Satori in Kalos
Chapter 6
Rumble
I feel funny. Braixen was walking a bit strangely. Something's strange. This place...
Satori and the rest of her pokemon stood in Route 10, the connecting route between Cyllage and Geosenge. Laid throughout the route were a large number of very large stones, and although they looked peculiar Satori didn't find them especially interesting. They at least made an interesting atmosphere. Kalos was turning out to be a very interesting place to travel through.
"I heard some people mentioning the stones were magic." Satori said. "Maybe that's it?"
Not magic, but it's the stones for sure, Absol said. There's something about them.
The stones varied from a couple feet to over fifteen feet high. They seemed old enough that Satori thought the term "ancient" applied, and thick grass grew around them. Older than her, probably. Satori ran her hands along some of the stones, but as far as she could tell they were just normal old stones. Her pokemon seemed to feel different about it, but Satori was left in the dark.
Still, it wasn't hurtful to them and plenty of other people passed through this area, so Satori wasn't overly worried. In fact, it was probably known what the stones were, she just hadn't bothered to look it up. Scientists seemed to know a hell of a lot these days and she hadn't seen any around. Which means this place had long since been investigated.
She made a mental note to look it up later, or maybe ask Professor Sycamore. It would be a good excuse to see him again.
Can we hurry up boss, I don't like it here. Pikachu trotted along easily keeping pace with the much larger Absol. Satori was surprised even he was turned off by this place, usually he tried to assert dominance. She assumed he would say something like, "bah, it's not so bad." It must be a really abnormal effect.
"We can quicken the pace, I think." Satori said. "Geosenge shouldn't be more than a few hours away, although I think the town was built around similar stones..."
So what you're saying is, Braixen said, even in town we'll probably feel this.
"No, it'll probably be worse. Still, nothing a stay in a pokeball won't—"
KILL
The powerful thought struck Satori. From the right. She immediately turned and raised her arms to protect herself on instinct. An instant later the blurred form of a dog-like pokemon appeared in front of Satori and latched its jaws on her forearm.
The pokemon's momentum toppled Satori to the ground, but it wouldn't release her arm. It moved its head from side to side, its teeth scraping through the flesh. She screamed out in pain and tried to grab the pokemon's head with her hand and push it away. But it was too strong and she couldn't do anything besides close her eyes.
The movement of the pokemon's head stopped not a second later, and its jaw opened to let her arm go. Satori opened her eyes, but tears blurred her vision. She blinked a few times and shook her head to dry them, and saw the form of Absol standing over her. Between her and Absol was the smaller form of a Houndour, its neck torn nearly in half. A chunk of flesh dropped from Absol's mouth.
Satori felt hot liquid running down her arm. It took her a few moments to realize it was blood, some of it hers, but blood also poured from the Houndour's wound onto her stomach. The pain from her arm stung and she saw a series of deep cuts where the pokemon had bit her. Blood poured out of them faster than Satori knew was safe.
But before she could tend to her wounds, she saw a figure standing a little ways off in the distance. He stood out from the scenery since he was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. He had a shocked look on his face, but quickly put on his composure.
"Let that be a lesson to you, little girl! Don't mess with Team Flare!"
The man ran off before she could respond. Absol turned to chase him, but stopped when Satori cried for her to stay. It wasn't worth it, she needed to wrap up her arm and get to a hospital as soon as possible. Such an injury wouldn't kill a youkai, but without proper treatment it would take awhile to heal.
She rustled through her bag with her good arm for her first aid kit. She didn't have any formal training, but she knew enough to know you stop wounds from bleeding. She hurried to pull out all the cotton pads and medical tape from the kit, poured water from her canteen over her arm and began to dress her wounds. It was rough and she felt she should have used some sort of disinfectant, but she was for sure going to a hospital anyways. Her primary concern was not losing more blood.
Her pokemon stood around her in concern as she did this. Braixen helped her tie the medical tape around her arm, although the others didn't have the thumbs to help. The bandages stained red but it seemed to have done the trick.
Satori didn't even give the dead Houndour a second thought as she packed up her things and stood up. The pain from her arm intensified at the strain she put on her body just standing up. Satori needed to get to Geosenge as quick as possible, but she felt that running would only make things worse. And none of her pokemon were large enough to ride.
