Maylene strode into the Battle Tower, wearing a face that screamed 'battle me' and her pokeballs at the ready. She looked around, but no one looked awake enough to even try and look at her. A heatwave had hit midsummer Sinnoh, and – despite being on an island – the warmth had not lost its strength for weeks. Trainers had been slowly drained from motivation to even train, and everyone stayed home to try and stay as cool as possible. The few trainers in the Battle Tower didn't seem better off, some clinging to their ice-type pokémon before they quickly went back in their pokéballs.
A loud sigh left her mouth – a few heads turning towards her in the process – before she walked towards the counter.
I finally arrive at the Tower, and now there's no one to battle! Should've stayed at home, or maybe should've gone to Wake's. Training on a waterfall sounds quite nice now.
She shook her head. This heat is nothing.
"So I assume there's no one available?" she said as she arrived at the counter.
Someone who looked like the usual nurse Joy – now with blue hair, almost looking like an Officer Jenny mixed with nurse Joy – looked up from her computer and shook her head. "I'm sorry, everyone is greatly affected by the heat." And with that, she was dismissed.
She looked over at the screen while walking towards the doors. Next boat going back was in twenty minutes. She might be fast enough to catch the next train to Eterna City, moving her way up to Snowpoint city to see Candice again. She might even find some strong pokémon on the way.
Thinking of the best route to get when going to Candice, the doors opened and she bumped into something soft, something that grabbed her shoulders when she stumbled backwards.
"Sorry man, didn't see you- Volkner!" Her slightly irritated mood turned around quickly, the tall man standing in front of her with a bored look on his face. She punched him softly in the chest as she asked how he was doing.
He hummed at her. "Been invited to… the Trainer World Tournament? Something like that," he said as he walked past her.
"Oh! Sounds exciting," she said as she followed him inside again. "You reckon they will be there?"
He perked up at her words. He knew exactly who she meant: the trainer that defeated him a few years ago. After them he only had a few people beat him, but none of them had become the new Champion.
"Maybe…"
"I hope so, they say the tournament will be filmed. But I'd rather be there myself to see you go all-out again."
He looked at her. Her usual smile was on her face, she would always wear it whenever they were spending time together. He hummed again. "Got a few new ones since the last time," he announced.
Maylene looked questioningly at him. "Me too," she answered. "You reckon they're good enough against them?"
Volkner shrugged. "I did train them, but the new ones haven't fought against a formidable opponent yet."
"Well," she said, dragging out the 'well', "I've been training like crazy lately. Well ever since they came around, really. Bet I can take you on now, huh?"
He rested his arms on the counter, looking down at nurse Joy behind her computer. Before she could ask what Volkner wanted, he turned towards Maylene. "If a battle is what you want, just say so. I don't have time to look between the lines."
Nurse Joy looked confused between them as Maylene challenged him, not having heard the conversation between them just now. Nonetheless she opened the door towards the big field outside. Together they walked through, the light shining brightly on their faces as they stepped out to the open field. "You don't want an inside field?" Volkner asked.
"I can handle the heat." And with that they walked towards their opposite ends. The field was surrounded by bushes, sharp rocks, a river, and anything that someone could use in their strategy against an opponent. It had a quite natural look, almost feeling like an actual clearing in the woods, instead of a manmade field.
"You ready?" she heard Volkner say across from her.
She grabbed one of her pokéballs and pointed it towards him. "When you are!"
A monitor high above them started a countdown, barely visible through the trees. She saw him lazily grabbing one of his pokéballs, throwing it with the same energy when the countdown hit zero.
The light blue plasma formed into a four-legged creature that send small shocks through its fur when it shook its head. The Jolteon looked like it hadn't been taking out of its ball for quite a while, growling with energy and irritation at the sun.
Maylene's own Machamp stood proudly opposite it, its arms in a wrestling position.
A bright light followed by an explosion caught her attention as the counter hit zero; the Jolteon had used Thunderbolt without her knowing. Looking over at Volkner he just gave her a small shrug, his face not entertained in the slightest. Maylene grit her teeth and called out 'Cross Chop!'.
She had completely forgotten about his almost flawless non-verbal communication with his pokémon. It really has been a while since I saw you battle.
The Jolteon dodged the first few slashes of her Machamp, before one of them hit it right as it jumped, sending it flying before Volkner put it back in its pokéball.
"Sorry to put you out first," he whispered to it, before sending out Lanturn, who happily took its place in the river. The Machamp faced its new opponent, pushing away a few branches as it made its way to the river. But as Maylene started to look between the trees – jumping up and down to see where her pokemon went -, another explosion caught her attention. Machamp stumbled back into the clearing as Maylene called out to it, asking if it was okay to use another Cross Chop. It immediately obeyed, running back through the trees and hitting its opponent with ease. Maylene saw a stream of hot water come from the river, creating an area with fog as she heard a small thud. Behind Volkner she could see his Lanturn, giggling at Maylene's surprised face. The pokémon was an odd addition to his team, as the others were more serious when it came to battle; this Lanturn was more of a trickster, but seemed to listen well to commands as Volkner nodded towards it. How she wished to turn places, the cool river looking very inviting as sweat started dripping on her forehead.
She pointed the pokéball towards the clearing smoke and looked inside after the plasma had gone in. Her Machamp was burned, but asleep. It had probably fainted after the Lanturn had hit it with Scald.
