Chapter 10: The Winds of Change

Cody's eyes slowly opened to the sunlight coming through the window. He saw Mars, still asleep in his arms. He never noticed how fast the tiny mammal's heartbeat until then when he felt it pounding against his palm. Rubbing his eyes with his free hand, he looked over at the digital clock. 8:17 AM.

"Six hours till my badge match," he muttered to himself. He looked over at Heather, seeing that she was still asleep. "Better not wake her." After putting the Diglett on the ground, which woke the little mole up, he put on a pair of running shorts, and then went over to wake his Larvitar and Bastion, who were still asleep.

"Rise and shine, boys," he whispered. "We got a big match today. We're not going to do any pre-fighting that could cause injuries, so let's loosen up with a run." Once woken, his pokémon just stared back at him like eager children. They didn't know what he was talking about, but they looked excited regardless. "Just follow me, alright?"

It was a good morning for a run. The sun had only just risen and the clouds were scattered in the sky, enough to cover the sun's harsh rays. Bastion was running on all fours in front of Cody, having grown faster in the previous weeks. His agility was astounding for that of a turtle pokémon. His Larvitar was several feet behind the trainer, awkwardly running on two legs, as he was slower and clumsier. Mars was in the ground, burrow charging in circles around the group as if he were boasting.

"Mars, that's cheating!" Cody yelled. "Get out of the ground!"

The Diglett gave a reluctant squeak and exited the ground to run on all fours next to his partners. He was a lot slower at running with his tiny legs than digging. The group jogged together for about ten minutes until they were out of the city and found themselves in one of the forests to the south. Cody's pokémon were breathing heavily, but they still had energy to burn. The Larvitar looked as though he was going to puke, given that he had never run that far in his life.

"Good run, boys. Go find yourself some breakfast."

Bastion ran over to a nearby stream to look for his food, while Mars dug for roots, and the Larvitar looked for rocks to munch on. Cody sat down and watched them search for their meals. The pokémon center provided food for traveling trainers' pokémon, but only for the first night. After that, it was either buy it or find it. Luckily, finding food for his pokémon wasn't too difficult, and being dematerialized inside a pokeball slightly slowed down the rate at which they grew hungry. Still, he couldn't imagine how much food they would need once they evolved.

At least Bastion and Larvitar are reptiles, he thought to himself. He had learned in school that cold-blooded animals had slower metabolisms, so that was a plus.

"I should eat something too," he said to himself. He saw some pecha berries growing on a nearby bush, but he wasn't feeling brave enough to try them. Even so, he picked a few and put them in his pocket for later. One never knew when their pokémon was going to get poisoned, after all.

As he sat back down against a tree, he heard shuffling coming from the brush. A large Shiftry emerged and began to walk into the clearing. Cody suddenly got tense, and he grabbed his pokémon's pokeballs in case he needed to call them back. Shiftry were known for being extremely territorial, and he didn't want to fight one that looked that mean, especially right before a gym battle.

The wicked looking tree stopped as he noticed the beings in his domain. He looked at all three of Cody's pokémon, and then he noticed Cody himself. The young trainer remained completely silent, halting his breathing in case it offended the much tougher pokémon.

"Skra…" the Shiftry grunted before turning to walk away. He didn't see them as a threat.

Cody breathed a sigh of relief as his pokémon went back to feeding.

I nearly pissed myself, he thought. I'm just glad that thing was smart enough to recognize that I'm only a petty trainer. As those words passed through his mind, a chill ran down his spine. That was the same thing that the shadowy thing in his dream had told him.