And yet there was no other choice but to walk. Every ten or twenty steps or so, the pain would shoot through Satori's arm. That's not to say it didn't hurt in the interim, it just got that much more intense whenever she moved it wrong or took a heavy step. The walk was painful, and it seemed to drag on forever. Satori seriously regretted doing this without the others. What the hell was she thinking?
Eventually Geosenge came into sight, and a few people turned to see Satori rush through the entrance, cradling her bandaged arm.
"Help," she gasped. "I need a hospital..."
A few of the men rushed to her aid and helped her to the hospital. Satori only noticed that it seemed small before she was pushed through the doors and was attended to by a doctor.
"What happened?" The doctor asked, checking her arm.
"I was bit by a Houndour," Satori said. "It seemed...vicious."
The doctor carefully unwrapped her wounds. Satori looked away while he worked, but she could feel herself still bleeding. She knew that wasn't a good sign. The doctor spouted a few lines like "don't worry" and "it's not too bad," but it was just typical doctor speak. His thoughts betrayed him in front of the young Satori.
Jesus, how did this happen to her. Satori couldn't help but overhear the doctor's true thoughts, but she tried to ignore it to the best she could. She wasn't looking at what the doctor was doing to her arm, but she felt him rub some chemical on it in some places, bandaging parts of it up, but it took while. That's strange, it's already starting to heal.
"Several of these wounds are going to need stitches," he said. "But there will be no lasting damage to your arm, miss...?"
"Satori."
"Miss Satori, then." Before the doctor could say more, a nurse came over carrying a small box. The doctor took the box, opened it and began fiddling with a few tools Satori didn't know the names of. "This will hurt a little bit, try to stop yourself from jerking your arm, okay?"
"Okay."
Satori did her best to bear through the pain as the doctor stitched up her arm. It was slow, and Satori tried to keep her mind off it but she always kept coming back to the pain. The doctor's thoughts became boring, he was just reciting some medical jargon as he did his task. Satori was grateful at least he knew what he was doing, but it didn't serve to distract her. She couldn't help but wonder if he would find out she's a youkai, but his thoughts never drifted in that direction.
"Done," the doctor said cheerfully. Satori let out a deep breath she didn't realize she had been holding in.
"Am I okay?" Satori asked. She felt dumb as she said it, but still wanted it answered.
"You'll be fine, it's not as bad as it looks. Your arm will hurt for a few weeks, and you may get a stinging pain for a few months if you over exert yourself. The sutures will be absorbed into your skin in about two weeks, so you don't need to come back unless it doesn't seem to be healing."
Satori sat in the hospital bed and listened as the doctor continued. "If you're going to be active, you should wrap your arm up for the next week or so. The wounds weren't as bad as they looked or probably felt, but infection is always something to worry about. Better safe than sorry, right?"
Satori nodded. "I was just going to take it easy for my companions to come here, anyways." She said. She had actually hoped on training her pokemon a bit more, but she may have to revise her plans.
The doctor smiled. "That's good, it'll be best to just relax. You certainly picked a great town to do it, Geosenge is as relaxing as it gets. I'm going to prescribe you some painkillers. Take one of these pills every 12 hours until you run out."
Satori was handed a small bottle. It had something written on it she couldn't make sense of—one of those complicated medicine names. She took it graciously though and held onto it in her right hand, the one that wasn't injured.
"Can I go, then?" Satori asked. The doctor nodded, and led Satori out of the small hospital. She felt...better. Her arm still hurt, but the erratic thoughts and fear subsided. The hardest part was always not knowing. Not knowing how bad it really was.
Satori was a youkai. Youkai in general were considerably harder to kill than humans, but still susceptible to injury. In time they would recover fully to the point where it's impossible to tell they were injured, but if they take too much damage too fast it's over. Nothing can escape death's eternal grasp.
Plus, painkillers are preferable to no painkillers.
Satori found her pokemon sitting obediently outside the hospital. When they saw her, they eagerly ran up to her.
Are you okay, master? Braixen asked. The others asked the same question, and Satori sat down on a bench outside the hospital while her pokemon circled around her.
"I'm going to be fine," Satori said as much for herself as she did them. "Thank you guys...especially you, Absol. It—it couldn't have been easy to..." Satori trailed off. It wasn't like her, to hesitate on her words.
I would do it again in a heartbeat for you, mistress. I will protect you.
We all will, Braixen added.
Hell yes we will, boss. I'm going to kill those Team Flare bastards.
