A/N: Is this a final fantasy reference in my Pokemon fanfic? Yes. Does it matter at all? Nope. Enjoy.
"How'd it go?" asked Victor upon my return. "Is…is that your Scorbunny?"
"Oh, say hello to Raboot," I said, trying my best to be nonchalant. "And yeah, I got the badge, no big deal. Just keep your head on your shoulders and you should be fine."
"GLORIA!" Hop shouted, bursting through the door in the back, still in his challenger uniform. "I managed to see the whole thing from the stands. Raboot! You two did so good! What a rollercoaster, mate! Now we really need to have that battle! C'mon, get a leg up and we can get to our seats just in time for Victor's battle!"
"I guess I'm going with Hop then," I laughed. "Good luck, Vic!"
"Yeah, thanks!" he replied, waving us off and looking a little less nervous.
Hop led me through the back door and jogged down a series of blank hallways before opening a second door near a small concessions stand. At the first whiff of meat pies, I could feel a torrential watering in my mouth; I had barely been able to put down a few pieces of fruit at breakfast and now I was starving.
"Damn, my purse is still in the locker room," I said, loudly.
"Huh? Hey, wait, weren't you the trainer who just fought?" the man working the booth asked. He was a bit heavyset and balding, and his hair was stuck to his face from all the sweat it had soaked up next to a hot grill.
"Uh, yeah."
"Hell of a first match kid. Haven't seen a match that exciting this early on in the season in years. What a comeback! I'm adding you to my Top Trainers!"
"Top trainers…?"
"Oh, and tell you what, take a meat pie on the house! And here's a poffin for the Raboot. Hope he likes the spicy ones," he said, putting them both into a plastic tray and handing it over.
"Oh, thank you so much!"
"My pleasure, kid!"
"Gloria, come on! Victor's up in, like, two minutes!" Hop yelled from the stands. I took a big bite of the pie and rushed up behind him. I had hardly made it to the top of the stairs when Sonia came out of nowhere and jumped me, squeezing me tightly.
"That was fantastic, Gloria! You're already further than I ever got! And you, Raboot! You…Gloria, are you gonna give him that Poffin? Poor thing looks famished."
"Huh? Oh, right! Here you go, Raboot. And trust me, you deserve a hundred more of these!" I handed him the Poffin, and he ripped it from my hands, flashing a smug smile.
The loudspeaker roared to life again. "Next up, also from Postwick, VICTOR!" The three of us whirled around and gave a great big cheer as we watched my brother jog out onto the field. Rotom-cameras whipped around him, and the live feed of his nervous, but excited face was displayed for all to see on the big screens that dotted the stadium stands. Sonia quickly showed us to her spot on the bleachers, where her Yamper barked happily. Next to Yamper, there was a small plastic box with a simple LCD screen on it. Attached to the box was a wire, and at the end of the wire was a little rod. It was sitting atop a brand-new notebook and pen, which had a page full of numbers and readings written down haphazardly.
"Dynamax Power Detector," Sonia explained. "Wish Gran would just shell out for the digital ones that automatically record your readings, but old ladies are always stuck in their ways, right? Here, Hop, you want to hold it again while I take a video of Butterfree's Gigantamax?"
As we sat down, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and saw two little girls, no older than ten years old.
"Uh, hi!" I said awkwardly.
"Can…can we pet your Raboot?" the first one asked.
"I wanna pet your Stufful! Do you have your Stufful with you too?" the second one asked.
"Uh, Stufful needs his rest, but Raboot, if you're cool with it…" Raboot, looking even more smug, popped the last of the poffin into his mouth and snorted, turning and strutting back to Sonia and Hop. "I guess we're all pretty tired right now," I apologized, sheepishly smiling at the two.
"Awwww!" they both whined, in unison, until a woman who looked to be in her early thirties caught up to us. Like the kids, she had thin brown hair, and she wore a retro grass-type uniform, faded but with the iconic leaf logo patched into each sleeve around the shoulders.
"I am so sorry about them!" she apologized before she could even catch her breath. "Sandra, Oksana, will you please not run off like that?"
"It's okay, I promise!" I said, blushing. People were starting to watch, and I didn't know how I felt about all the eyes on me now that they were much less than half a stadium's distance away.
The woman laughed. "I remember my gym challenge, you'll get used to this, I promise." She began to shepherd her kids back to wherever they were seated as I clambered down the bleachers next to Hop.
