Welcome back! Annoyed character is annoyed this chapter. And for the person who pointed out her idiosyncracies as hypocrisy, this is the answer you were looking for, now free to be read. Fun trivia, I've actually got about ten chapters for this written up already. Now if only I could find the actual episodes online instead of iffy episode guides. Which reminds me! Thank you to those who formerly wrote up the reviews on Pokemopolis, the dodger's place to read about pokemon! It has kept me incredibly entertained while writing these chapters.
As always, enjoy your read and please review! REVIEWS FEED ME! REVIEW!
Univerce
Happy-Go-Lucky
"No, it's a Purloin," I hiss at the most likely brain-damaged trainer. "Of course it's a Shinx!"
He's definitely taken a few too many hits or shocks to the head. His Pikachu pokes at my Shinx laying out on the ground, who promptly snaps at him and glowers cruelly. To the mouse's credit, Pikachu only pouts at the feline, turning and climbing up his owner's body to the boy's shoulder. Clearly my pokemon isn't happy-go-lucky all the time, although the way he was playing with his pokeball when I first let him out in the library would suggest otherwise. Lenora had enjoyed that spectacle, but my reaction had been a self-slap to the forehead.
"Easy, kiddo," Lenora laughs. "Now, let's see what your partners can do, shall we?"
"Hold it!" I snap, scowling. "Are you telling me you want me to battle you?"
Obviously she saw no problem with this, easily nodding with a smile on her face. She also clearly forgot that, even if I happened to go on my journey sometime soon, it would not be for the Unova League. Ever. In her haste to get this all set up and place me on a battlefield, she failed to remember that my future does not lie in battling. If anything, it lies in a lab, studying pokemon and the way they treat themselves and others.
"No."
"Don't worry, Adlien," Hawes chips in, dropping a hand on my shoulder. "You aren't battling for a badge. We aren't that stupid," the man chuckles easily, apparently seeing my reasoning with ease. "In fact, we just want to make sure you're ready for when you go off on your own. Make sure you can handle training your pokemon."
A heavy sigh escapes me, pointedly ignoring the confused looks from the bystanders of this argument. It's annoying how easily the couple can see through me, even more so how easily they can switch things up and drop me on my head. They don't want me to compete for a badge? No, just compete to see that I'm fit to be wandering the region without my parents. Not dumb enough to try and get me into battling? Of course, only dumb enough to question my ability to handle a pokemon's attitude.
"This is ridiculous," I grumble. "I've read plenty of books on pokemon care and helped Nurse Joy quite a few times when she was overloaded with patients."
"But can you direct your partners when you're in danger?" Lenora tries. "Or can you help settle the difference between them when they argue? Healing them and raising them are two different things, and books only do so much for you in practical situations."
I hate it when she's right.
"I don't need a battle in a gym to tell me if I can. I know I can."
"Come on, Adlien," Ash butts in. "What's the worst that could happen? It's just a battle, right?"
Oh how little newcomers know. In other words, which will never leave my head, keep your thoughts to yourself, you stupid little-! Ugh, he's starting to get on my nerves.
"Fine," I growl, finger swinging up to point at him. "But you need to stay quiet. Or else."
His hands shoot up, surrendering to the condition without a word and with the widest eyes that he's probably ever had. Lenora just laughs happily, striding back over to the other side of the battlefield. With a huff, my arms gather up the Shinx on the ground, Murkrow squawking happily and lifting itself up from the ground. Giving the bird a look as it flies out into the field and circles with loud cries, a random thought flits across my mind: that's one energetic bird… Wonder how it'll handle a battle.
Great. Now I sound like Dad. Well, at least his battle crap in the house came in handy. I got to check out all of my pokemon's moves already.
"Don't worry, Adlien," Hawes grins at me, turning to head to his position. "You'll do great!"
My eyes roll while walking to the challenger box. Murkrow flutters down from the air, taking the place of pokemon challenger without any commands. There, it puffs itself out and stares straight ahead. For some reason, it seems like the little bird is almost daring Lenora to throw out a pokeball. How cute.
"Let's get this over with," I grumble quietly, giving the Shinx in my arms a slight squeeze. "I hate battles."
"You both know the rules," Hawes calls out from his place as referee while his wife tosses a pokeball. "I don't think I need to explain them. Both of you have two pokemon, last one standing wins. Any questions before we begin?"
Across from me, popping out of the ball, now stands a Sawsbuck, a deer like pokemon that she's gone ahead and accessorized with a scarf. The normal type gives off its own cry, rearing up before slamming its hooves into the ground. And leaving what looks like a nice imprint. Better avoid the hooves.