Satori smiled and knelt down on the ground, bringing all three of her pokemon together in a large bear hug. "Thank you, you guys."
Satori spent a long time just relaxing there on the bench with her three pokemon. She knew she should go to the police, but she didn't want to stand up. That feeling persisted for nearly an hour, and Satori just sat there scratching and petting her three pokemon in regular intervals. But she eventually forced herself off the bench. As she stood up, pain shot through her arm and she grabbed it reflexively.
She really would have to take it easy.
The police station here was only a little bit bigger than it was in Ambrette. Satori felt it was too big to be called a kiosk, but it hardly qualified as a "station." At least there was more than one person on staff.
Every head in the building turned towards Satori as she walked through the door. She figured out the reason a second before everyone's thoughts confirmed it. Her clothes were completely bloodstained. Even though most of it was the Houndour's and not hers, she probably looked like she'd been through hell and back.
An Officer Jenny took Satori to a room to take her statement, and events proceeded in a similar manner to how they had back in Ambrette. The officer made a call to the Ambrette office, and it look like a lot of bureaucratic nonsense was exchanged back and fourth so they could confirm that Satori was in two Team Flare related incidents.
Satori was offered some sort of police protection, but it was so restrictive that Satori turned it down. Her involvement with the team seemed to be at an end, for the most part. She had hurt them, they got their revenge. Unless there was something she wasn't reading into, that was the end of it.
She did, however, decide to head to a camping equipment store. Geosenge was a small town so it was more like a general store, but it had a definite emphasis on camping and hiking. She purchased a higher quality first aid kit and a medium-sized hunting knife. She didn't know how to use the latter efficiently, but just having it made her feel safer.
Satori's final stop was the Pokemon Center, where she dropped off her pokemon for healing and checked in to one of the rooms. Her clothes were unsalvageable, so she tossed them into the garbage. She had a few spare outfits but she'd have to replace the one she lost.
On that thought, Satori reached up to feel her hair. The hairpin and hairband she bought were still there. She sighed in relief that she hadn't tanked that much money for it to be lost because of that Team Flare bastard.
The following days sort of blended together by the second week of staying in Geosenge. Satori spent most of each day walking around and letting her pokemon play. It was nice to take a breather from her journey and just wait around for her friends to show up.
The entire group showed up at once, which caught Satori off guard. Satori heard the familiar patterns of their thoughts before she saw them. When they rounded the corner, Satori popped out and surprised them.
"Uwah!" Shauna exclaimed. "You scared me~"
"Heh, I—" Satori stopped herself as string of pain shot down her arm. Her arm had healed somewhat over the weeks, but it was still noticeable.
"Ohmygod, Satori, what happened?" Shauna asked looking at her arm. At her question, the others turned their attention to Satori's left forearm. There were stitches and scars where she had been bitten, but it had healed enough where she no longer had to wrap it.
Satori turned to look at Calem. It suddenly occurred to her that she wasn't the only one who had pissed off Team Flare. "I was attacked on route ten," Satori said. "By Team Flare." She added.
Calem froze. "B-Because of what we did?"
Satori nodded, and Calem's look soured. "I went to the police, again. They were nice enough, but I get the impression it's not something we should get involved with."
"But you were attacked," said Tierno. "They need to catch the criminal who did it."
"I don't know the details, but it's bigger than that." Satori said. She actually knew quite a few details that she wasn't supposed to, just by walking into the station. Team Flare had committed a string of misdemeanors and a felony here and there. Not good guys. But they were organized and elusive. Satori's statement would, according to the pessimistic thoughts of her interviewer, end up as nothing more than an entry on the team's rap sheet.
It wasn't comforting. Satori felt she could gleam a lot more just by hanging out near the station, but like she told Calem, it wasn't something she should get involved with.
"Let's change the subject," Trevor said. Everyone turned their attention to him, and he hesitated. "The, uh, Reflection Cave, right?"
Calem nodded. "Our next destination, and we should go in as a group. It is apparently ridiculously convoluted. Navigating it is going to be a bitch."
"Language!" Shauna exclaimed.
"Ah, sorry. But the sentiment stands."
"So," Tierno said, "is there some trick for navigating through it? Something with rope, or signs, or something?"
Calem shook his head. "Apparently people aren't that nice. The cave is an 'experience,' and anything artificial like guide ropes would ruin it. There's maps, but they're only so useful."
