Chapter 57: An Impossible Task
Made it.
Just barely, he made it.
But he felt ready to collapse after that rush of getting to the gym, slipping into the gym's battling attire, and scrambling to the arena he was fighting in. His mind was in a fog and the sounds and sights of the arena echoed in his mind, forcing him to clutch his head in pain.
This won't be fun, he thought to himself. For a morning battle, the gym was pretty packed far more than he expected. He spotted Heather in the crowd, and Brooke, who was joining her in the seating. He supposed Heather didn't know that he literally just woke up a few minutes earlier, but when the two of them locked eyes, he could tell that she could tell something was up by the look she gave him.
"Just in time," the young woman across the arena greeted as she stepped up to greet him. Marla Kerrington looked exactly as her pictures portrayed her, but that wouldn't have been a flattering statement. As she came up to greet Cody, her smile fell. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just couldn't… couldn't sleep," he lied as he held out his hand to shake hers. But she didn't return the handshake at first.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like a hot mess. I'd hate to do this, but maybe we should resched-"
"I'm here for a fight," he interrupted, his agitation seeping through. "I'm fine, I promise."
Marla stared at him with her beady eyes, trying to put together what could have been wrong with him. But seeing his determination to battle, she shrugged. "Very well."
They shook hands and they returned to opposite sides of the arena. Cody gave himself a few slaps on the cheeks to wake himself up, but not only did he feel a little dizzy, but he only added more pain on top of his headache. Not what he had intended.
You've won battles with the flu before. This is no different.
"This is a sixth tier battle for the Cerebral Badge!" The referee called out. "Challenger Cody Storm vs. Crystal Cliffs Supervisee Gym Leader, Marla Kerrington."
There were a few cheers at the mention of Marla's name, which outrang the support that Heather and Brooke offered in terms of volume.
"This battle will follow standard gym rules with the challenger being allowed one mid-battle switch. Each trainer is allowed to use six pokémon. Trainers! Ready your pokémon."
It's go time, he told himself, ready to release Reflet to start things out.
"Begin!" the referee shouted and both trainers released their first battlers onto the field.
Oh shit.
He was not pleased to see the first pokémon that Marla called upon: a big, rambunctious Loudred. His team had fought Loudred in the past, but the big voice pokémon was the last pokémon he wanted to fight when he had a hangover. He cursed under his breath for not bringing earplugs, but coming to the battle in his state was not part of his original plan.
[Cody, what's wrong? You seem out of it,] Reflet commented, looking back at him.
"Nothing, I'm good."
In theory, Reflet was a good option. Despite his Espeon's inexperience, she had the tools to defend herself against anything a mixed-sweeper Loudred could throw at her. If only Cody felt like he was mentally able to strategize for the fight.
No, it's all good. Just gotta warm myself up, he told himself. "Stay light on your feet!"
"Stomp into Mega Punch!" Marla ordered.
That first phase of the fight was where Reflet really shined. Despite all the works she needed to do to reach her teammates' level, she was proficient in her quick footwork and dodging. The Loudred's combination move was a solid one, albeit slightly too slow for an Espeon's speed. He would crash down at her in a Stomp, and if that missed (which all of his stomps were) he would immediately throw a straight-arm punch at his target. Then he would jump in the air, rinse, and repeat. No matter where Reflet ran to, the Loudred would be right in a matter of seconds, ready to throw another fist, so rather than running, the Espeon conserved her energy and stuck to quick dodges, waiting for a good opening. Every so often, she'd shoot out a Psybeam, but that would leave her vulnerable, so she had to pick her spots for that.
"Switch up!" Marla ordered.
"Reflect!" Cody called out. Upon the next Stomp, the Loudred went for two punches instead of just one. Reflet dodged the first and threw up a Reflect for the second, just in time. Had Cody not called that spot, she might have taken a Mega Punch to the face. The second punch made a loud "THUD" as it hit the shield that the Espeon erected. A third punch shattered the shield, as it was not as strong as a Protect, but Reflet had dodged backward again and shot a Signal Beam, hitting the Loudred in his large, gaping mouth. A good shot, but Marla already had a follow-up.
"Screech!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" the Loudred blared as he amplified its vocals with the speaker-like projections on his head. That move doubled as a Hyper Voice, as the move would have damaged Reflet if it had hit her.
"AHH, son of a-!" Cody shouted, covering his ears with his hands. He wasn't the only one, as most of the audience did the same. Because the noise blast was focused on only one part of the arena, it wouldn't damage anybody else's hearing, but Cody's hearing was relatively impaired from the night before. The sound of the Loudred's stomps was painful enough to begin with, but that Screech really got him. He fell slightly to his knees on the platform he stood on, ears covered and eyes closed.
"Challenger Storm, are you able to continue?" the referee called out.
[Cody, I need you to focus!] Reflet called out to him. [This Loudred is tou-] "Speee!" she cried out with her actual voice as her telepathy ended.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" the Loudred screeched again, that time catching the Espeon off guard, and he followed the Screech up with an uppercut. Just like that, Reflet took a huge chunk of damage. The Loudred went for another punch, but she blasted it back with a Psybeam. Meanwhile, Cody was trying to regain his focus from the second Screech. He could barely hear anything aside from the ringing in his ears. He couldn't hear the next command that Marla ordered next, but he assumed it was Flamethrower, on account of the Loudred spitting a stream of fire from his mouth. Reflet dodged the first stream and shot a Signal Beam back, missing.
"Be ready to throw up a Light Screen!" Cody called out, although he could barely hear himself as he did so. The next Flamethrower was stopped by a Light Screen, but while the shield held the flames back, it was beginning to crumble fast. Reflet used what strength she still had to protect herself. At the same time, her body began to do that vibration thing again. If she was trying to use Double Team, she still couldn't get it to work.
[Cody, say something! Anything!] she called out in desperation.
"Okay, uhh…" He was drawing a blank. "Another Light Screen!" In his haze, he thought that the Loudred would try another Flamethrower or a Hyper Voice, but Marla was past that.
"Mega Punch!"
The Loudred punched through the Light Screen, shattering it instantly and hitting Reflet right on the snout. Following the punch with an uppercut, Reflet fell to the ground in a slump.
"Espeon is unable to battle! Loudred is the winner!" the referee announced. Marla's cheering section roared in approval.
Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Things were not going well. Had Reflet lost a well-fought match, he would have felt better, but the Loudred looked as though he was within her range to beat. But with so little self-confidence on her end and him being in the mess he was in, he had failed to support her. Already, he was floundering worse than he thought he would.
Shake it off, you got this. He needed to get his confidence back, so the best option would be to use one of his more experienced pokémon. Elesa was a good option. A fast, heavy hitter with far more experience, she could turn things around, maybe even without his direction.
"You're up, Elesa!" But when he opened the next pokeball, his face went pale. "Or Mars."
Looking down at the Diglett who was angrily squeaking at the much bigger Loudred, Cody tried to figure out exactly what happened. He hadn't planned on using his Diglett that day, but there he was. Then he remembered that he was supposed to switch his Diglett out that morning, but having slept in, he didn't have time and he forgot. That was not good. Mars wasn't exactly the pokémon to use during a deficit, since being a glass cannon, he usually couldn't take out more than one foe. But Cody wasn't about to use his switch. Might as well play the match-up out.