"Were they like this for you, too?"
"Yeah, I am the unbeatable brother of the unbeatable Leon after all," he said with a grin that matched Raboot's. "Plus, I didn't lose any of my Pokémon in my gym battle so they probably still like me more."
"We'll see about that tomorrow when I kick you to the curb," I jabbed, poking him in the temple.
"Alright, you two," Sonia chided, although she was enjoying us butt heads. "the battle's starting." And sure enough, Victor had started by sending out Butterfree, while Milo sent out another Gossifleur. Hop and I watched eagerly, but his battle was a lot less chaotic than mine. His strategy of putting each Pokémon to sleep and then go on the offensive was a simple but effective one, and Gossifleur went down without too much struggle. Milo's second Pokémon was an Appletun, or so my Pokédex had to tell me. Supposedly it was a rare grass/dragon type that was found in the hills between Turffield and Hulbury, whom Milo Dynamaxed almost immediately.
Sonia leaned forward intently as Victor returned his Butterfree to do the same and pulled out her phone to take a video. When Butterfree was released the second time and began to grow, so did Sonia's eyes. Butterfree buzzed chaotically as it grew, and soon it was once again the magnificent glowing bug that we had seen in the den just a few days ago.
"It's even more gorgeous in real life!" Sonia cheered, starry-eyed. I had to agree. Now that it wasn't trying to kill us in a dark den, I could see that the Pokémon was elegant in its shape. I had never noticed the intricate membrane patterns on the glowing wings, and how they almost looked like the swirling lines of color in a marble floor. The entire stadium oohed and ahhed as Victor gave a command. The Butterfree sent a blistering wave of green and pink aura, manifesting in small shapes that looked like smaller versions of itself, directly into the Appletun.
"Alright, my three would-be champions," Sonia said. "I've got to get this data back to the lab, but I think I'll be able to come see either your second or third gym battles. Victor, if you get a chance, can you toss this little device on your Butterfree? I need to measure its Dynamax energies when it's not in its Gigantamax State. But be sure to take it off before you try and Gigantamax again, yeah? These aren't cheap you know!"
"S-sure, thanks. Was Butterfree good enough for your research?"
"Victor, it was perfect. I'd love a chance to study it more thoroughly once you're done with your journey. Now I gotta go hail my taxi. Be sure to say hi to Nessa for me when you battle her!" She jogged away, leaving us on the edge of Turffield, ready to continue our next leg of the journey, each with one badge in hand.
"So, Hop, when's the big rematch?" I asked slyly. "Picked a good place for your Gym Challenge hopes to die?"
"We'll see whose dreams are dying," Hop shot back, laughing. "But I do know an epic place for us to have our epic rematch. C'mon!" He sped forward and I followed suit. Victor groaned as loud as he could and followed grumpily.
The two of us sped through a small, wooded area on a twisting path. I looked from side to side and saw that it was bursting with life. Spritzee and Slurpuff wandered around daintily, and a couple Mincchino glanced at us curiously from their homes atop branches. I even thought I saw the bulbous blue shape of a Wobbuffet hidden between the trees, but Hop did not even think to stop and look where he was going. Victor eventually gave up, shouting that he would catch up once we got wherever we got, and I thought I'd have to slow down too. Fortunately, Hop had just one more corner to sprint around before stopping at the edge of what seemed to be the largest bridge in the entire world. Hop extended his arms out to display the sight himself, saying, "Here we are, Gloria! The North Motostoke Bridge!"
The bridge was made of the same dark red granite that composed the walls of Motostoke – did they tear up an entire mountain just to build this single city? – and it stretched for half a mile. I could barely make out the other end of the bridge, which was nestled neatly atop the bordering cliff of the Northern Wild Area. I stepped out on to the bridge and walked to the edge to see my surroundings. To the South, I could see the Motostoke Heights, with Kabu's gym front and center, but in front of it lay rows of small apartment buildings, cleanly stacked on top of each other and resting in the shade of the upper crust of the city. Though we were still pretty far away from Motostoke, I could still see plenty of people wandering around, going about their daily lives. There had to be thousands of people in just those apartment buildings alone.
"How did I never even know about that part of the city?" I asked Hop incredulously.
"Motostoke's got plenty of secrets hidden inside it," he responded, shrugging. "I bet it'd take a year and a half of searching before you found even half of 'em. But c'mon, that's not even the best part! Come over here!"