"Why?" Shauna asked. "Maps are good."
"The Reflection Cave is filled with reflective surfaces. Like mirrors, but not mirrors. It's not so much about knowing what passageway to take, it's about knowing the passageway is there in the first place."
"And the contingency if we get lost?" Satori asked.
Calem shrugged. It wasn't a reassuring gesture. "We don't?"
Satori sighed. The next day, the group prepared to take the excursion into the cave. It was early in the morning, and all five of them were checking their bags. Each of them had an array of similar items—bedrolls, spare outfits, pokeballs, and similar equipment—but each one also had their own unique items that showed the different paths they were on.
Calem had a lot of spare pokeballs, many of which were specialty balls that Satori didn't even realize existed. He also had a number of maps and guidebooks to the Kalos region, and some higher quality excursion equipment.
Shauna, on the other hand, mostly had clothing and grooming supplies. Some of it was for her, but a lot of it seemed to be for her Furfrou. Satori also eyed a few books on the subject. Trevor had a lot of books too, but their covers were bland and Satori couldn't make out what they were. He also had notebooks which he clearly used for his own personal observations. Tierno had a number of strange items that Satori only realized were for dancing after she scanned his thoughts.
Satori looked in her own pack for something that defined her. All she had was the first aid kit and the knife she had bought just a little while earlier. That didn't bode well.
The journey to the cave wouldn't take too long, but apparently the excursion through the cave itself could take anywhere from four days to four weeks, depending on how lost the travelers were. Satori really hoped they were closer to the lower bound than the upper bound, but they all brought an excessive amount of canned food just in case.
The hike up to the cave entrance wasn't too bad, although it steeped in incline a few hours out of Geosenge. Satori's arm hurt, and she tried to take it as easy as she could without slowing down the other members of her group. She knew they would make allowances for her if she asked, but she didn't want to have to.
"Hey Satori," Shauna said suddenly. Satori was mainly focused on her steps and her arm, and it took her a moment to get her bearings.
"Yes?"
"That's a cute hairband."
"Oh, uh, thanks." Satori tried to suppress a blush.
"I didn't know you were into fashion, you should have said so." Maybe I can get closer to Satori, I hope we have some common ground here.
"I'm not, I just sort of..." Satori was fully blushing now. "I liked how it looked."
Ha. She is a girl, Calem thought. Satori was a bit offended at that, but at least he was polite enough not to express it audibly. Satori's ability gave her insight to everyone's thoughts, and it had a tendency to sour relationships. The discord between people's thoughts and their words was huge.
The hike mostly took place in silence. Satori could hear everyone's thoughts, of course, but they weren't interesting. Tierno was distracting himself by imagining pokemon dancing. Trevor was trying to do something similar by going over the facts he knew about various pokemon, but it wasn't working. He kept getting distracted by the climb. Calem and Shauna didn't have many thoughts at all, they mostly focused on each step.
They eventually passed by a sign pointing to the cave, and the group stopped to get their bearings. They could see the entrance a way away and a few people waiting outside in a campsite. Everyone decided to wait until tomorrow to enter the cave, and enjoyed a night around the campfire.
The next morning, Satori and the others penetrated into the Reflection Cave.
"My god."
The cave certainly lived up to its name. It was like walking into a carnival mirror fun house. It was nearly impossible for Satori to get her own bearings, let alone the layout of the cave.
"This is going to be a problem."
That was the understatement of the year. The map they had wasn't nearly accurate enough to navigate well. And sure enough, they reached dead ends galore and could have sworn they passed that one wall yesterday. The majesty of the cave wore off after a few hours traveling, and by the fifth day the group thought of the mirrors as nothing but a major annoyance.
It wasn't until day seven when something interesting happened.
"Hey, what's that?" Calem asked. Everyone turned to where he was pointing to see a blue pokemon. Satori compared it to a punching bag.
"Wobba wobba!" It shouted. Wobba wobba!
Satori noted the parallels between its words and its thoughts. Satori approached the Pokemon rather casually—she didn't detect any hostility. The pokemon just sort of sat there, and it turned towards Satori as she got close.
"Wobba wobba!" It saluted her. Satori shrugged, and saluted back.
"Wobba wobba," Satori responded. She didn't really know what to say.
"Er," Shauna interrupted. "What exactly are you doing, Satori?"