"Hyper Voice!"
"Dig away!"
Mars popped underground and the Loudred followed him with his ear-splitting scream that tore up the earth as he to hit the digging mole to no avail. All the while, Cody covered one of his ears with one hand while he scrambled through the pokeballs on his belt with the other, trying to determine who was there. Normally, he had a sixth sense about which ball held which pokémon, but with all the screeching, his massive headache, and a huge hit to his confidence, he couldn't figure it out. He knew which pokeball was Reflet's (correctly calling her pokeball earlier was sheer luck) and he knew that Ferrari was in the premier ball and that Antonia was in the great ball. The final two pokeballs had to have had two of his other three: Bastion, Elesa, or Cortez. Which one of them wasn't there? He couldn't remember who he was training the day before, so he was at a loss. He would have to take a guess on who he called out and hope for the best.
The soil of the battle plot had been ravaged by the Loudred's amplified screams at the ground, and without any orders from his trainer, Mars used the terrain to his advantage. He shook the plot with a Magnitude and the Loudred couldn't keep balanced on the damaged field. Cody stumbled himself, but he clutched the railing to hold himself up.
"Um, Earth Power!" Cody called out, but he should have gone for something more physical. The Loudred stood up right before the streams of dirt shot up from the ground and shot a Hyper Voice straight through one of the dirt geysers, hitting the Diglett. Mars retaliated by throwing a Mud Bomb right into the Loudred's mouth, choking him up right before he tried using Flamethrower.
"Good work, now Bulldoze!"
"Supersonic!"
Cody forgot that the Loudred didn't need to actually scream to make noise. In the heat of the moment, he thought simply clogging the beast's throat with dirt would keep him from using voice attacks, but that was a poor assumption to make. That was something he learned reading up on the species in his studies during the past week, knowing that he might have to face that Loudred in particular, but with his head hurting like it was, he couldn't recall that detail.
Needless to say, the Supersonic worked, vibrating from the Loudred's amplifiers and hitting Mars in the face. The Diglett swayed about, dazed, just barely dodging a Mega Punch, but getting hit by a Stomp. One more good hit would down the Diglett for sure. But he seemed to have snapped back to reality after being hit.
"Mud-Slap!"
The mole threw mud right into the Loudred's eyes, blinding the monster as it desperately stomped about and blasted noise from its amplifiers in an attempt to get a blind shot. But Mars hit a final Earth Power, blasting the blinded Loudred upwards before crashing back down to the earth.
"Loudred is unable to battle. Diglett is the winner!"
There was a modest applause, but Cody felt like he didn't deserve it at all. Mars had done well, but it was no thanks to his trainer. The first Earth Power and the Bulldoze that Cody had called for were high-risk commands that led to Mars taking far more damage than he should of. The feisty Diglett was still rearing to go, but he looked like he was one good hit away from passing out. Meanwhile, Cody himself was sweating like crazy, his head was still killing him, and he felt like he was going to puke.
Maybe I should forfeit. But again, he gave himself a few slaps in the face and did his best to stand up straight. No, we got this. I've gotten myself out of worse situations before. And he braced himself for Marla's next monster.
Marla's second pokémon looked all too familiar. Cody remembered fighting a Porygon when going for his second badge, and the new arrival looked very similar. Like its pre-evolution, it had blue feet, tail, chest, and beak, and everything else was pink. Unlike its pre-evolution, its body was far smoother without any sharp angles. It looked like a glass duck or like one of those drinking bird toys.
"PORYGON2 SOLDIER SIMULATOR PROGRAM READY FOR DEPLOYMENT!" chimed out. Unlike the Porygon that Cody had fought in Kito Grove a year before, the voice sounded far less electronic and more feminine, although there were still hints of roboticism in its sound. Either way, in Cody's state, he found the noise grating. "TARGET POKÉMON RECOGNIZED AS A DIGLETT. COLLISION ASSAULT SYSTEMS ARE ACTIVATED!"
"Mars, start throwing Mud-Slaps!" He wasn't sure if Mars would survive long, so he figured any way that the Diglett could at least cripple the Porygon2 while he was still going.
"Magnet Rise!" Marla ordered.
"MAGNET RISE PROGRAM ENGAGED!" the cybernetic pokémon chimed as it elevated itself high above the ground. Mars still threw several clots of dirt at his target, but each slap of mud hit a protective barrier that the Porygon2 had formed around itself.
Shit, no use. But he didn't want to use his switch to preserve a nearly fainted Diglett. They'd have to up the attack power. "Mud Bomb!"
"Ice Beam!"
The Porygon2 froze each Mud Bomb that got close to it and each frozen ball shattered as it hit the earth. Fortunately, Mars wasn't hit by a single Ice Beam. The two pokémon were caught in a stalemate, so Marla decided to call for aggressive action.
"Double Team! Zen Headbutt!"
"DOUBLE TEAM PROGRAM ENGAGED!" the Porygon2 announced as it effortlessly created multiple illusions of itself and each flew down at the mole, who dodged by digging underground. Upon the second swoop, the Porygon2 and all of its copies shot Ice Beams from their beaks (though only one was real.) The attack covered a good part of the field in ice that Mars would struggle to dig through. On the Porygon2's third swoop, Mars managed to throw a Slash, hitting the cyber pokémon's side while dodging the assault.
Okay, just keep it up! But Cody clutched the railing of the battle platform he stood on. He felt his stomach lurching even harder than a minute before. Just stay steady and-
"Flash!"
To catch the Diglett off guard, the Porygon2 used Flash as it flew down, but it was unlike the Flash that Elesa used. The Porygon2's body shined just as bright Elesa's, but instead of a display of a single color, the pink and blue pokémon started flashing between its regular colors and an obnoxiously bright red. Its Ice Beam hit the Diglett, causing him to faint, but Cody couldn't even comprehend that. The flashing of the cyber pokémon's colors triggered a pain in his head that was comparable to a migraine that he had once a few years back. He could barely see as he lost his grip on the railing, stumbled, and fell to his knees.
"Diglett is unable to- Challenger Storm, is everything okay?" the referee called out, startled by Cody's sudden collapse.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm-" He couldn't finish that sentence as he threw up all over the platform and the ground below. The last thing he could hear clearly was the collective gasp from the audience members as he fell forward off the platform. The fall wasn't too far and he didn't feel much pain, but maybe that was because of how his head was throbbing. His vision slowly darkened as several people gathered around to aid him. The last thing he could hear was Heather's voice, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.
It was the second time that day that Cody woke up in a haze, although he couldn't even remember the first. The first thing he could hear was his ears ringing and it was as if he had been to a concert and he was standing next to the stage. And while his eyes were closed, he could see a bright light hitting the front of his eyelids. Something wasn't right, however. He wasn't supposed to be asleep. He had a prior engagement that he had forgotten. What the hell was it?
Gym battle. But he didn't miss it. He was almost late, but he showed up. But he couldn't remember anything past the beginning. There was a Loudred, and… that was it. That couldn't be good, that he couldn't remember.
"H-hey!" he rasped, hoping somebody would hear.
"Oh shit, you're awake! You okay?"
It was Brooke. As quickly as she had said it, she clutched his hand in hers.
"Brooke… where am I? And why is my head hurting?"