His mind drifted back to the night before upon remembering that dream. The pain felt real. It was gone when he awoke, but in the dream, it really felt as though he was dying. Was it more than just a spooky, reoccurring nightmare? Logic would tell him that it was coincidental, but after experiencing similar dreams three times, he wasn't so sure

Then there was that Madame Stella character. That was where things started to make no sense whatsoever. Having a reoccurring nightmare was one thing, but that old woman was even spookier. She was spooky enough as a street vendor in Kindle City who went crazy after reading his fortune, but… how did she find him? Logically, looking for him in Tempest made sense, since it was the closest city to Kindle that had a badge. If she had picked up on the fact that he was heading there next… no, that didn't make sense either. For all she knew, he could have been just a normal kid in Kindle with his pokémon. How could she have possibly tracked him down to his motel room in a completely different city?

Is she stalking me? he thought. It sure seemed that way. How else could she find him so easily? And why did she appear right then after I had the nightmare? Almost as if she knew it was going to happen…

Cody felt his body freeze up again. The crone had mentioned "the Dark One" or whatever it was called, and that he was "marked" or something. Obviously, she and the dreams were somehow connected. He then remembered the first time he had the dream. It was the night that Heather and himself fled from Frank's trainer camp. That was a week after he had met Madame Stella, who somehow knew about his visions.

Maybe she's causing them somehow? It was possible that she had a ghost pokémon that was messing with his mind. Or maybe she herself was a psychic. But that still didn't explain how she found him in the first place.

"This is a load of Tauros-shit," he groaned as he stood back up. "There's no such thing as evil spirits. It all has an explanation. I just can't figure it out yet." His exclamation had startled Larvitar, who was munching on a stone. The small lizard looked up at his trainer with curiosity.

"Maybe Heather is right. I'm going crazy with this training thing. I'll take the night off tonight after we get the badge." His thoughts then returned to his traveling companion. She probably thought he was insane after he nearly attacked her in his sleep.

"I just need to relax. I got all the time in the world to be a good trainer. I don't need to rush it." He put on a smile as he bent down to pet his Larvitar's head, but his mind still was not at ease.

"Okay, so you have three pokémon registered for this battle?" Eagle asked Cody.

The two of them were standing in the center of the arena in the battle dome. There were several trainers watching from the stands, but since it was only a first tier battle, the event wasn't worth a large crowd. Heather was sitting near the front row with the camcorder, ready to shoot, and Jared was sitting nearby. Since she was battling Eagle soon after Cody, Cody figured that Jared was probably there to watch her.

"Yes, only three," Cody answered. He had been putting his pokémon through an easy training regimen all morning and they were all pumped for the battle.

"Okay then. As per regulation, I'll be using three of my first tiers," Eagle said, before giving him the rundown. "The rules are simple. As the Challenger, you are allowed one in-battle switch, which you may use at any point your pokémon is not engaged. I am not allowed to switch pokémon unless my pokémon use moves such as U-Turn or Baton Pass. If either one of our pokémon are outside of the arena boundaries for ten consecutive seconds, they are disqualified. If you enter the field at any time during the battle, you forfeit the entire battle. Same goes for me. If the match ends in a tie, our battle will be reviewed by this gym's panel and they will make a decision on whether or not you receive the badge. Is all of that clear?"

"Yes, I think so," Cody replied. It was pretty basic stuff to remember.

"Awesome. Good luck to you, Cody," Eagle said as he extended his hand.

The two trainers shook hands before going to opposite sides of the arena. After stepping on the blue colored platform, it rose fifteen feet above the ground. It felt so strange that he would be looking down at his pokémon from above rather than at ground level. It was as though he was Caesar watching the gladiators fight in the arena below.

"Well boys, here we go," he whispered to his pokeballs. "Just do your best." He wondered if his pokémon could tell that their next battle was more important than just a casual trainer battle. As long as they went about it like every other battle, things would be okay.

"This is a first tier battle for the Tornado badge!" The referee announced. "Challenger Cody Storm vs. Tempest Valley's Gym Leader Eagle Ashton! This battle will follow standard gym rules with the challenger being allowed one mid-battle switch. Each trainer is allowed to use three pokémon. Trainers! Ready your pokémon!"