Satori ignored her and poked the pokemon. It leaned back from the force of her push slightly, and then rolled back towards her, and then back, and forwards again, until it stabilized. It was kind of neat.
"Wobba wobba!" It was smiling.
"Look how cute it is!" Satori said, and wrapped her arms around the giant blue pokemon. It rocked back and fourth, taking Satori along for the ride.
"Wobba!"
The rest of her group looked at Satori strangely until Tierno started laughing.
"W-What?" Satori asked.
"Sorry," he said. "Just, I didn't quite expect that out of you."
Satori pouted. "Screw you guys, I'm keeping him."
"Wobba!"
"Yes, exactly."
And that was the end of that.
"So how many pokemon does this make now for you, Satori?" Calem asked after Satori had captured the completely willing Wobbuffet. Satori knew he had taken the "gotta catch 'em all" approach, so he probably had far more than she did.
"Four."
"Mmmhmmm." He didn't say anything more as the group moved on. It was a few minutes before Calem spoke up, which Satori was desperately waiting for since his thoughts went over and over the right way to say it. "If I may," he finally said, "why are you only capturing a small number? You'll have more versatility in gym battles if you gather pokemon of every different type than if you just stick to a single roster your entire journey."
Satori shrugged. "I'm not thinking tactically like that. I'm just capturing the pokemon that seem interesting. Although I don't think capturing is the right word."
"What?"
"It's a mutual partnership, I didn't force any of the Pokemon I have to come with me, I let them."
EXCUSE ME, BOSS? Pikachu shouted in his mind. You 'let' me come with you, is that how you interpret it?
"Ah..." Calem seemed caught off guard. That...that's a really good reason. But how can she connect to wild pokemon on such a level? It takes trainers weeks to build the required trust so Pokemon don't just run away...
"Sycamore said it doesn't matter how we do it, "Satori said. Calem shrugged in response and the group continued on its way. It took them about nine days until they finally reached the end. Fairly good time allowing for a few misdirections, but Satori vowed never to go back through it. It was not a fun experience.
As the group stepped out of the cave, a series of cascading pings came from all of their Holo Casters. They looked at each other for a moment in surprise.
"Must of had no reception in the cave," Trevor offered.
Satori and the others pulled out their Holo Casters, and the image of Professor Sycamore appeared as a hologram in front of her.
"Hello, my students!" The hologram said. "You should be in Shalour Town right about now, and I would like you to go visit the Mega Evolution Guru. She'll be in the Tower of Mastery. I think she will offer you valuable information on mega evolution you can use to continue your research. Good luck, and enjoy yourselves."
The transmission cut out after that brief message.
"Well then," Tierno said, "I guess we have direction."
The "Tower of Mastery" as Sycamore had called it was fairly easy to spot. There was a massive spire at the North end of Shalour, which was a moderate-sized town although smaller than Cyllage. Satori insisted the group head to the pokemon center first and no one protested, but after they sorted themselves out (and Satori took a shower), the group reconvened to head to the tower.
There was a long entrance to the tower in some sort of cove or bay, as the ocean could be seen beyond it. They had to walk on sand to get there with water surrounding them on either side. The tower itself looked like it was a tourist attraction and there were numerous people outside, but few actually ventured through the large doorway.
Satori barged through the doors without a care in the world, the rest of her group quick on her heels. The inside of the spire was a massive chamber with an equally massive statue in the center. Satori had a feeling the statue was of some type of pokemon, but she had never seen it before so she couldn't place it. It looked somewhat human, although with the head of a rat, maybe? It was hard to tell.
There were two people talking next to the statue, and old woman and a young woman. As the group of five entered the two women turned to face them.
"Yes, can I help you?" The old woman asked.
"Hi, we're uh, looking for the guru?" Calem asked.
"Aha, that's me." The old woman replied. "And this here is my daughter Korrina. She's the gym leader here."
At that, the younger woman smiled and gave a little salute. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you guys in my gym!" She then sped out of the building on roller skates. They all watched her go. As she left, the guru gestured for them to follow her into a small room under the statue.
There were a few chairs but not enough for everybody. Calem and Tierno remained standing while the rest of them sat down, the guru sitting in her own chair. She sipped from a cup of coffee before speaking.
"You're Sycamore's kids then, right?"
They nodded.