"You're… you're in the medical wing of the gym. They found a cot for you, so-"
"What?" He sat up, suddenly, feeling a rush of nausea pass over him. Brooke was there with him, and he definitely wasn't in a normal hospital. There were a few other cots of various sizes, and in a few of them, injured pokémon slept. Aside from that, the room was empty. He supposed it was just a room for some of the injured pokémon to rest in following their initial diagnoses. He looked down at himself to see that he was wearing a completely different shirt. The trainer's garb he was supposed to wear was long gone. "What happened?"
Brooke's eyes fell when Cody's met hers. "You… you don't remember a thing, do you?"
"I remember that there was a Loudred. After that, it's fuzzy… I didn't win, did I?" He was more concerned with that than he was with remembering the actual battle. But Brooke's sad, concerned eyes answered his question. "Did I at least do okay?"
"I mean, you might have done better if… well…" She hesitated, but that wouldn't be enough to satiate his questions.
"I might have done better if...?" he repeated, trying to get it out of her.
"If you didn't puke and pass out."
Shit. That wasn't good. Not in the slightest. Suddenly, losing the battle was the least of his worries. He was more worried about his image. He could delete the footage on his camera, but if somebody in the audience had recorded that… stupid things like that could doom him as a trainer, at least in the short-term. But he also remembered that Crystal Cliffs was huge on decorum. Could anybody take him seriously after a scene like that? What about Veronica Lee herself? She was always one for tradition and respect. He knew that she would probably look at the situation as a disgrace. The next idea that came to mind was just getting up and leaving, but he knew better. If he wanted to challenge the gym again, he'd have to face the music.
"I tried talking to Veronica Lee, but she wouldn't listen to me. Heather is still talking to her. I figured that maybe she could get through to her if I wasn't around. This is all my fault. I-"
"It's not your fault. I should have put my foot down about last night." But as Brooke continued to try taking the blame, he tuned her out. He was trying to compose exactly what he would say to Veronica Lee if she was coming to personally admonish him. Ultimately, he would grovel if he had to, though he hoped it wouldn't come to that. Even though that badge meant far more to him than his dignity, he hoped he could keep both.
He didn't have any more time to think, however, as the nearest door opened and two people entered the room. One was Heather, who quickly rushed to Cody's side. She seemed happy to see him, but a touch flustered, as seen in her flushed face, probably because she was trying to defend him just before she came in. The second person was Veronica Lee herself, and she looked incensed; not vein-popping angry like Dr. Merrick was with him, but pissed nonetheless, as it showed in her stiff, furrowed-brow expression.
"You're okay… good."
Before Cody could thank her, he was interrupted.
"You're okay. So now you owe me and my gym an explanation," Veronica Lee said, obviously suppressing her rage.
"I already told you-" Brooke began, but she was cut off.
"I already heard from you," Lee snapped as she pointed at Cody. "I want HIS explanation."
"Okay…" He took a deep breath and tried to give Lee a plausible explanation. "I think I caught some sort of bug and I-"
"Don't lie to me," Lee interrupted, her cold voice chilling the room by about ten degrees. "If I find out you're lying, there will be dire consequences. I can promise you that."
"Okay, okay." He supposed it was worth a shot, but being truthful was the right thing to do anyway. Besides, he still couldn't lie worth shit. "We went out last night. I thought a drink would calm my nerves, but I could only remember bits and pieces of what happened. I think I might have been drugged. I don't know what I was drugged with, but since I didn't drink that much, I-"
"And you didn't think to call in and reschedule your battle? You decided to come in incapacitated and intoxicated?"
Shit, that would have been a good idea. "I… I didn't want to disappoint anybody. I worked so hard this week, that-"
"Disappoint anybody?" Now the anger was spiking in her rising tone as she took a step forward to look down at him from a far more intimidating angle. "People cancel gym battles all the time, Mr. Storm. If you were too ashamed to admit that you made a stupid decision, you could have called in and lied, saying you were sick. I don't condone lying, but would rather that than the spectacle that occurred in my gym today! It wasn't like we would have checked up on you to see if you were lying or not! But instead, you came to my gym, made a fool of yourself, and tried to lie to my face AFTER THE FACT!"
He remembered when he was younger, trying to tell lies about being sick to stay home from school. Never would he have thought that a gym leader would have preferred him to lie in that context.
"I'll be straight with you Mr. Storm," she continued, pushing her irritability down once more. "So long as you aren't being cruel to people or pokémon, I don't care what you do in your personal life. I don't care if you're drinking underage or sneaking into clubs. I don't care about your drug use, whether it's intentional or not. I don't care if you act like a thoughtless imbecile throughout your day. But when you set foot in my gym, I expect professionalism. One would think you would know that by now, having won five gym battles with only one loss up to this day. That's an impressive record. And you showed promise in your pre-battle. But then you come in and make a mockery of what we stand for? That is not only embarrassing and disrespectful to yourself and to us, but THAT is disappointing!"
He felt so low in that moment and he could barely look up at her, seeing the rage that the woman, the former champion of Skitrex, was holding back as she glared at him. The whole thing was even worse than when he lost to Hornsby. Unlike that battle, he had prepared, but his decisions led to a well-respected trainer essentially saying that he was shit.
"And do you know what makes this situation even worse, Mr. Storm? This was the Marla Kerrington's first gym defense. She is one of the most talented trainers in her class, so win or lose, this was a big day for her. She's her on scholarship too, and her family doesn't make much money, so they put together what little they had to make it to this event and see her battle. But your behavior ruined that, and if you had called in sick, we could have easily found another challenger to take your place. So tell me, what do you have to say for yourself, knowing that you have not only disrespected my gym, embarrassing yourself in the process, but you also embarrassed one of my students and everybody who took the time today to be involved in your debauchery?"
If the wounds weren't deep enough already, she had just covered in salt. He never would have guessed that what he did would have ruined somebody else's day like that. But by the sounds of things, Lee was looking ready to take action against him. That was the moment that he decided to start groveling.
"Look… I'm sorry. I know that probably won't mean that much to Marla or you, but I'm sorry. I know I messed up. I made poor decisions and I didn't think about what I was doing. All I ask is that I'm allowed another chance for this badge. Please, just give me another chance. I promise I'll prove to you that I have what it takes. I won't screw this up again. I'll do whatever it takes."
He was ready to grovel even more, but he didn't think he had anything left to say at that point. As expected, Lee's expression hadn't softened in the slightest, and he feared that his plea had fallen on deaf ears. He glanced over to Brooke and Heather, both of whom sat in silence, hoping for the best.
"I could suspend you from my gym for this, Lee continued as if she hadn't heard him. "For months, years, indefinitely; I could go on. The Skitrexian council member who I report to would definitely support this decision if I were to bring this to him. In fact, if I really wanted to, I could take this to the council itself and have you suspended from all the gyms in Skitrex. And personally, that's what I think you deserve."
He cringed, thinking about how harsh that punishment was. He could see a suspension from the Crystal Cliffs gym for what he did, but for all the gyms? That sort of punishment was usually due to trainer-related crimes, such as cruelty to pokémon or fixing battles; things like that. What he did was obviously a breach of professionalism, but it wasn't evil or crooked. Then again, Veronica Lee, being a former champion, likely had sway with the council. But there was definitely hope. She just said that she could have him suspended. If she was actually planning to do that, she would have just said that she was following through with that threat.