Hop jogged out a few more yards so he was completely clear of the steep drop-off at the edge of the bridge. I followed him out, and as a light breeze caught me and pushed me forward, I looked to the North of the bridge and once again felt my jaw drop to the ground.
We were looking out into another large basin – the Northern Wild Area. Some of the strongest Pokémon in all Galar resided down there. While the Southern area was filled with lakes and marshes, the key feature here was a large, dusty area near the center. Here there were rocks stacked on top of each other or taking all kinds of strange forms due to erosion. A few dead-looking trees rustled in the breeze. Surrounding the dusty bowl, there were still plenty of mysterious-looking ruins and rock formations. I could see some bird Pokémon flying about lazily, but most of the ground was covered in huge patches of vegetation, so I couldn't see who all was roaming the ground. Dotted across the landscape were the telltale pink glow of Dynamax Dens. A couple of these dens even had some of the glowing light shooting outward and upward in a beacon of energy. I thought back to how powerful Victor's Butterfree was when we fought it; I couldn't imagine the strength of the Dynamax Pokémon that lived in this Northern Section.
"The Wild Area is so huge," I said, whistling for good measure.
"I wasn't talking about that," Hop laughed. "Look at the far end."
"Wha—oh."
At the end of the wild area was another long and gradual slope, leading out of the basin. Though it was far away, at the top of the slope I could just barely see the outline of a massive city; one that was even bigger than Motostoke. It had a long low wall that was so dark it absorbed the sunlight entirely. That black stone seemed to be what made up most of the buildings we could see, most notably a gigantic spire that could have easily reached five hundred feet in height, topped with a jewel that even from this distance would still be bigger than the gem on a ring that I would see on my hand. It glowed with the same vibrant hues of the Dynamax dens that dotted the Wild Area. Around the Spire were a series of parapets that seemed to be floating around it, like ribs in a ribcage, or the bones in dragons' wings. I decided that they were to replicate dragon wings when I looked back down at the wall and saw that the entrance to the city was a gigantic dragon head. Its mouth was opened wide in a malicious, toothy grin.
"What is that?" I gasped.
"That's Hammerlocke, mate. Craziest city in all Galar, it is. Lee has a lot of his official league battles there because Raihan's the one who challenges him the most times."
"Isn't he the dragon gym leader?"
"Yeah, Hammerlocke has a long history with dragon Pokémon, as you can probably tell from its front gates. They say its walls are meant to look like a Dragapult? I don't know, I don't see it."
"Well, have you ever seen a Dragapult up close? They're wicked rare!"
"Oh, once or twice," Hop replied, eyes sparkling. "Now, come on Gloria! We've got a battle to fight!"
Hop whipped out his phone and typed eagerly. In a few seconds, I could feel my phone buzz. "Sorry, Hop, I think I'm getting a notification to battle some dumb trainer who I could beat in my sleep," I said with a laugh.
I pulled up the app and looked at my screen. A picture of Hop had appeared, with the caption, "Trainer Hop Nambarek (189) would like to battle!" along with his rank, which was far higher than mine.
"You're the fourth ranked seed?" I asked in shock.
"Good news for you is that when I beat you, you'll probably only drop back into the 50s, number 41," Hop replied. I hadn't even checked my ranking since Victor's and my loss to Bede back in the mines. I tapped the accept button and felt my phone stir to life. Both of our phones zipped up and around the bridge, getting a survey of the battlefield, while Hop pulled out his first Pokéball. I looked to my side at my three partners and grabbed the third one, tossing out Yamper to meet his…
Wooloo. I grinned. I knew this strategy quite well and knew that Yamper were bred expressly for the purposes of herding. Easy victory for me.
"Alright, Wooloo!" Hop yelled. "Rolling Tackle, just like we practiced!"
"Slow him down with a nuzzle!" I cried in response, as Wooloo balled up and began to roll. Yamper's fur lit up with electricity and she started to run right at Wooloo, but just before she could crash into the sheep, he veered off to the left and then directly toward one of the guard rails of the bridge. Yamper flipped around, surprised, and dropped her electric aura.
"Nice misdirection! Finish it up!" Hop cried, and instead of crashing into the guard rail like he usually would have, I saw Wooloo land hoof-first on the rail and push off, sending him careening at twice the speed directly at Yamper.
