you ever run into her."
"People actually do that?" John asked with a grin, "That's awesome. I totally thought the whole 'rival' thing was made up just to hype up championship bouts. Sounds like you should have challenged me instead of helping."
I snorted, "Didn't think you would be excited about extending your losing steak."
John loudly laughed at that, "I guess not, but really, I probably would have come out on top. What would you have done? Tackle and Quick Attack a rock type?"
Our friendly banter continued for several more minutes until we turned onto a residential street. We eventually stopped in front of a house that had a stereotypical white picket fence with a teenage girl reading in a chair on the lawn. As soon as John touched the gate, she looked up from her book with an impish smile, "Hey dork! Did the gym decide that you needed an escort home after today's loss?"
John's sigh sounded identical to the ones that I'd heard several times from Larim today as we walked through the gate. Resignedly he said, "This is my sister Erin. Erin, Thomas." Erin slowly waved one hand at me and I waved back somewhat awkwardly. Introductions out of the way, John continued, "And for your information, we both got the badge today."
Undeterred, Erin's smile only grew, "Ooh, very exciting. Did your new friend do all of the work? Sally let me know you finally made it past her and were having a double battle."
"John actually did most of it," I clarified, earning a grateful look from John. "I was knocked out of the match and John was the one who ended up getting the win."
"Thomas did help me catch a new Pokemon, though, so I wouldn't-"
"New Pokemon?! Let me see!" Erin exclaimed as she hurriedly set down her book, all traces of teasing gone.
John rolled his eyes and sent out Wooper, who once again plopped down as soon as he was sent out next to Erin's chair. The Pokemon regarded the grass unhappily, but he was quickly distracted by the squeal that Erin made when she saw him, "Omigosh he-" Erin paused to look up at John for confirmation and then continued when he nodded, "He's adorable!" She began massaging Wooper's cheeks which the Pokemon seemed significantly more pleased with than I would have expected.
"C'mon, let's head inside while she's distracted," John said as he made a beeline for the front door, but paused and gave me an apologetic look before opening it. "Oh right. Sorry, but no Pokemon inside."
"Oh, sure," I replied, thinking that seemed fair. When I turned around to tell my Pokemon, I saw that Peren was contentedly sitting on the lawn next to Rockruff, apparently having already received the news. Blitz was perched on the fence and surprisingly he seemed likewise alright with the restriction, likely because he was still riding the high from his victories at the gym. I turned back to John and shrugged, "Guess we're good to go there."
Upon entering the house, we were immediately greeted by John's mom, who introduced herself as Jen, along with John's other younger sister, Julie. Both of them were ecstatic to hear about our victory at the gym with Julie immediately wanting to hear all of the details of the battle. John was about to eagerly start recounting the match before his mom said that the story should wait until dinner when John's dad was gotten back from work.
At the mention of dinner, John asked, "Actually mom, is alright if Thomas stays overnight? He's just been camping everywhere so…"
"If it's not a bother," I quickly added before she could reply.
"Oh, of course not," Jen insisted. "I would want someone to do the same for John now that he's going to start traveling." I had just finished thanking her when something beeped from a different room and she excused herself to go finish dinner.
At John's direction, the three of us went to the living room to pass what was left of the afternoon until dinner was ready. At almost the same moment that I sat down, Julie eagerly asked, "So what Pokemon do you have Thomas?"
"My starter was a Deerling, Peren, and then my other Pokemon is a Fletchling, Blitz. They're both outside with John's Pokemon right now."
"That's so cool! Deerling is so pretty," she enthused and I smiled, not entirely sure how Peren would react to being called pretty. "I'm going to get my Pokemon when I turn eighteen in a few years!"
"Are you going to be a trainer too?"
Julie proudly shook her head and announced, "Nope! I'm going to be a coordinator!"
"Julie always watched my Showdown matches and would narrate what everything looked like as it happened," John contributed with a fond smile.
His smile waned slightly when Erin entered the room and sat down on the couch next to her sister, "And I'm going to be a ranger. I'm starting a park internship next summer."
I ended up spending the next hour conversing with the siblings. I was initially worried about them asking questions that I didn't want to or couldn't answer, but all three of them were so passionate about their own dreams that I barely had to contribute anything of substance. John wanted to continue competing in the Minnesotan league until he got a high placement in the masters league, and then after that travel the world and visit other regions. Julie's dreams were in a similar vein, except that she wanted to move to Minneapolis to compete in the coordinator's circuit before exploring the world. In direct contrast to her siblings' ambitions, Erin's goals were much more local in nature and she wanted to become a ranger at one of the many regional parks, though she didn't have a specific one in mind yet.
In what seemed like no time at all, John's dad returned from work and all six of us sat down at the dining table. Dinner turned out to be wild rice soup, arguably one of the most iconic Minnesotan dishes. Despite its popularity, I had never acquired a taste for it and for once was almost glad for my lacking sense of taste. However, sitting around the table and listening to John recant the tale of our gym battle to his family, I couldn't help but feel that this was without a doubt the best meal that I'd had in weeks.
A/N: Thanks to krazykz for the beta and for letting me make fun of him for battles that happened almost 10 years ago.
Next up is Chapter 8: Volt Switch.