Neither of us on the battlefield make any move, just staring each other down. Lenora has a rather annoying smirk on her face, one that has never actually been aimed at me before but has always bugged me anyway. It's part of her strategy against her opponents, since she's usually one of the first gym leaders a new trainer goes up against. Past her area are all opponents and trainers who have either huge egos that need deflating or serious battlers whose strength could destroy any unwary challenger. Good thing Dad hasn't wasted his time with me: that forest is filled with places where he'd have me face a few challenges myself.
"Alright, then," Hawes chuckles. "The first turn goes to the challenger!"
"Murkrow, you ready?"
A cry from my new pokemon has me smirking back at the gym leader, who raises an eyebrow.
"Let's get started then. Aerial Ace! Aim for the scarf."
The slight shock on Lenora's face is a major ego boost as my bird shrieks out, launching from the ground with one flap of its wings. Sawsbuck stamps its hooves again, legs visibly bracing for either impact or possibly a dodge.
To my annoyance, Lenora makes a call for a dodge.
"Nice try, kid. Sawsbuck, Wild Charge!"
"Well, crap. Move, Murkrow!"
At my call, the aerial pokemon glides out of the way, almost chuckling at the deer stuck on the ground. That's one of my favorite things about flying type pokemon. They can avoid almost any type of attack they need to so long as they've got the speed for it. My mouth twitches as I call out for another Aerial Ace, still aiming for that scarf. So long as that scarf is on, there's a chance of Lenora landing an overpowered hit. Choice Scarves are a pain in the neck with the materials they're made of. One reason that none of my pokemon will ever wear one.
Responding to the attack, Lenora calls for another dodge, myself calling yet again for another Aerial Ace. And so begins a game of cat and mouse between a bird and a deer. It's rather interesting, really, watching our pokemon dash back and forth. The painful part, though, is watching my Murkrow grow tired with all the chasing. It's not fast enough for this, sadly, which means my strategy needs to change up.
"Murkrow!" I shout up, watching my bird circle after the deer from the air. "Gust!"
"Come on, Adlien!" an annoying voice cheers. "You can do it!"
"Ash! She said to stay quiet!"
My eye twitches as Iris and Ash start to argue over in the stands, completely ignoring the fact that they had been told to remain quiet. One of them specifically told he would regret it if he did otherwise. Well, he's going to regret it later.
"Sawsbuck, brace yourself!" Lenora snaps out, crouching down herself as Murkrow's wings start to move.
Unperturbed, my feet remain where they are, my stance relaxed as the winds in the gym start to swirl around violently. Even the spectators have clamped their mouths shut and are holding onto something. That's one hell of a powerful move my bird's got. Keeping that one for sure latter on.
Wait for it…
"Murkrow, dive and Tackle!"
As soon as Sawsbuck starts to slip in its stance, my bird shifts into a dive and I watch as it does a quick level out to slam straight into the deer's chest. The impact looks painful, one that sends the deer flying back near the battlefield boundary. Murkrow, however, merely soars back into the air, a very interesting piece of fabric clutched in the bird's mouth. While going over my head, it releases the cloth and lets it float down towards earth to land in my awaiting hand. There in my palm now sits the Choice Scarf that had once been wrapped around Sawsbuck's neck.
"Cool. New prize," I grin, waving it around for Lenora to see. "Ain't it pretty?"
"Oh, I'll be getting it back," she waves off, standing back up. "Question is, what now? You've been aiming for the scarf the entire time. Now what will you do?"
It's a valid question, and looking up at Murkrow as it glides around the gym has me thinking. Taking the scarf is a sort of victory here, yes, but is there really much of a point in fighting to the bitter end? Or would it be better to just see if Lenora's willing to accept this as a victory for me and move on?
"Murkrow!" I call out, watching the bird turn its attention to me. "Return!"
"What!?" Ash yells. "Why are you calling it back!?"
"Ash! She said to be quiet!"
With a light glare at the peanut gallery, of which only Cilan seems to be patiently waiting and doing as asked, I listen to the ball pull my pokemon back in. Once the ball clicks shut, my fingers grip it tightly, one pressing the button to shrink it back down. That ball goes into my pocket, joining the miniature of Shinx's, while my eyes lock back onto Lenora. It's a long shot, sort of, but she does understand how I feel about battles.
"I'm gonna call the scarf a victory, if you don't mind."
Her face breaks into a wide grin. "I don't! And with how single-mindedly you aimed for it, I'd call it a victory, too."