"Yamper! Put the electric field back up!" I shouted, but it was too late. Wooloo crashed through Yamper, sending her skidding back five feet. He then continued to roll to another guard rail like a pinball. When he reached the wall, he repeated the action, and shot toward Yamper again. This time, Yamper was ready, and put up the field for her Nuzzle again. They collided a second time, and although Yamper was severely injured, Wooloo was immediately paralyzed. Still the sheep sped toward the guard rail and crashed into it at full force, too slow to push off like the last couple times. It got up, dazed.
"Wooloo!" Hop shouted with a grimace.
"Don't give in! Spark!" I cried. Yamper flared with even more electric energy and bolted to the sheep.
"Defense Curl! Wait it out!" Hop yelled, and even though Wooloo was able to retract its body into its wool, Yamper still scored a direct hit, and now the wooly pinball ricocheted off the guard rail a second time and back up toward the other one, but its momentum wasn't quite enough.
"Keep up the pressure! Spark!"
"Double kick!" Hop yelled, but the sheep was fully paralyzed at this point, and when Yamper slammed into him, he rolled slowly to Hop's feet, no longer able to carry on battling.
"Nice job, Yamper!" I yelled excitedly, as Hop returned Wooloo.
"I can't believe you figured out my strategy right away," Hop laughed. "Nice one, mate, really. But let's see what you can do against Thwackey!" He tossed out his second Pokémon. It seemed Grookey had evolved as well! He was about a head taller, and a whole lot meaner as well. The leafy hair he used to have was tied up neatly with two thick branches. He looked at my weakened Yamper with very serious eyes and crouched low, readying one of the branches.
"Yamper, return!" I said, pulling her back into her Pokéball. "I've learned the hard way about you and grass types, so rest up in case I need you again." I then tossed Raboot out. The two looked at each other for the first time since evolving and I noticed a stark difference to how they held themselves. Thwackey was intense and energetic, and Raboot was much more relaxed, so this eyes still held the same amount of intensity.
"Alright, Raboot, let's not get too complacent because of the type advantage. Hit him with a flame charge!" With incredible speed, Raboot started running toward Thwackey, his fiery aura flaring up the same way it had in my battle with Milo.
"Hop up on the rail and use screech!" Hop cried. Thwackey was just barely able to pull away in time, and Raboot skidded to a halt a few yards away. Thwackey cheered and then emitted an incredibly loud screech that threw even me off. Raboot, with his massive ears was positively unsettled.
"F-flame charge again!" I cried, but Raboot instead just looked at me, confused.
"I'd rather you didn't," Hop said. His voice was confident, but I could tell that he was a little nervous. "Raboot will run so fast, he'd knock both him and Grookey down into the Wild Area below."
Shit. He was right. I had to find a way to get Grookey off the rail and back onto the bridge proper. "Use Ember on the rails! Make it too hot to walk on!"
Raboot smiled under his thick hood and started shooting fireballs directly underneath Thwackey, who looked unfazed.
"While he's distracted, use Razor Leaf!"
"You'll be fine, Raboot, just keep it up!" But as the leaves pummeled into Raboot, I could tell that he was not fine. In fact, he was far from fine. Despite resisting grass type moves, the single blow caused massive damage to the rabbit, who had to regain his composure before he could launch another Ember.
"What? How?" I asked.
"Looks like that screech really made him lose his cool," Hop said with a smirk. "Now finish the job, Thwackey! Double hit!"
I growled. Hadn't Milo just told me to watch out for status moves? "Heat up your feet and go for a double kick with a little extra firepower!" I yelled as Thwackey jumped toward Raboot.
Raboot's feet burst into flame as he hopped up to meet Thwackey, and in a series of four powerful blows, two against each of our Pokémon, they both landed on the ground hard. Raboot quickly succumbed, and I saw Thwackey also fall. Looks like the second round was a draw. I returned Raboot to his ball. "Way to hold on, buddy. I'm so proud of you," I whispered to him from outside his Pokéball.
"You may think you've got the advantage here, but don't count me out just yet!" Hop cried, lobbing his third and final Pokéball into the air. Out popped a large bird with metallic blue and black feathers and brilliant red eyes.
"So, your Rookidee evolved, too, huh?" I said, reaching for Yamper's Pokéball, but I stopped. Stufful would benefit from the experience against a type that would be strong against it, and Yamper was likely still tired from her first battle. I grabbed at Stufful's ball instead and tossed him out.