"... But I won't do that if you are cooperative." Her tone still hadn't softened. "See, you're obviously a talented trainer. And your friends here, they vouched for you as character witnesses, saying that you work hard, that you truly do want this, and that this sort of behavior is not typical of you. Given your history and that you've won five badges so far with little fuss, I'm inclined to believe them. So, I will not take action against you and I will allow you to challenge for this badge again.
Cody felt as if all the weight on his chest disintegrated and his distraught expression lifted. "Thank you! I promise, you won't regret-"
"I'm not finished," she interrupted, holding her hand up. "I will allow you to challenge for this badge again, but you will have to face the consequences of your behavior."
The weight piled on his chest again. But he supposed that some sort of punishment was fair. "Oh… Okay. What do you need me to do?"
"First, you will personally apologize to Marla and her family for what happened. Additionally, because they wasted their money to come up and see you flounder on the most important day of Marla's life, we've decided to cover their travel fare for them to return home. This fee will come out of your prize, should you ever successfully win this gym's badge. Like most gyms, we give winning trainers a TM for free, but if you win here, you will not be granted a TM as part of your reward."
"Okay, that's fair." Losing a TM didn't feel that bad to him, as he rarely ever used the ones he had. Apologizing to Marla and her family was definitely fair, and as ashamed as he would be facing them, he would have had to do that anyway out of principle. All and all, as far as punishments went, that wasn't so bad. He felt the weight lessen again. "So, when do I challenge again? Is it going to be against Marla?"
"Of course not!" Lee scoffed. "Do you think I'd put her through that against you again? No, you won't be fighting her, or any of the sixth tier alternates. If you want this badge, you're going to have to earn it. So, you will be fighting me..." she paused, almost as if she was trying to build up the tension. "And you will be battling me at the seventh tier."
He felt as if a Hitmonchan had just punched him in the stomach. The shock of what he had just heard hurt him more than his stomach had earlier. "... what?"
"You heard me the first time," she answered coldly.
That twofer threw him for a loop. Fighting Veronica Lee for the badge was intimidating enough as it was, even if he managed to beat to beat her pre-battle team, but facing an angered, former champion in battle would be much more difficult, especially at a higher tier.
"Wait, sixth tier trainer battling at the seventh tier for a badge… is that even legal?" Brooke asked, definitely ignorant of the rules.
"Yes, it is," Lee replied, indignant. "A trainer may choose to request to battle at a higher tier, if so desired. It's typically done by high-level trainers from outside the region who come to compete in Skitrex, as to give them a challenge. But that right is not exclusive to them."
"But…" Cody began. "You said that I have to choose that. But you just said-"
"As far as I'm concerned, you have three choices," she interrupted him to clarify. "You either never challenge for the badge from this day forward, you choose to fight me at a higher tier, or you persist for a challenge at your current tier and I move to have you suspended for what you've done. Your choice."
"Wait a minute, you didn't say anything about this when we were talking," Heather butted in, her face reddening. "You said-"
"I said I'd agree to battle him," Lee interrupted, uncaring of what Heather had said.
"This- this can't be allowed. This is coercion. It can't be legal to pull this kind of ultimatum," his friend protested, but Lee didn't falter.
"It isn't. But quite frankly, Mr. Storm here doesn't deserve a rematch at all. If you were to try and bring this to the council, it would be the word of three novice trainers versus mine. Whose side do you think the council will take?"
Wow, that's messed up. Cody never would have guessed that Veronica Lee would pull such an underhanded move. That being said, he got what was saying. She was pissed enough to suspend him, so stacking the odds against him was a fair way to allow him a chance that he didn't deserve. And it was the only chance he had. He wasn't about to leave forever, because then all of his work would have been for naught. He knew that the council would take her side over his, and since she had the recordings of his "performance", she had pretty good evidence over his head if she wanted to use that. There was only one option.
"Okay. Challenge accepted." He smirked, trying to seem confident, but he was still intimidated as all hell at this prospect.
"Very well. I know I have a 7 PM slot open ten days from now. I'll email the receptionist, and she'll tell you on your way out which day it is. I suggest you get to work, because I promise to give you the hardest battle of your life." She turned to head through the door, but before she reached it, she stopped, turning to face him one last time. "And one more thing: if you lose or turn down this battle and decide to go to another gym or two before returning, I'll only battle you at a tier above whatever ranking you've reached. So don't think that you can get away with coming back at the seventh tier for a seventh tier battle."
"Of course." He hadn't even thought about that, but he doubted she'd fall for that anyway. "Thank you for the opportunity"
"Hmph." She didn't spare any other words on him as she finally left. All that was left was the three of them, a room full of resting pokémon, and an awkward silence.
"I'm so sorry, Cody," Heather said, taking the hand that Brooke hadn't. "If I had known she'd do that-"
"No, both of you may have saved my bacon back there. She might have just suspended me otherwise." Taking in a deep breath, he stood up, still feeling dizzy, but with a feeling of cautious determination. "I have work to do."
Understatement of the year.
The rest of the day was forgotten in the haze that hung in Cody's mind. As soon as he was able, he followed through with the first part of the agreement, apologizing to both Marla and her family. Considering that her entire family looked as though they wanted to murder him over the whole ordeal, there was an element of fear added to his shame. Marla said she forgave him, but he could tell that she didn't (not that he expected her to.) She was just being polite as a formality of her position. Following that, he went back to the hotel, ate something or another that he couldn't remember to fill his stomach, drank a lot of water, and slept for an unprecedented amount of time. If there was any saving grace in that situation, it was that he had no Darkrai nightmares, but that was because he was sleeping during the day.
During his time asleep, Heather had her gym battle. Trying to make up for the misfortune that had transpired earlier, Marla was moved up on the schedule to fight Heather instead. Heather lost, but from what she had described, the match had been close to the point that if Somnos could have landed one more punch, Heather would have won. That was good news for her, at least, even in the loss. She would be trying to win the badge again in ten days, and would likely figure out what she'd need to do to win. Cody, on the other hand, had more to worry about. It wasn't like there was any shortage of footage of Veronica Lee to study, but that wasn't the problem. In general, pokémon at the seventh tier were going to be smarter, stronger, and just straight up better than the ones at the sixth, and that wasn't even including the fact that they were going to be under the command of one of the greatest trainers in Skitrex, who was empowered by a vendetta to make sure that he was destroyed.
Giving his Pokémon a day of rest, he spent the entire night watching tape of Lee's battles and reading up on her style, and the realization of how outclassed he would be set in even further. Everything Lee did was systematic and any one of her pokémon would have options to deal with almost any threat. He would definitely get to training, hopefully with more experienced trainers than himself, but that would only help him so much. He couldn't expect his entire team to jump a tier in ten days time.
"I'm at a loss," he said, exhausted in tone, even though they had only been at the library for an hour. He reserved a private room within the facility where he could work on formulating a strategy in peace, but the mental block he had was impeding any progress. He stared at the laptop with the browser open to the gym's website. On the table, he had dozens of notebook pages that he had torn out, some containing the notes he wrote on his Pokémon, others with bullet points he had written on Veronica Lee, and a few with the critiques he had with himself, the biggest one being not to drink the night before a big match, which he underlined, highlighted, and circled.