"Eh!?"
"Shut up, Ash!" I hear the girl snap in the stands.
Having gotten my way, my gaze falls to the little cat creature in my arms who looks back up at me. With a weak smile, and an unsure feeling deep in my gut, I give Shinx a light toss into the field so it can take the next battle. Lenora continues to grin as she recalls a patient Sawsbuck, only to play with the pokeballs on her belt. She's only doing it to bug me, though, since she only has four pokemon still able to battle, one of which she doesn't intend to use again. Plus, she never has these things left to the last minute, preferring instead to have it all figured out beforehand. It'd be a surprise if she didn't have this perfectly planned out for me to lose.
"Well," she hums, eyes closing as her fingers stop messing with her ball belt, "I'm not sure which would be best. One of them has a major experience advantage, not to mention strength… But would it be the best option for you?"
My face must be comical as a strange expression comes over my face. "Hah?"
"You see, Adlien, your dad asked me to help you figure yourself out. You know what you want to do, you know how you want to do it, but you're letting other things hold you back. For instance, how do you expect to be a researcher if you never catch a pokemon?"
Valid question, and a weak point that has me flushing slightly. Shinx, probably tired of standing there, gives a yawn and stretches out onto its belly.
"You even had a perfectly good pokemon who practically captured itself for you and you wanted to just let it go," she sighs. "I've heard of kids being forced to let a pokemon go if their parents don't think they're ready, but a kid letting one go of their own free will? When they have none of their own? Never."
"First time for everything," I grumble, crossing my arms. "I'm no normal kid, Lenora."
She wave me off, a sad frown on her face. "Your mom put too many thoughts in your head. Not every pokemon hates being confined, y'know?"
"I know that."
"Well, then," she grins brightly, finally plucking a ball from her belt, "that makes this one the best choice!"
Her hand goes back, and with one hell of a throw she sends out a Cinccino. The fluffy little rodent pokemon does a twirl before posing for all present, giving Shinx a wink as they stare at each other. To all's surprise, Shinx's eyes lock onto the Cinccino and instead of swooning, as was probably intended, begins to growl deeply. I watch in shock as the little electrically inclined cat rises into a crouch, glaring the rodent down.
"Huh… Weird."
"Seems you got a male on your hands," Lenora frowns. "And one that's got an alpha complex. Your Shinx's ability must be Rivalry. Nice catch…"
Rivalry? That's an ability? Wow, something that I might have to study up on. It's been awhile since reading the general mechanics of pokemon battles and the amazing abilities and properties the creatures possess. Even longer since reading up on that specific section of the pokemon psychology.
"Interesting… I took the last first move, Lenora. Your turn."
The raised brow has me grimacing, hating the smug look on her face as she orders her Cinccino to kick things off with Swift. Personally, would have started with something a little less dodgeable, but whatever. When I call for Shinx to move out of the way of oncoming stars, he looks back at me over his shoulder, slightly confused, before yipping at me and turning back around, bracing. That's not good.
"Shinx, move!"
The hit looks painful, sending Shinx back several feet. So far back, in fact, that he just barely stops sliding along the ground in front of me. Having skidded back so far, he's bound to have some extra damage done to his body, but still he gets back up, yips, and sprints forward. This time, I keep quiet, watching as he dives in to Tackle the rodent like pokemon. Annoyingly, he doesn't have enough power and Cinccino smacks him aside, unaffected. Something tells me the oil coating the thing's fur was pretty helpful with that, too. As Shinx climbs back to his feet, my thoughts race on the next course of action.
Sadly, my pokemon doesn't wait for a command but dives back in for yet another attempt. Please tell me he doesn't have brain damage. That could be a problem.
Lenora's laugh drags my attention up from the pathetic display to the Gym Leader herself. "At least he's got spunk! And a heck of a lot of endurance," she grins while Shinx goes sliding again. "But this is exactly what I'm talking about, kiddo. You've got the know-how, the strategies, the heart for taking on a journey – heck, you could probably end up a professor by the end of the year if you really try! No matter what, though, all that means nothing if your pokemon don't know that they need to listen to you."
It's annoying when she's right.
"I get that, Lenora. I really do. Respect and strength come with time, something you've told tons of trainers every time they leave your gym. I'm not deaf, nor blind, to the things that you try to teach your opponents," I sigh heavily. "Right now, though, I don't have the time to build all that. We're battling you here and now with no mercy for each other.
"So I'm going to do this the smart way and work on the hard way some other time. Shinx! Cut out the tackling and go for full tilt. Charge!"