Eagle snatched a pokeball from his waist and elegantly held it up in the air. The dude definitely had style. Cody tried to suavely pull a pokeball from his belt, but he felt he just looked silly. Style would come in time, he figured.

"Begin!" the referee shouted.

"Show your stuff, Wingull!" Eagle shouted as he tossed his pokeball into the arena. A small seagull emerged from the ball and flew above the arena.

"Heeya! Heeya! Heeya!" the little gull called. Her cry brought back memories of the beach.

"Alright, take this one home, Mar-" Before he could toss the pokeball, Mars released himself from it, ready to fight. "Mars, I was going to send you out anyway!" Cody shouted.

There were some laughs coming from the audience at the mole's eagerness to fight. Cody shook the laughter off, but he was already beginning to see a problem with the match-up at hand. Unlike other flying pokémon Mars had fought, Wingull was one that didn't need to use physical attacks against its opponent. His Diglett would completely be out of his element in this fight. He considered making his free switch then, but his Larvitar would probably not fare much better against a water-type like Wingull, and he wanted to preserve Bastion for Eagle's later pokémon. So Mars would have to do.

"Wingull, finish this early! Water Gun!"

"Don't let it hit you, Mars!" Cody shouted.

The gull began shooting bursts of water at the ground below, but Mars managed to dodge them easily. He was doing what Cody had trained him to do: use his in-ground quickness to avoid attacks. However, the Wingull continued to hover above the arena and shoot water down at the mole. She was in control of the fight thus far.

"Mars, she's not going to fly to you!" Cody shouted between his pokémon's reemergence. "Hit her with a Mud Slap!" The mole reappeared and threw a clot of mud at the gull. The bird easily avoided the shot. It was too obvious of an attempt.

"Don't let him get to you!" Eagle encouraged. "Mist!"

"Heeya! Heeyaaaa!" the bird called out as she flew around in a circle above the arena while mist streamed from her beak. Cody's face fell. The Wingull was creating a more advantageous environment for herself.

"Try a Mud Bomb this time!" Cody commanded. "And don't miss!"

Mars popped underground and popped out again, tossing a large ball of earth at the gull. Rather than aiming for the bird's eyes like he did with Mud Slap, the Diglett had made a direct hit to the opponent's body. However, the gull didn't seem that slowed from the hit. She was too at home in the mist.

"Shake it off, Wingull! Swoop low and strike with a Water Gun!"

The gull flew low towards the ground and shot a blast of water at the mole who swiftly dodged it and shot a clump of dirt at his foe. This trade of attacks happened again, except that time, Mars made contact. His luck ran out though as Wingull changed up her attack pattern and struck the mole with its wings. Eagle's young pokémon was thinking abstractly.

"Mars, when the Wingull is flying low, try to hit it with a Slash!" Cody shouted.

"Intercept with a Supersonic!" Eagle shouted.

"Mars, get underground!" Cody shouted in an attempt to get the mole to change strategies, but it was too late. The Wingull let out a short screech directly into Mars's face. The mole had a look of bewilderment on his face.

Damn it, he's confused.

"Water Gun him now!"

"Mars, if you can hear me, get underground and stay there!" Cody shouted in vain, but his pokémon couldn't hear him. The Diglett burrow charged the low flying gull, but ran face first into a blast of water. His body fell limp.

"Diglett is unable to battle! Wingull is the winner!" the ref shouted. A light applause rose from the audience.

"Good try, Mars!" Cody called as he returned the mole to its pokeball. He wasn't expecting Mars to dar in the gym, but at least wear down whoever he was facing. While he did hurt the Wingull a little bit, Cody was on the fence about who to send in next. His Larvitar was unsuited for the match-up, but he wanted to keep Bastion as his anchor in this fight. Who to choose?

"Your next pokémon?" The referee asked. Cody let out a sigh. He was already beginning to lose hope prematurely. He seemed to be looking at a losing battle no matter what his decision was.