"Interesting choice," Hop admitted. "But you can't ever hope to hit us if you can't reach us! Take to the skies, Corvisquire!" The bird shot up into the air, easily out of Stufful's reach, and hovered just overhead, taking in the scene beneath it.
"Alright, Stufful, this will be tough, but I need you to hit it with Payback the second it comes close to you! Can you do that?" Stufful squeaked with excitement, but I knew it would be tough for him.
"Alright! Pluck!" Hop cried, and Corvisquire sped toward Stufful.
"Come on…"
The bird connected and Stufful did not, flailing his arms at open air.
"That's alright, Stufful, try it again!"
"Using me for a training exercise? We'll give you more than you bargained for, mate! Corvisquire, do it again!"
Same results. Corvisquire was just too quick for Stufful, and even though he had only been hit by a couple moves, I could tell that even Stufful wouldn't be able to take much more of it. I hoped Yamper would have enough rest.
"Third time's the charm! Pluck!"
"Use your strength! Hit it with all you have!" As Corvisquire came down for the hit, Stufful raised himself up on his hind legs, and this time, finally got a grip on the bird, using his weight against it to bring it crashing to the ground in a powerful counterattack. Corvisquire wriggled around underneath, but to no avail.
"Fury Attack!" Hop cried, and as Stufful went in for another tackle, he was met with a brutal jab of the beak directly at his forehead. It was enough to finally knock him out. Corvisquire kicked him off and returned to the sky, dazed and damaged, but still ready to battle.
"Dammit," I said, returning Stufful to his ball. I gave it a silent, loving, squeeze and set it back into my belt, sending Yamper out again to finish the job. Yamper barked, but I could tell she still couldn't take much more. "Dammit," I said again. The only way Yamper could hit the Corvisquire with an electric move was if the two made contact. There was very little chance of me winning the battle now, the only thing I could really hope for was a draw.
"Watch that Spark, Corvisquire. Hit it with one Pluck, fast as you possibly can!"
"Come on, Yamper! Spark!"
The two connected in a flash of electricity and I saw Yamper skid to a halt in front of me. Corvisquire also landed hard on the ground, but slowly got up and turned around. It spread its wings, ready to charge at Yamper again, but Yamper could not even lift a paw.
"Does challenger Gloria have any remaining Pokémon?" came the robotic voice of our Pokedexes.
"No," I said glumly, kneeling next to Yamper and scratching her head softly.
"Then Challenger Hop is declared the winner. League rankings recalculating!" Our phones wafted back toward us, and I returned Yamper to her Pokéball.
"That was a hell of a fight," Hop said, walking up to me and putting his hand out for me to grab. I took it, and after pulling me up, he grasped my hand with both of his into an enthusiastic handshake. "You're the best rival I could ever ask for in this, really. You've pushed me so far in every battle. Wooloo and Thwackey will thank you."
I looked at my phone. My ranking had dipped a little bit, but not quite to 50. I was sitting pretty at 47. "Thanks, Hop. Next time, I'm really going to get you though."
"I don't doubt it," Hop laughed. "I'm going to have to do a lot of training before our next battle, that much is sure."
"And thanks for not being such a wanker about it," I added, thinking back to my battle with Bede.
Hop shrugged it off. "You know all the Trubbish Talk is fake. We may be bitter rivals, but that's not keeping you from being one of my best friends." He then pulled me into a hug, which I graciously accepted.
"Nice fight, you two!" I heard Victor say as he came up behind us. Hop and I let go of each other and turned around to meet him.
"Thanks, Vic, you should have seen the whole—what the hell is that?" I asked, pointing at the strange creature in his hands. It looked like a brown looking wooden puppet that looked at the two of us curiously through rough, wooden eyes. A single leaf sprouted out of the top of its head.
"Oh, meet Nuzleaf. I caught him after you two ran away to the bridge. Amazing what you'll see when you don't try to speed through everything."
A/N: Can you tell that I forgot all about Victor needing to catch a Nuzleaf until most of the way through writing this chapter? Not sure I love how I shoehorned it all in, but he's not the protagonist anyway, so he doesn't GET to have his second catch given the whole shebang (but really I might come back and alter that, it seems awkward) Anyway, hope you liked!
NEXT WEEK: NESSA