"Well, I'm the Mega Evolution Guru. People think of me as a sort of expert on the topic, although that's not quite true. The scientists researching it know far more about it than me. I just know how to put it into practice."
"Put it into practice?" Calem asked. The guru nodded.
"Mega evolution, unlike normal evolution, is only temporary. It lasts for a few minutes, greatly increasing a pokemon's strength and appearance before it wears off and they return to normal. It gives a Pokemon that oomph needed to capture victory from the jaws of defeat." The woman was smiling. "We can induce this mega evolution at will, with the right equipment.
"First is the mega ring, worn by the trainer. Second is a mega stone, held by the pokemon. When the trainer and pokemon have a good enough bond, the pokemon will be able to mega evolve when the trainer activates the ring. Times vary on how long it lasts, but it's always long enough for most fights."
"That's so cool," said Shauna. "So Pokemon get all, like, super strong and stuff?"
The guru nodded and started speaking again, but Satori was distracted by a rub against her leg. She looked down to see Absol by her feet. It looked up at Satori, and Satori knelt down and got close. No one really paid her any attention—they were focused on the guru's lecture.
"What's wrong, girl?" Satori whispered.
It seems wrong, she said. I don't like it.
Satori couldn't speak directly to Absol in front of everyone else, so she tried to gesture for the Absol to elaborate. She got the message.
This...mega evolution. It feels unnatural. Pushing us past our limits, to evolutions beyond what naturally occur? It seems the sort of thing that one should only use in the most dire of circumstances. When all other options have been exhausted and our very lives are on the line. Not something to use in such...pointless sparring amongst friends.
Satori wanted to engage the Absol in a dialogue, but couldn't do so in front of the others. Instead she just shrugged, and stood back up to face the others. When she did, she suddenly felt on the spot. Everyone was staring at her.
"What?" She asked.
Calem sighed. "There's only one ring, so we're going to battle for it. Were you not listening?"
"We are? Uh, okay." Satori felt caught a little off guard, but if he wanted to battle then so be it. Everyone left the small room back out towards the larger hall of the Tower of Mastery, and cleared the way to give Calem and Satori plenty of room for their battle.
Satori had four pokemon in her roster, Calem had three. A slight advantage, although one of Satori's pokemon was Wobbuffet, and she was less than enthusiastic about its combat capabilities.
Hmmm. Calem thought, and Satori rudely intruded on said thoughts. I'll open with Absol, that'll throw her off guard. Satori was surprised he had an Absol, but instead of matching up hers against his, Satori thought she would mix things up.
To face off against Calem's Absol, Satori threw out Wobbuffet.
"Wobba wobba!"
Calem looked less than amused, and Satori just started laughing. "Er," Calem said, "I'm going to feel bad about bullying your Wobbuffet, Satori."
"Wobba wobba!" It sounded kind of miffed.
"Yeah, you tell him Wobby!" Satori shouted. Calem rolled his eyes and ordered his Absol to attack. The Absol gingerly walked up to the Wobbuffet, which didn't react much. Then the Absol outstretched his paw and in a quick motion slashed across the Wobbuffet's body. Wobbuffet leaned back from the force, and time seemed to hold still for a moment.
Then the Wobbuffet slammed back towards the Absol with way more momentum than physics would dictate. Calem's Absol didn't have time to react as the Wobbuffet slammed into it, knocking it back towards its trainer. The Absol couldn't get it's footing and tumbled towards Calem's feet.
"Oh my god..." The words were Satori's. "Er, ahem, I mean. Didn't expect that one, haha!"
"Wobba!"
Calem hesitantly approached his Absol. It looked down and out, and Calem withdrew it back into its pokeball. Crap, I didn't expect that one. Attacking that pokemon is going to be really dangerous...I guess I'll keep away from physical attacks then.
"Go, Meowstic." Calem shouted, throwing his Pokeball. Out of it popped a small, cat-like pokemon. Satori thought it looked elegant, in a way. "Use Psybeam."
The battlefield took on a strange set of colors that merged into the vague shape of a beam aimed at Wobbuffet. It didn't seem to be all that effective on its own, but as Satori looked at it it seemed to be having trouble. Even thought it responded in force against Absol's attack, it still took heavy damage from it.
Satori recalled the Wobbuffet, who had by all means outperformed. Satori next sent out Braixen to engage against the small psychic cat pokemon. The fighting was rather typical, although Satori's Braixen was her strongest pokemon so it had the advantage. With Satori's help, it defeated the Meowstic.