"Don't say that. I know it's rough, but you can totally beat her," Brooke said, trying to cheer him up, but failing massively. She had been trying to comfort him over the past twenty-four hours, shouldering a lot of the blame for what had happened, but it didn't make him feel any better.
He gave her a look of annoyance. "And what makes you say that?"
"Your pokémon are tough, especially Antonia. She-"
"She can't carry the team against a seventh tier gym battle!" he interrupted, frustrated with how clueless Brooke was sometimes. Normally, he wasn't bothered by her battling naïveté, but in the past hour, it was really getting on his last nerve. "Do you know what would have happened if I had faced Ian Powell at the second tier with my first tier team? I probably would have gotten annihilated by his Pikachu alone, and I was using two ground types at the time!" Granted, at that stage in his training when his pokémon were inexperienced, the gap would have been even greater, but he had hoped he had gotten his point across. He hadn't.
"Come on, we can figure this out," she tried again.
"What do you mean we?" Heather asked, shooting Brooke a sharp glare. Her arms were crossed and she looked even more upset with Cody, but Cody could tell that the anger was directed at Brooke, rather than the situation as a whole. Even though he only had himself to blame for making the decisions he made, she didn't see it that way.
"Cody," Brooke continued, avoiding Heather's question, "I've seen you beat seventh tier trainers this week without handicap when you were training. Why is this any different?"
"I wasn't consistent in beating them," he said, pulling up one of the papers on the table, which had a few of his battle results scribbled down. "I've been logging all my battles this week. Within that time, I battled ten trainers who were competing for the seventh badge in three versus three matches. I only beat three of them, those victories were narrow, and each team had one common denominator: Antonia. But I used her in six of those battles, so she wasn't even a consistent factor herself. She's not invincible." He inhaled before reaching part two of his current rant. "Second of all, this is Veronica fucking Lee we're talking about! She's one of the best trainers in this region and the only reason she hasn't waltzed back over to the Elite 4 and won her championship back is because she doesn't want to. This isn't like fighting any ordinary seventh tier trainer! Plus, she's definitely going to bring eighth tier pokémon with her to this fight, so-"
"Wait, she can do that?" Brooke asked.
"Jesus Christ," Heather mumbled under her breath, though everybody in the study room could hear it.
"Look here." Cody clicked on one of the tabs on the gym's page and pulled up a page that listed well over one hundred and sixty pokémon, each posted with a picture, their species name, their nickname (if they had one), their current tier, and a link to their bio. These were the monsters registered with the gym. Most of them were normal types, given the gym, but there were a few oddballs. They were sorted by trainer, so Cody clicked on the page's sorting function to list the monsters by tier instead.
"Okay, so these are all the pokémon in the seventh tier, the tier I will be battling at," he said, pointing to the eighteen monsters at that tier. "Seven of them belong to Veronica Lee, but the rest belong to other trainers. Of course, a gym leader or their associates shouldn't only have an option of seven monsters to choose from for a tier, so she could easily borrow any of the other eleven from her trainers if she wants. And they'd listen to her too. A well-trained pokémon will respect and follow a trainer of her magnitude. This allows anybody defending the badge to have a unique lineup so that the battles are not so predictable."
Brooke nodded, understanding that much. "Okay, but-"
"But that's not all," he interrupted. "You see, with smaller gyms, they run into the problem of having a limited number of combinations to fight with. Gym leaders and their trainers can only raise so many pokémon at a time, and you have to consider that pokémon don't remain static. These seventh tiers will eventually become eighth tiers if they continue training. There's a constant flow of pokémon passing through the gym cycle.
"This is why a few years back, they created a system called 'tier bartering'. Now this is where it gets confusing. Essentially, a trainer defending the badge can borrow up to two pokémon from one tier higher or lower than the tier they are battling at, so long as they balance it out with a pokémon of the opposite tier. You can't do this at the first or twelfth tier, given that there is nothing above twelfth and nothing below first, but through tiers two through eleven, it happens all the time. In a seventh tier battle, a gym leader can borrow one eighth tier, so long as she supplements it by bringing one sixth tier, or two eighths supplemented by two sixths. She can't do three eights with three sixths, due to polarization or whatever, but yeah, she'll definitely be bringing two eighths. Get it?"
"Um… kinda?" she shrugged. "This is really confusing. Why are you so sure she'll bring two eighths to battle?"
"Because from her position," Cody continued. "It just makes logical sense. If I were battling for my seventh badge with a seventh tier team, her bringing two eighths and two sixths would balance things out. Sure, she'd have two tougher pokémon to battle, but she'd have two weaker ones as well. Statistically, it would be a fair fight. But this isn't a fair fight. I'm fighting seventh tier battle with a team that averages at the sixth tier level. If she trades down to use two sixth tiers, in all probability, they'd go even against any of my team members. Mine might win out if they're lucky, but it's a coin flip. Aside from that, she'd bring in two seventh tiers that would outclass my pokémon in general and two eighth tiers that would pretty much stomp everything else I throw at them. So basically, I'm screwed, because there is no way that she's showing mercy on me in this fight. If I go in guns blazing, those two eighth tiers could probably beat me on their own, especially under Lee's command."
"But that's not fair!" Brooke exclaimed as she began to put together how difficult a fight it would be. "Maybe you can get somebody to trade you stronger pokémon, just for the battle? Why not ask Jared? He's-"
"Okay, let's assume Jared even wanted to help me in the first place," Cody began, rather than shutting the idea down right away. "First of all, his pokémon probably wouldn't listen to me. Second, there's a thirty day waiting period in Skitrex before you can use a traded pokémon in a league battle. But even if we did have the time, it's against league rules to trade significantly stronger pokémon over to lower tiered trainers for the purpose of earning badges or competing in high-level events. The rules themselves on the whole thing are a bit ambiguous, but it's not worth the risk. I don't want to get sanctioned, especially right now."
"Oh… Well maybe-"
"Okay, enough!" Heather said, finally throwing her hands up. "Brooke, you need to leave."
Heather's outburst took Brooke by surprise as her eyes widened in exclusion. "I just want to help!"
"Well, you're not helping and you can't help. All that's going to happen if you stay is that we're going to spend half the day explaining things to you. If you really want Cody to succeed here, you'll leave us be and let us figure this out."
Silence. Those words seemed to have cut Brooke deep and she looked at Cody for some sort of support. He was about to attempt to soften the blow, but she talked before he did.
"I know you're going to tell me that I can stay, but I get it. I'll let you work. I'm sorry." She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before awkwardly scrambling out of the private room. When she was gone, Cody and Heather were left with the laptop, the notes, and the thickest tension conceivable.
"Thanks for that," Cody mumbled.
"Hey, I knew you didn't have the balls to do it," Heather laughed, standing up and joining him on his side of the table. "So, what are you going to do?"
"Look, I appreciate the help, but you don't need to worry about me. I know you have to prepare for your battle with Marla, so-"
"I almost beat her. I know what I did wrong. I know what to fix. She was good, but nothing that we haven't fought before. So don't worry about me, because you need more help than I do right now. You helped me beat Ian and Hornsby, so I can help you here."