"Don't let me down, Larvitar," he shouted as he reluctantly tossed the lizard's ball onto the field. The Larvitar flashed into the misty field and looked up at his foe. He looked like he had as much confidence as Cody did.

"Rap this up, Wingull! Water Gun!"

"Dodge her and start up a Sandstorm!" Cody yelled half-heartedly.

Letting out a yelp of fear, the jumped out of the way, but couldn't get a Sandstorm started. He had been unable to start one ever since his battle with Flex. He must have been lucky that first time.

"Water Gun again!" Eagle commanded. Larvitar barely dodged this attack, and with a strong hop on the ground, he forced a decent sized rock up from under the dirt floor and threw said rock at the gull. He missed, but it was a pretty good shot. Without a command, the lizard charged the low flying gull and struck her with his horn, though he took a Water Gun in the process.

Cody looked on in amazement. He had given up hope in this battle, but Larvitar was showing a lot of courage. He had learned from his trainer to fight the odds, and he wasn't about to stand down.

"Good shot!" Cody cheered. The little pokémon had just given him a giant confidence boost. "Screech!"

"Supersonic!" Eagle yelled. Both pokémon screamed at the same time and Cody noticed that Larvitar didn't seem to be confused. Perhaps the screams were canceling each other out? Suddenly, amidst the high noises, a powerful whip-like noise struck. The dirt on the ground began to swirl around Larvitar as he used Sandstorm again.

"Yes! Sandstorm! Follow it with a Rock Throw!"

"Get away and shoot a blast of water!"

The Wingull flew upwards in the swirling sand and shot another blast of water at the Larvitar below, but the lizard already had another rock in hand, and he threw it straight at the target. The rock powered straight through the Water Gun and hit the Wingull in the face. The bird crashed into the ground, but managed to get a few feet up in the air. Something seemed wrong with her, however. Her feathers were clotted with mud. Cody realized that the mist was soaking the flying dirt, which was weighing the gull down. Her advantage was suddenly her downfall.

"Don't give in, Wingull! Get your head straight and hit it!" Eagle shouted.

"Before it can react! Body Slam!" Cody commanded. Larvitar fearlessly charged the gull, leaped a few feet off the ground, and slammed his entire body weight into the bird as they crashed on the ground. There was no way she would get up from that. The mist began to dissolve within the little sandstorm.

"Wingull is unable to battle! Larvitar is the winner!"

More applause came from the audience as Eagle called his mud-covered bird back. Cody could hear Heather cheering him on. His Larvitar looked like he was itching for more. Despite taking a blast of water to the face, he looked like he could fight anything that Eagle threw out next. It astounded him how much Larvitar had changed in his battling performance, even if he was a little bit of a scardy-Meowth at times.

"This isn't over yet. Show thing youngin' who's boss, Chief!" A new bird emerged from the pokeball. It was a Farfetch'd, but many of its feathers were gray and an eye patch covered its right eye.

"Um… what the…"

"Chief was one of my father's old pokémon," Eagle explained. "He's still fit enough to fight first tier battles though. Swords Dance!"

"Quaaa!" the old duck quacked as it began a strange looking dance while swinging its leek. Though bits of sand were slapping him in the face from the sandstorm, he seemed too focused to notice.

"He's going to get stronger, Larvitar! Tackle him now!" Cody shouted. He held his breath as the lizard charged the graying bird. This would truly be a battle of youth versus experience.

"Now! Cut!" Eagle yelled.

The Farfetch'd stopped its dance and sent the Larvitar flying backward with a graceful swipe from his leek. The Larvitar landed on his back, but managed to regain his footing. Chief's attacks weren't going to do a whole lot of damage to Larvitar's rocky hide, but the attack sure did send him upwards.

"Don't give in Larvitar! Horn Attack!"