"Thank you," she said, grabbing another pokéball and throwing it in the air; the creature materialising from it stood on two legs, its face looking determined at its trainer. Maylene gave her Lucario the same face as it turned around. It immediately ran towards its opponent, swinging its arm high as another stream of hot water came from the Lanturn's mouth, but it wasn't enough; Lucario's arm swooped downwards and instantly knocked out Lanturn, who slowly drifted unconsciously away from the scene. Volkner sighed and retrieved his pokémon, immediately followed by a Rotom.
It flitted around the battlefield, taking in its surroundings quickly before turning its attention to Maylene and her Lucario. A foul smirk rested on its face as it shot forward, electricity crackling around its body and hitting its opponent, making it stagger backwards.
"Go!" Maylene screamed and a bone appeared out of thin air between the creature's hands, swinging it upwards and sending the Rotom flying back to its trainer.
Volkner shook his head as he returned the creature, an annoyed look on his face as he send out Electivire. Maylene could barely hear him say "Listen to me" before she had to turn her attention to the Electivire that came running towards them, its fists starting to glow just like her Machamp's had done as it used Cross Chop. It barely hit her Lucario, but it was enough to send it flying backwards and hit the ground. It tried to stand up one more time, but fell down in its efforts.
"You did so well," she said as she retrieved it. Wiping sweat off her face she threw her next pokéball with extra force, making it land closer by its opponent. Gallade was up next; the newest member of her family had grown much over the past few weeks, but despite that – and the fact she had specifically trained it for strong pokemon – she was still worried if it could take out Volkner's Electivire.
She was caught off-guard by its speed – the heat clouding her mind before she could focus again - , Wild Charge almost tripling its pace as it shot forward and hit her Gallade, just barely out of its pokéball. "Psycho Cut!" she screamed towards it, aiming with her finger at the still running Electivire. Two purple blades shot out of Gallade's hands as it was in mid-air and it hit, making the creature trip and falling face first into the ground. Gallade landed quite gracefully on the opposite side of the battlefield - but before it could make another move ready it was again caught off-guard by the Electivire's speed.
Maylene instantly retrieved her Gallade, reaching for her Toxicroak to make the finishing blow, and whispered "Drain Punch" to it as she threw it into the field. But as if Volkner had read her thoughts, the ground started to shake violently after her Toxicroak had come out, hitting it with ease. She grit her teeth as she looked at her Toxicroak running around trying to avoid the cracks in the ground – using the shaking trees to manoeuver quickly towards the creature - as it hit Volkner's Electivire.
Finally it fell down, a small thud being heard as it did so. Her Toxicroak looked beaten up from the Bulldoze, and so did the battlefield.
Volkner's face looked grim, he had probably hoped to finish every single one of Maylene's with it, just as he had done so a few months prior. He lazily threw his Heliolisk out, but a small hint of a smile flashed across his face.
"Hey, don't go easy on me now!" Maylene screamed across the battlefield. "Last time it didn't-" but her screams were silenced by the booming sound of the Heliolisk, her ears almost rupturing before she placed her hands over them. After the pain in her ears had subdued she saw her Toxicroak laying unconsciously on the ground, not being able to do anything while its trainer was distracted by the noise.
She took out Medicham and planted her knee forcefully in the ground after a small jump, her Medicham jumping up as well as it hit the Heliolisk with full force, making it fly backwards into its trainer. Volkner quickly caught and looked over it, before sending out Magnezone.
Maylene planted her knee down again – her breathing becoming harder as she stood up again -, but as her Medicham ran towards its opponent and jumped in the air, it was hit with a Thunderbolt, making it fall hard on the ground, instantly knocking it out.
A shocked look fell over Maylene's face, but a grin replaced it as she saw Volkner's amused pose, his interest now higher than it was at the beginning of the match.
Maylene threw her last pokéball with extra force, making it materialise directly next to the Magnezone, which was hit by a strong punch of her Infernape.
Finally it was down to the last two. She had hoped Electivire was his last, but his Magnezone wasn't to be underestimated; it had defeated her more than once before his Elecitivire had even set foot on the battlefield.
The Magnezone had spinned away, shaking its body as soon as it regained balance and used Thunderbolt, Maylene's Infernape resisting the electricity and shot forward again, hitting the Magnezone right as it send another Thunderbolt.
Infernape was send backwards, retrieved before it had even hit the ground as Maylene knew it couldn't fight anymore.
It had been a close call however, a fraction of a second too late and Volkner had to finally admit defeat to her.
"Thank you," they both said to their pokémon, and Maylene ran across the battlefield, stopping right in front of Volkner with a big grin on her face. "Almost," she said in a sing-sung tone.
He sighed. "Almost yeah."
They turned around and walked back, Maylene wiping the sweat off her face as Volkner said: "Your non-verbal is going well, Lucario knows exactly what to do, as well as Infernape."
Maylene nodded towards him, enjoying the compliment as he went on.
"I assume you're working on Medicham next?"
She shook her head. "I'm working on Gallade, Medicham is proving to be very difficult to handle."
He hummed in agreement, thinking for a while before he spoke again.
"After the World Tournament – don't look at me like that – I want to battle you again. No words spoken this time."
She gleamed up at him, not able to wipe the smile off her face. "Did I just convince you to meet them again?"
"I was going anyway if I knew they were there," he said as he looked away from her.
She punched him playfully on the shoulder as they walked back, the sun burning on the back of their necks.