He loved that about Heather. He had almost expected her to give him the business about his bad decisions, but seeing that he wasn't making any excuses, she seemed eager to help and wasn't rubbing his nose in it. "Well, thanks, but I don't know what we can do here."
"Do you really think she'll bring two eighth tiers to battle?" Heather asked. "Isn't this task daunting enough? It is really unfair."
"If you hated somebody you had to battle, wouldn't you want to crush them?" he asked, not waiting for a response. "I'm not saying this is impossible, but I'd need a lot of dumb luck… Brooke said that she won this badge after one of the gym trainer's pokémon broke their leg in a freak accident." It wouldn't be the way he'd want to win, but he'd take any advantage he could. "Any chance of that?"
"Cody, maybe…" Heather sighed, "maybe this isn't a battle you should fight if you can't win. Why not come back at a later date?"
"Didn't you hear her? She's just going to up me in tier if I try that," he reminded her, but she shook her head.
"Not if you come back at the twelfth tier. That's Elite Four level, so she can't go any higher than that. It would be hard as hell, but if you get to that level, it would at least be a fair fight. Or..." she pondered, "You might not even need to do that. Say you come back in a year: do you really think that she could use that evidence against you that far in the future without looking a little bit crooked on her part? The council might question why she didn't report it earlier. We could research that and-"
"No,'" he answered flatly. "You may have a good idea there, but I don't want to go through the league court if I don't have to because I don't want to risk that battle. And I don't want to look like I'm trying to be tricky if none of that works by coming back later. I… even if I lose, I want Veronica Lee to respect me. Trying to play around her rules isn't the way to do that."
Heather shrugged, smiling. "It was worth a shot. I should have known you were going to be prideful. But what happens if you lose?"
"If I lose, I'll do what you suggested and come back at a later date. I mean, I could just train here until I reached the seventh tier level in skill without winning a sixth badge, but I don't want to hold you back. In the meantime, what do I do about this match?"
"Well, basics," Heather asked. "What's your team and who's your anchor?"
With only seven pokémon available, he didn't have many options. Unless any of his pokémon suffered an injury in the coming week, he wanted to know ahead of time who he would need to focus on.
"Antonia is my anchor, no question. Steel resists normal-type attacks and she's my strongest."
"Strong enough to beat an eighth tier?" Heather questioned.
"I… I don't know." He knew his Skarmory could probably go even with any given seventh tier, but would sustain heavy damage. Eighth tier, however… "Otherwise, Bastion and Elesa are in. Cortez is in, just for the immunity, even if his ghost attacks won't help much. Ferrari is in, even if he still needs some polishing… and Reflet is in." He thought about using Mars, but while his Diglett was definitely more reliable, Reflet slightly sturdier than he was. Against seventh and eighth tier enemies, that could be the difference maker.
"Okay, and then what?" Heather asked. "You have any idea what she might try?"
"Well…" he picked up a page of his notes and squinted a bit, trying to decipher his sloppy handwriting. "I've been reading up on this. You know what a humiliation opener is?"
Heather cocked her head at that term. "I think I've heard of that before, but I couldn't tell you."
"It's a tactic that Lee has been known to use in some of her battles. Basically, it's winning the first match-up in a battle in such a way that you humiliate your opponent and essentially kill their morale. It doesn't work on every opponent, but it really hurts a fragile ego, and it really undercuts trainers with less experience, which would be me in this scenario."
"Okay, but how does that work?" Heather asked. "Like, how do you not only win the first round, but humiliate someone at the same time?"
"So, check this out on YouTube later after we're done today," Cody began, actually smiling as he felt that his research could pay off. "In the Tokyo Boom last year, Lee was battling Apollo Ford. He's a very good trainer, but she caught him off guard. In the first match-up, she beats his Tauros with a Rattata. Not a Raticate, but a Rattata, and it wasn't even some experienced, seasoned Rattata."
His friend's mouth was agape. "How is that even possible?"
"It's actually pretty cool what she did. In an interview afterwards, she talked about how that Rattata was trained to focus on enduring the first hit, hit the enemy with an Endeavor, and then use Quick Attack to outspeed it and finish the job. Before Apollo even knew what was going on, his Tauros was out. And even though he quickly beat the Rattata in the next round, it didn't matter, because he was visibly shook. Lee won with three pokémon to spare, all because she humiliated her foe and it affected him the rest of the match."
"And so, because she hates you, you suspect that she's gonna try something like this?" Heather asked. When Cody nodded in response, she continued. "Does knowing that she might try this lessen the blow at least?"
"I would hope so, but I don't want to lose to that if I can help it."
"Okay… if Antonia is your anchor in this fight, I would use Bastion as your opener," Heather suggested. "He's strong and level-headed. Probably your best versus a tricky beginning."
"My thoughts exactly," Cody agreed. "I just hope that she doesn't use an eighth tier to open with. I don't think Bastion could beat the ones that she'll use. But she could probably meet the same goal with a lesser pokémon, but that's still a gamble."
"You sound like you already know who her eighths will be," Heather said. "If she brings two eighths with her, who do you think they'll be?"
Cody had already thought that part through. After doing some clicking on the laptop, he opened two separate pages from the eighth tier monsters. One was a sleek, arrogant-looking Persian. The other was a bully, but older, graying Bouffalant.
"Jacqueline IV and Hank "The Tank". Both are in the eighth tier, both have stupidly high win-loss records, and both have a long history with Veronica Lee."
"Wait, the Hank "The Tank"?" Heather's jaw dropped at that. "And Jacqueline IV? Who's that? She related to Jack "The Giant Killer"?"
"One of his descendents, yes." He scowled whilst glaring at the Persian's profile page. "Veronica Lee breeds the Meowth line, you know. She trains the strongest ones, so while the original Jack is long deceased, several of his descendents are still alive and well. Jacqueline IV is one of the younger ones, but she has a great record."
"She's related to the Giant Killer… At least you don't have any giants on your team?" Heather said, trying to make him feel better, but he shook his head.
"Jack only had that name because he beat that Steelix, but the actual scary thing about him was his style. See, Lee raised her Persian and his descendents with specialized training in fighting rock and steel-types. They're styled for evasive action with quick, deep cutting strikes, drawing the battle out long and slow. And honestly, I don't think most of my Pokemon have a chance against her. I thought maybe Cortez would be good here, but Jacqueline knows Shadow Ball and Crunch, so no. Not gonna work… I think I'll have to brute force her with Antonia. She's the closest thing I have in terms of power. I'll just have to come up with some sort of strategy, because she won't be able to tank so easily against a beast that was specifically raised to counter her."
"And Hank?" Heather asked, looking at the other page. "This is the Hank "The Tank"?" she asked again, looking at the elderly Bouffalant in the picture. "That can't be allowed. She was using him back when she was champ, right?"