"Be ready to block it, Chief!" The duck did just that upon Larvitar's approach. The bird's leek and Larvitar's horn made several parries like a scene out of a samurai film, but the old bird had more flexibility with his weapon, and had managed to hit Larvitar several times across the face."

"Keep up the assault with a Fury Cutter!"

"Larvitar, you can't win that way! Chip Away at his defenses!"

The lizard managed to hit the Farfetch'd several times with his hands and horn, but Chief still landed a direct attack on Larvitar's chest. He followed this swipe up with a second, even more powerful swipe. The Larvitar was struggling to keep his footing. The old bird was panting as well, as the effects of his age and the sandstorm were catching up with him.

"Get out of that sandstorm and use Air Cutter, stat!" Eagle called out. His face was full of worry for the old pokémon.

For the first time in the battle, Chief flew up in the air out of the sandstorm and began flapping waves of air at the pokémon below. These waves didn't seem to damage Larvitar much, but it was an effective way for Chief to fight back while avoiding the sandstorm.

"He's out of range! Rock Throw!" Cody shouted.

With another hop, Larvitar forced another large stone out of the ground and chucked it at the Farfetch'd. How the duck responded was incredible. With a swing of his leek, he smacked the rock back at Larvitar like a baseball player, all while remaining in the air. The stone broke over the Larvitar's horn, but the little lizard was stunned.

"He's dazed, Chief! Aerial Ace!" Letting out another shout, the old bird flew down into the sandstorm and made a direct strike at the Larvitar before flying out again.

Great, how is Larvitar going to avoid such a perfectly executed strike? Suddenly, Cody remembered what Laurence had said when they were watching Jared battle earlier that week.

"That was the Unfezant's error. That last minute shake up threw him off, and he missed."

"Aerial Ace again!" Eagle commanded.

"Sand Attack!" Cody shouted in desperation. As the old duck flew down again, Larvitar managed to throw a clump of dirt into his good eye.

"Quaaa, quaaa!" the duck shouted in pain as he crashed into the ground, blinded.

"Fly out of there!" Eagle shouted in panic, but it was too late. The Larvitar began to pound away at the old duck with his horn. Chief made a blind swing at Farfetch'd with his leek, but the lizard ducked out of the way and knocked the leek out of the bird's wings. The old duck let out a shout of fear as he stumbled around looking for his leek, ignoring his trainer's commands to escape the sandy vortex. It was Cody's pokémon who picked up the leek. Suddenly, a stylish idea popped into Cody's mind.

"Cut!" he shouted, crossing his fingers that Larvitar would know what to do.

"Raaaaaaaah!" his Larvitar roared as he swung the leek at Chief and smacked him upwards on the chin. The old duck flew a few feet into the air and crashed into the ground.

"Farfetch'd is unable to battle! Larvitar is the winner!"

"Yes!" Cody shouted in happiness. Larvitar had just defeated his first enemy without the help of Mars or Bastion. The small crowd of trainers began to cheer. Even Larvitar held up both of his hands and let out a happy shout. However, as he did that, the sandstorm subsided and Larvitar fell to his knees. Holding a sandstorm for that long had drained him considerably. But the little pokémon made it to his feet once more. He still had a little bit of fight left in him.

"I must say, Cody," Eagle began, "you and your Larvitar have been quite impressive at making a comeback. But I highly doubt he can beat the son of Justice."

"Son of Jus- what?" Cody asked.

Eagle didn't respond, but silently picked up his last pokeball and released a cute, little eagle into the plot Cody recognized it as a Rufflet with its feathery mane and gray wings. He also remembered that Eagle's strongest pokémon used in higher tiered fights was a Braviary. The Rufflet must have been that pokémon's hatchling.

"Stay frosty, Larvitar! Horn Attack!"

"Stay out of the way and hone your claws Rufflet!" Eagle shouted.