Thankfully, he listens and obediently leaps back, and just before trying to dash in for another Tackle. There, he tenses up, crouches down, lets sparks fly all while glaring down the Cinccino across the field with pure hatred. He really doesn't like that pokemon, does he?
"Interesting idea, kid," Lenora smirks. "But what good is a bunch of charging going to do if the attack can't do any damage? The oil on Cinccino will block any electric attack."
"Maybe so," I shrug. "But with enough charged electricity bouncing off Shinx' own coat, it'll act a lot like the ability Static. A few small impacts against each other and your Cinccino will be too paralyzed to fight back."
A rather satisfying sight crosses over Lenora's face: actual panic, however little. She has a plan for most situations, has an idea of all the strategies a person might come up with the moment a pokemon is sent into battle. But while the other opponents she's faced might overlook the small details, my eyes catch a lot more of the game. Even the little bits no one else sees. Any amount of electricity can cause paralysis, something that many electric type trainers know very well. However, they fail to see that any electric type move can do paralysis. Hello! Electric type.
And with an electric type at my disposal it's the perfect affliction.
"Shinx, Tackle! And keep it going!"
With a yip, he cuts off the charging electricity and bolts forward, the extra energy boosting his speed. Lenora calls out for a dodge on her part, but against that speed boost, Cinccino only manages to divert the damage to a less concentrated area. Shinx, though, somehow has the smarts to take a chomp out of the rodent's scarf-like fur.
"Nicely done," I grin. "Charge!"
Yet another yip, slightly muffled, before my little feline starts sparking with his element. Every other stray spark shocks the Cinccino on the field as it struggles to pull the fur from Shinx mouth. Would it be wrong to find the sight slightly amusing? Because, despite the very minor guilt from causing pain, there's a great deal of humor being held back at the moment. It's taking quite a bit not to laugh at the little rodent's face as it tugs and pulls. Even more so as my eyes land on Shinx's shining fur and eyes. He's definitely enjoying this as well.
"Come on, Cinccino, pull!"
"It looks like Shinx has a pretty good grip, Lenora," I call over. "Your call here. I'll have him let go if you end this match."
Said gym leader glares lightly at me before sighing heavily. She turns to her husband and nods quickly, pulling a pokeball out to recall her own. With a smirk on my face, my own pokeball is pulled out and aimed carefully.
"Shinx! Let go!"
Lenora is sitting on the steps with me just outside the museum. Above us, the sunset has colored what's visible of the sky in pinks, oranges, and violets of varying shades. Since calling out battle over, her husband declaring me the winner with a wry smile on his face, we've been on these steps with our eyes turned skyward. Moments like this with the knowledge seeking gym leader can be rare at best, sometimes downright unimaginable. But whenever they do happen, it usually beats any attempt the mind makes.
"So, kiddo? How was your first battle?"
For some reason, the joy of being in an actual battle faded almost immediately after calling my Shinx back into his ball. The second he was gone, everything just seemed to pull out of focus and back to the bigger picture. During the battle, it was all about acting against my opponent to come out on top. Afterwards, my thoughts moved to how cruelly the battle had been against both sides, the damages done to all of the pokemon involved.
"Not too good, actually."
"Thought so," Lenora nods. "Now you can tell your father that you know for sure you won't be a battler."
A snort is my response to that one. "Yeah, sure. That's definitely something to tell him."
Her answering grin has me grimacing. If she even tries to tell him that we pitted our pokemon against each other, she's going to be in for hell. It doesn't matter if she's bigger and older than me, I'll still kick her butt.
"I'll stay quiet," she laughs knowingly, patting me on the back. "I know your parents well enough to know better!"
"Sure you do."
She laughs even louder as the sun finally disappears beneath the trees, colors across the sky darkening into the shades of purples and blacks. Time to head home. With a last farewell to the gym leader, my feet carry me off along the city streets towards one of the apartment buildings. It's surprising, sometimes, just how tall the architects made them.
Stepping up a small flight of stairs, I yank the apartment building door out of the way to head inside. Another few flights later finds me in front of my apartment door. For some reason, my feet freeze right there, hand held just above the doorknob. In the back of my mind, something nags at me, something that just won't shut up no matter how much I focus on it and try to shut it down. With that feeling nagging at me, there's no way that sleep is going to be possible tonight. At least, not without a crap ton of sleeping pills. And drugs are not my thing.
With a low huff, my feet turn back around and carry me off to the stairs again, this time heading down. Maybe a walk through the woods will do me some good.