"It's totally allowed," Cody corrected. "Remember my first badge battle? I had to fight that old Farfetch'd that belonged to Eagle's father. I think his name was Chief? But yeah, Chief had a long, storied career, but once he was past his prime, he weakened with age, so much so that he was cleared to fight at the first tier. This is similar…" He scowled again. "Problem is, Hank is still two tiers stronger than me. Plus, unless he has dementia or something, there's one thing that age won't take away from him: experience. He may be an old bull, but he'll have the forty-five years worth of knowledge to counter most everything I can throw at him. If I had a pokémon on his tier, I could outpower him, but-"
"Why not Antonia?" Heather questioned. "I know you want to save her for Jacqueline, but-"
"No, it won't work. This is my biggest hang up here." He clenched his fists as he tried to wrap his head around the situation. "See, if it was just Jacqueline, I might be able to overpower her with two or three pokémon, but Hank literally has a counter for everything I can throw at him. Wild Charge, for one. Tough as Antonia is, electric attacks are her achilles heel, even more than fire. Wild Charge would probably oneshot Bastion too."
"Okay, so what about Elesa, Cortez, or Ferrari?" Heather asked.
"Stone Edge. He knows Stone Edge. Cortez and Ferrari wouldn't last long against that. Elesa might have a better chance, since she could tank a few hits, she's faster, and she knows Double Kick, but… she's not going to win a slugging match against something that's physically tougher and smarter than her. As for Reflet or Mars, one hit of any attack and they'd be down for the count…" He let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Colossal would be the best counter here. He's level-headed, he resists most of Hank's attacks, and he could tank blows for days. But he's off training in that underground cave, so… I'm stumped."
"So… no ideas?" Heather asked, knowing that Cody had few.
"Best case scenario: it would take my entire team to beat him alone. Maybe five. Maybe four, if I'm super lucky. And that's assuming I don't lose anything beforehand. But even in a fortunate scenario where she sends out Hank first and I have two or three pokémon left, I'd be boned if I had to face the other five on my own."
"So, the direct approach doesn't work," Heather speculated. Still she looked hopeful. "What about that Donphan we had to fight for our third badge? That thing was indestructible, but we beat it, right?"
"Tantour was only one tier above us at the time. Not two. But…" He scratched his chin while he looked up at the ceiling, remembering what that battle had taught him. "Remember that guy I told you about? Cedric? The guy who gave me the TM for Hidden Power that helped me beat Hornsby? He talked about playing dirty. Not cheating or anything like that, but trickery where you twist a battle to the point of abnormality. I applied that a little bit to beat that Donphan, but…" He picked up one of his notes, squinting again at what he wrote. "Martin Hornsby won that charity battle against Veronica Lee a few years back. It was considered a huge upset, but afterwards, Hornsby said that while Lee never falls for the same trick twice, she's ultimately a set-in-stone strategist. She's most thrown off by any trick that breaks up what a typical battle is."
For a moment, the two of them sat in silence, contemplating what that all meant. It was like a jigsaw puzzle, trying to develop a formula to defeat the old buffalo.
"If I want to defeat Hank, I'm going to have to hit him with something that neither he nor his trainer have ever seen. Or, at the very least, something that they won't see coming. Brute force isn't going to be the way, so… this may be a team effort. And we may have to play this one very underhanded, because we're only going to have one shot at this."
"Team effort?" Heather asked. "Like, using your whole team to beat this thing? What do you mean? I thought you wanted to conserve your pokémon in this fight. And what if she doesn't use Hank?"
"If she doesn't use him… I can't see her not using him, but if she doesn't…" he shrugged. "Then I don't know. We have nine days, so we'll try to develop a base strategy for each one of the eighths. But otherwise, this is going to be my focus. If I can defeat Hank while suffering as few casualties as possible, this battle is winnable. Still uphill, but winnable."
"Okay." Heather almost seemed excited by his sudden change in enthusiasm. "So, any ideas?"
He pulled out a blank piece of notebook paper and held his pencil to the page. "I have a few ideas. They're bad ideas, but that's a start." And then, the brainstorming truly began.
Brooke wasn't surprised about Heather's treatment towards her. But the fact that Cody didn't try harder to stop her… she felt completely useless, following the turn of events. Though in her mind, she deserved it. After getting kicked out of the library, she spent some time walking around Crystal Cliffs, taking in the sites that she had seen during her time in the city before, getting something to eat, and even trying a battle with another low-level trainer.
That last thing she tried on that list ended in complete failure. She felt as if she was trying to prove that she did have something to offer in battle strategy, but she was only kidding herself. She opened up the battle with Goro, who did well on his own, defeating two pokémon, but when he fainted against the third, Kisses and Sunny failed to pick up the slack. It was disheartening.
It made her feel even worse about Cody, her feeling so useless. It was all piling for her: the guilt of her sharing his secrets, playing the role, the fact that she contributed to the mess he was in, and the Brotherhood as a whole. She was still uneasy after hearing of Cody's experience with the group and how they treated him, but with such low clearance, she had no access to any of the sensitive data, and Michelle wouldn't clear her for anything higher. Besides, even mentioning her concerns with the Brotherhood to her boss sounded like an easy way to get some unwanted attention. They did have company therapists for that reason, but she didn't trust them to remain confidential.
Back in the hotel room, she turned on the television and changed the channel to one of the local broadcast stations that she stared at blankly while she brushed her sleepy Pancham's fur. She wondered if Cody and Heather were still strategizing. She couldn't imagine studying for that length of time, but she supposed the alone time would do her good. But just as she came to that conclusion, her phone started vibrating. She was hoping that maybe it would be Cody or at least one of her friends, but it was Michelle. Her stomach lurched at the sight of the caller ID; something about the call made her think that it was not good news. But she wouldn't let it keep ringing.
"Hello, Michelle?" she asked as she answered.
"Agent MB83, what is your status?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'm alone and the TV is on. Nobody is going to hear me. And please, why do you call me that? You know-"
"You lost that privilege," Michelle replied, her chilly voice giving Brooke goosebumps. "So, funny story: I received a very interesting report from one of our agents. She was at a certain club called hYpnosis the other night, and she recognized target Sierra Charlie, who was with you."
"She recognized Cody?" Brooke asked, breaking immediately into a cold sweat. "I thought he was removed from the official list of watched-"
"She was given instructions to do an anonymous check-in, but she saw him the day before the check-in was supposed to happen. She took notes that night and reported that not only did the target, a minor, mind you, get intoxicated, but you were definitely crossing your boundaries with him in a public setting. So tell me, what were you thinking? This put you and our operation at risk! And I thought I told you to tone down your affection!"
"I…" She had no smart response. "I was in character?"
"Your character isn't supposed to be an idiot, MB83!" Michelle fumed. "And if that wasn't enough, I have another report from one of our agents at the Crystal Cliffs Gym. Apparently, the target made quite the scene in his battle. All this does is draw more attention to you in your position! You already told me that you think the target's friend is on to you. Your botches will not be tolerated, MB83… I have to run this by my superiors, but I'll be moving to have you extracted."
"Wh- what?" That came out of nowhere. And she felt a heavy, sinking feeling in her heart.
"Despite your mishaps and your lack of professionalism, you did uncover a wealth of information. Following his removal from the official watch-list and his current fear of the Brotherhood that leads him to avoid us, the target will only be checked in on occasionally by our static agents. Otherwise, your mission is complete. You will hear from me within the week on my superiors' decision. From there, you'll return to headquarters to be reassigned… hopefully after receiving some refresher courses on how to conduct yourself."
"So that's it? I just have to up and leave?" she asked in a shaking voice. "What do I tell them?"
"Anything you want, provided you don't expose yourself or us. This would have been a whole lot easier if you hadn't got yourself attached."