The tiny bird of prey began to fly at a ridiculously fast speed for such a little pokémon, and flew around the perimeter of the arena, dragging its claws along the metal, creating a screeching noise. The Larvitar had stopped trying to chase the much faster bird, and instead tried to hit it with a thrown stone, but failed to make a hit. After completely circling the arena, the eaglet faced the lizard from above and let out a shrill screech. His talons looked super sharp.

"Now, Fury Attack!"

The little bird flew down to Larvitar's level and began to swipe at the lizard with his wings, beak, and talons at a blinding speed. The Larvitar let out yelps of pain as the razor-sharp talons scratched his skin, but he kept trying to fight back by any means necessary.

"Get him out of there, buddy! Screech!" Larvitar followed this orders and screamed at the top of his lungs. The sound caused Rufflet to cringe, giving Cody's Larvitar an opportunity to bash the bird with his horn. "Follow it up with another Horn Attack!"

"Rufflet, grab his horn." As soon as the words left Eagle's mouth, Rufflet flew forward at the charging Larvitar and grabbed his horns with his talons before carrying him above the arena. Larvitar flailed about as he was being carried above the arena, but his arms were too short to strike the eaglet. Suddenly, the Rufflet let go of the horn and Larvitar hit the floor with a thud.

"Finish him with a Brave Bird!" the Rufflet made a large circle above his opponent before dive bombing the fallen lizard. He hit the Larvitar straight on the back and flew up again. Cody's pokémon was unable to move.

"Larvitar is unable to battle. Rufflet is the winner!" More applause from the audience. Cody returned his Larvitar to his pokeball.

"I am so proud of you," he whispered to the pokeball Larvitar was in. Even if he lost the battle, he was happy that his pokémon had shown so much improvement. But he wasn't planning on losing the battle. The Rufflet may have been one of the strongest and smartest pokémon he had fought thus far, but he was sure that Bastion could win the fight. "Let's take this home, Bastion!"

Bastion practically ran out of his pokeball to tackle the Rufflet, but the eaglet dodged the charge. The bird flew up behind the turtle and smacked him in the back of the head with his wings as he flew by.

"Don't lose your focus! Water Gun!"

"Don't stop flying, Rufflet!"

The little eagle out flew the Water Gun stream and closed in on the tiny turtle to scratch him with his talons. Three big cuts were visible on the Squirtle's face, but he looked far more intense. The bird had awoken his inner rage.

"Loop into a wing attack!" Eagle shouted. The eaglet flew into a loop and aimed at Bastion.

"Bubble!"

The Squirtle shot out a stream of bubbles in front of him to block the Rufflet's approach. The attack didn't seem to hurt the bird much, but it slowed him down by dampening his feathers. The attack served its purpose, however, as Bastion managed to dodge the slowed bird with ease.

"Now hit him with a Water Gun!"

The blast hit the Rufflet in the wing, but it kept flying. Bastion then turned his back and waved his tail. The baited bird flew straight at the turtle's taunt, but this was all a part of the plan. Bastion had jumped several seconds before and with a flip, smacked the eaglet on the back with a downward Iron Tail. But even the crash into the ground was not enough to keep the Rufflet down. The bird stood up and let out a mean screech in an attempt to scare Bastion, but the turtle wouldn't budge. He looked incredibly badass with the trickles of blood running down his face.

"Focus Rufflet! Fury Attack!" Eagle ordered.

The tiny eagle got back into the air and began making talon swipes at the turtle's face. Bastion managed to block his face with his arms, only to take multiple scratches on his upper limbs. But after enduring the razor claws for about ten seconds, Cody commanded Bastion to use Water Gun. A stream of water blasted out of his mouth and shot the Rufflet backward. The little bird was beginning to struggle to stay airborne.

"Time to end this! Take him to the ground!" Cody shouted.

"Grab him!" Eagle yelled even louder. The Rufflet flew at the running Squirtle and grabbed the neck of the shell and flew to the top of the arena.

"Withdraw!" Cody called out. He wasn't sure if withdrawing would be enough, however, if too much shock passed through the shell when he hit the ground. Nevertheless, the turtle withdrew into his shell and the Rufflet dropped him above the arena to the floor below.

THUD!

Bastion managed to stand up with a dazed look as he wobbled about. He looked as though he didn't know where he was.

"Finish this Rufflet! Brave Bird!"

"Aqua Jet the bird!" Cody shouted in almost a scream, he was so panicked.

Bastion pulled his head into his shell and shot water out the back holes of his miniature fortress. He shot straight up into the diving bird and the two collided in midair. The Rufflet took the hard end of the attack as he ricocheted off the shell into the air, trying desperately to stay in the air.

"Water Gun him!" Cody commanded. The Squirtle shot a large water blast at Eagle's frazzled pokémon and hit the struggling bird directly in the face. Losing its last bit of strength, it plummeted to the ground and crashed on the dirt floor.

"Rufflet is unable to battle! Squirtle is the winner! Therefore, victory goes to challenger Cody Storm!"

The cheers and applause erupted from the small crowd felt a lot louder than they actually were. Cody breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned against the lowering platform. He had just barely won his first gym badge, but barely was good enough for him. Still in amazement, he walked on over to Bastion who was sitting on the ground in an exhausted slump. His face was covered in a light coat of sweat and blood, but he smiled back at his trainer. He knew he had done well.

"You are one sick, little bastard," Cody chuckled as he wiped the blood off the turtles face with a clean rag from his pocket. "This is gonna sting a little bit, champ," he said quietly as he sprayed a potion on the Squirtle's face. The turtle winced, but his smile didn't leave his face. It was as if he knew that the battle was a big deal to his trainer, and therefore, it was a big deal to him too.

"That was probably my favorite first tier battle in a while," Eagle said as he approached the boy and his Squirtle. "You have a lot of potential, kid. You and your pokémon showed cleverness and skill. I can see you going far if you keep up your training."

"Thanks, Eagle," Cody replied, beaming.

"Don't thank me for the truth, kid. Here is your badge." He handed Cody a small grayish badge shaped like a tornado and a small sum for winning the fight. The badge glistened in the sunlight that shone through the dome. "You can pick up a case for that at the front desk," the cool gym leader continued. "I think they're only five dollars, so it's a good deal. Anyway, that badge now signifies that your next gym battle you will compete in will be the second tier. Also, I want you to have this." Eagle pulled a small cube and placed it in Cody's other hand. The young trainer looked at it in confusion for a moment.

"Is this a TM?" Cody questioned.

"Yes, it's the TM for Aerial Ace. You just open the little thing up and expose it to your pokémon's skin and they can learn moves that are typically unnatural for them through simple mutations. Completely safe. Just remember that certain TMs only work on certain pokémon, so make sure you do some research before you try to use it."

"Okay, thanks." Cody put the TM in his pocket for safe keeping.

"Well, I have to get my pokémon to the nurse, so… good battling with you." Eagle began to walk away, but Cody needed to stop him.

"Actually, I have a question for you," Cody stated. Eagle turned around and came back to listen. "An acquaintance of mine said you used a Skarmory in your battle with him, so I gotta ask… where can I catch one?"

Eagle gave him a funny look. "Junior, you got some tough pokémon, but they still aren't tough enough to catch a wild Skarmory. Those things are vicious and will tear you up if you so much as look at them funny."

"So… there's no hope for me right now?" Cody asked glumly. He looked down at his shoes.

Eagle sighed, deciding to take pity. "There is one way that might work. If you travel out to St. Anthony's Mountains in the west, there are Skarmory nests out there. It's the closest place to Tempest Valley where Skarmory live. Though it's illegal to catch baby pokémon in a nest, it's legal to catch chicks that leave the nest. So if you're lucky and find a Skarmory chick without its mother in attendance, it's fair game."

"That sounds easy enough," Cody replied confidently.