"Attached? I'm not attached," Brooke lied. But good as she was at lying, Michelle knew better.
"You may be good at fooling people, MB83, but I know that's not true. I wouldn't be surprised if you've been trying to protect him either, judging by the closeness you've displayed on this case. But since I can't prove that, you might as well quit while you're ahead."
"No..." She wracked her brain, trying to buy herself a little bit more time. It didn't feel right, just up and leaving after she got Cody into that mess. Besides, she didn't want to hurt him… or herself. "What about his night terrors? The ones I reported that he's having?"
"What about them?" Michelle scoffed. "That wasn't a part of your mission. It's just fluff."
"When we were interrogated by that doctor, Cody said something about how he thinks there's a pokémon invading his dreams. I don't think it's any of the psychic pokémon in the group, or the Lampent. But what if that has something to do with the nightmares? Even if that wasn't what I was supposed to be investigating, wouldn't it do the Brotherhood good to know what that was about?"
"Hmm…" There was a pause. "And you think this is important to understanding this case?"
"Definitely," Brooke answered, sounding so self-assured. She didn't actually know if the night terrors were worth anything more than a footnote on Cody's case, but she knew how thorough the Brotherhood liked to be in the information they collected.
"We do like to have all that information cataloged. Plus, if it's such a huge secret, we could potentially add that to the pile of things we could hold over his head or use against him…" She paused, sighing on the other side of the phone. "I'll tell you what: This is against my better judgment, but I'll give you a few more weeks. See what you can uncover, but if this doesn't work, I will move for extraction. In the meantime, I hope that you've learned the…"
As Michelle continued talking, Brooke noticed the TV screen flickering. Odd, since the picture usually came in perfectly. There must have been some interference.
"I'll call you back. I'm not alone," she whispered.
"Very well. Don't disappoint me MB83."
Brooke hung up and quickly, but quietly placed Goro on the bed and made her way to the door. When she looked through the peephole, nobody was at the door, so she swung it open and looked down the left hall. A pokémon shaped like a quarter-moon had just floated right into the elevator room.
"Gotcha," Brooke muttered to herself. Without even bothering to lock the door, she bolted at full speed towards where Crescent had disappeared to.
When she arrived, she saw Crescent floating next to Heather, who was quickly pressing the down-button of the elevator. Upon seeing Brooke burst into the room, Heather turned in fright with a gasp.
"Brooke! Hey, I-"
"I knew it!" Brooke said, almost shouting. "I knew it wasn't a coincidence! You're spying on me!"
"Wh-what?" Heather asked, in fake shock. "I-"
"I saw that thing fleeing from the door! I know it was up there because the TV started flickering. TVs sometimes do that due to psychic interference, like if a psychic-type pokémon is trying to extend their hearing or something like that. Kisses has done that before."
Heather's face paled as she glanced around. She faced her Lunatone, who just stared back at her. It may have been talking to her on a closed channel, so Brooke could only guess what it was saying to its trainer. Finally, Heather said, "I swear, we just wanted to get into the room to-"
"You know, you touch your cheek when you lie," Brooke pointed out, almost casually. Heather froze in the act as she noticed that her hand was indeed touching the cheek. Slowly, her hand retreated.
"I know you might find it hard to believe, but I'm not stupid, Heather," Brooke continued, far calmer, but making sure she was taken seriously. "Just because I can't battle as well as you doesn't mean I'm clueless. I know that you're not exactly crazy about me either. I tried to befriend you, giving you that Venipede, spending time with you… It's just not enough, isn't it? But then the other day, I saw your Lunatone spying on Cody and I when we were out in the alleyway for that street battle. So how about you just admit to me what's going on."
For a few seconds, the brunette had no response. The elevator finally arrived, carrying a few passengers that stared at the two as they passed. When they were all gone, Heather tried to switch the subject.
"You're getting pretty defensive. Crescent says you were on the phone. Why are you freaking out over a phone call?" She was no longer denying that she wasn't spying.
"Because it was private! And no matter how important it was, you think spying on me was justified?"
"Who were you talking with?" Heather asked, continuing her attempt to shift the focus.
"You wouldn't know her," Brooke answered. "Now, why were you spying on me?"
By then, Heather had just given up trying to act as if she had nothing to hide and admitted her intentions. "I don't trust you."
"Oh? Based on what?" Brooke asked. "What did I possibly do to offend you?"
"Where do I begin? You show up out of nowhere and add yourself to our group. You're probably one of the worst trainers I've ever seen, but you somehow manage to have a lot of money on you, despite claiming that you're not close with your remaining family. At first, I thought maybe you were trying to mooch off Cody, but I don't think that's it anymore. I don't quite know what it is… but that whole thing with Merrick that neither of you will tell me about, what is it that's so important you can't tell me? And then, there was the debacle with the gym." She was sweating somewhat as she listed off her concerns. "Cody is an idiot sometimes. He should have known better than to go out the night before his battle, but you should have known better than to invite him. Tell me, how many times did you beg him to go with you before he gave in?"
"What the hell is your point?" Brooke asked. "I know now I shouldn't have brought him out. I apologized for that profusely. But everything you dislike about me-" She stopped midsentence to calm her tone again. "Unless there's something else on your mind right now?"
"There are a few things…" Heather said, looking down at her feet.
"What then?" Brooke taunted. "Tell me."
"I can't…" Heather answered uneasily.
"What is it? Do you not like it that I'm here? That I'm with him? Is it jealousy?"
"Ugh, grow up!" Heather said, finally snapping with anger, although she was a bit flustered as well. "I don't trust you because you're a bad influence. Like, you're so freaking toxic, it's unbelievable. I was just barely beat by Marla, but Cody is better than me. If he had battled her at the peak of his game, he would have won. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess! But he's too pussy-whipped to see that, so I'm going to let you know it: I'm going to have to look out for him because you're doing a shit job of it!"
"You know…" Brooke began, keeping her cool in the face of a furious Heather. "You are a good friend to him. You two keep each other on track. But I guess that puts us at a stalemate. I won't tell Cody about this conversation because he cares about you and I know it would hurt him. You won't say anything either for the same reasons… that, and because you have all these crazy theories about me and how I'm some evil bitch. But where's your proof do you think I'm hiding something else?"
"Yes, but I don't know yet..." Heather admitted, taking a step back. "I-"
"I have nothing against you, Heather," Brooke continued. "And I get you want to protect your friend, and I get that you don't have to like me. But Cody can make his own decisions and he doesn't need your protection. So until he tells me to leave, I'm not going anywhere."
"Well, neither am I," Heather affirmed.
The two stared at each other as if they were both expecting the other woman to strike. Brooke wasn't one for violence, but even if she was, Heather had her Lunatone and even without it, Heather was taller and stronger than her. Brooke had taken self-defense, but it wasn't worth the risk, even if she wanted to. Instead, she nodded and turned back to head for the room again. Despite Brooke's desire to stay in the group, Heather was closing in. All of her instincts told her that it was time to run, but her heart said otherwise. That would probably come back to bite her.
If you've made it through one of my longest, densest chapters yet, you're awesome. Hopefully, nobody got too confused by the tier-bartering thing. But this is all building up to a battle that I've been itching to write for so long. Stay tuned.