"Unfortunately, that IS the easy part," Eagle continued with a weak smile. "You see, raising a Skarmory chick is a taxing and dangerous process. THey only respect and they will literally fight you to establish dominance. You have to be extremely devoted and serious about this in order to pull it off correctly. If you succeed, you'll have a strong pokémon and an incredible bond. But it's not a challenge for the weak of heart."

"I can handle it," Cody said, though he had no idea what he was getting into.

"Okay then, I'll look up your email in your paperwork and send you a link from a professional website. If you want to continue with this plan, good luck to you, but you can't take this lightly, or you could get seriously hurt."

Cody nodded in response. He was ready to take on any challenge even if he could not foresee the trouble it would cause him.

IN the evening, Cody relaxed on one of the sofas in the pokémon center as he looked over some of the maps of the west. Going out to St. Anthony's would take roughly a month of time away from the gym trek, but to him, it was worth the investment and he could use that time to train. He was just worried about whether or not he would be able to convince Heather to take the detour from the road to the next gym.

Another worry was the process of raising the Skarmory. He had reviewed the webpage that Eagle had sent him and he was shocked at what he had read. As the gym leader had said, it really would not be easy, especially since a Skarmory chick would not even be able to battle standard pokémon until it got older. A very long-term investment The whole thing really was a gamble, but Cody was willing to take the risk.

He looked over at the Larvitar, who was lounging next to him on the couch. The little lizard had taken a beating in the gym, but he looked okay now. The nurse told Cody to keep the pokémon off the field for a day to let him heal up, but Larvitar didn't even look injured anymore.

"You were really prime out there," Cody told his pokémon. The Larvitar looked back at him with a tiny smile. He had gone from cowardly to fighting machine in just a matter of weeks, and he seemed proud of himself.

"So much for taking the night off," Heather's voice came from behind. "It looks like you're working again."

"It never ends," Cody sighed.

"He's right you know," came another voice. It was Jared. He had been hanging out with Heather all day after her win in the gym. "Being a trainer is a full-time job."

"See, somebody agrees with me," Cody chuckled as he went back to looking at the maps. He didn't want to look at Jared's face.

"Oh come on, Cody. We won our matches. We should be out celebrating!"

"I'm too busy celebrating with my bro right now," Cody responded as he petted his Larvitar on the back. "He did such an amazing job today in the gym."

"Yeah, he really has improved by a colossal amount," Heather admitted. "You've really done good work with him."

"Yeah…" Cody replied as he looked over at his pokémon. "I really have."

"Hey Heather, I going to get something to drink. I'll meet you back here in a few minutes," Jared said before he walked away. Once he was gone, Heather sat down next to Cody.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something, but I've been putting it off," she began.

"Okay, shoot."

"Okay, well…" she paused. "Jared is going to Kito Grove too for his next badge, and… well, if you're not opposed to it… I was wondering if you'd be okay with him coming with us." She seemed very uncertain about even proposing the idea, following everything that had happened

"Why would I be opposed to it?" Cody asked, though both of them already knew why he would be opposed, though he wouldn't say it. "He's a good trainer, and we could probably learn a lot from him."

"Okay, great!" Heather replied happily. "He'll be glad to hear that. I'm gonna go find him now, so I'll see you later." She got up and began to walk away.

"Sure thing," he sighed. Oh Christ, I'm going to hate myself.

He looked back at his Larvitar to distract himself from the impending social doom that was about to befall him. The lizard returned the stare.

"You know what? Screw that. You guys make it all worth it," he said quietly as he stroked the Larvitar's forehead. "We're gonna reach greatness someday. You're gonna be the next big thing. Like Heather said, you've gotten so much better by colossal amounts." He stopped for the moment and ran the word through his head again.

Colossal…

This chapter was edited on 1/11/18. There may still be continuity or grammatical errors. If you notice any, please alert me in a review or a private message.