Calem's next pokemon was no mystery, so Satori recalled her Braixen and sent out Pikachu against it. The type advantage led Satori to snag a crushing defeat against Calem, the Pikachu quite proud of himself. While the fight would have been far more difficult months ago, Pikachu had acquired a good array of electrical attacks that stopped the water-type Frogadier in its tracks.
Calem fell to his knees. "Dammit...I didn't even...I hardly laid a scratch on you..."
Satori smiled. "Better train harder then if you want to defeat me."
"Let's be honest," Tierno cut in. "None of us expected the Wobba-slam! That pretty much decided it right then and there."
The post-battle excitement lasted for a little bit, but the guru calmed us down and approached Satori. In her hands she had a somewhat large bracelet. "Well, as promised," the guru said. "Here's the mega evolution ring. It'll allow you to mega-evolve your Absol, although your other pokemon aren't capable."
But Satori held up her hand in refusal, shaking her head. "No thanks."
"I'm sorry?"
"I don't need it, you can give it to Calem. The only Pokemon I have that can mega-evolve is Absol, right?"
"Well yes, but—"
"She doesn't want to, so I wouldn't end up using it." Satori said. "Give it to Calem, he'll get some real use out of it I'm sure."
Instead of looking happy, Calem just looked a bit angry. Dammit, is she taking pity on me? If I accept then I look bad, but if I refuse I just look like a stuck up kid. Damn her. Calem turned his head away from Satori as he took the ring out of the guru's hands.
"Well then, Calem." The guru said. "Before you can learn how to induce mega evolution, you'll have to beat our city's gym. You'll see my daughter there, although you've met her before right?"
Calem nodded. "We met on the road a few times."
"Right, right. Once you get the Rumble Badge then come back here, and she'll tell you what to do. As for you, Miss Satori." The guru stepped closer to Satori. "You must have a very strong bond with your Absol to communicate on such a level. That's a wondrous thing."
Satori just nodded. Was she supposed to say "thank you" in this situation? She didn't know.
"If there's nothing else, I'll let you guys be on your way." The guru said. Everyone looked around at each other, and decided to do what the guru said and left the tower. The walk back to the main part of the city was only a few minutes, but Calem stayed quiet during the entire time. His focus was mostly on the mega evolution ring.
His thoughts were a bit muddy, Satori noticed. He had this contradictory thought process where he was glad he had the ring, but he was sad because he hadn't truly earned it. It was a strange sort of guilt, one Satori induced on purpose. She tried not to smile too sadistically as she thought about their next battle. If she beat him when he used a mega evolution, he'd never live it down.
The group decided to part ways for the evening and meet at the gym the next day to battle Korrina. Satori headed to the pokemon center to heal her pokemon from her battle with Calem while the others went off and did their own things. She didn't really listen to their plans when they voiced them.
Satori spent most of the early evening sitting leisurely in an outdoor cafe, sipping tea with her pokemon. The waitress had stood by patiently while Satori debated going for tea or coffee, but Satori ultimately flipped a coin when it was clear the waitress was getting impatient. So milk tea she drank.
Braixen sat across from her, far too small for her chair but it made her seem cute. Or at least Satori thought so. Pikcahu was rolling back and fourth on the table, Absol was sleeping at Satori's feet and Wobbuffet was just sort of standing there next to the table. Its large body rocked back and fourth with the wind. It seemed oddly soothing, watching it.
"Wobba wobba."
Doesn't he say anything else, Pikachu commented.
Satori didn't respond to Pikachu, but he had a valid point. Satori hadn't thought of it up until the point she met Wobby, but so far all the Pokemon she had met had intelligible thoughts. This in of itself wasn't fascinating, Pokemon have been shown time and time again to be highly intelligent. Satori had been a bit surprised that all of them had been able to think in actual language though. Enough to communicate complex ideas.
Normal animals couldn't quite reach the point of language, although Satori could still communicate with them fine through instinct and basic ideas. Wobbuffet seemed to fall into this category, judging by its thoughts, although it felt a bit off. Still, it seemed happy enough so Satori was content to let Wobby do its thing.
The next day, Satori found herself standing outside the Shalour Gym with Calem and the others. She was not happy.
"What do you mean I have to rollerblade inside?"
The portly man at the entrance seemed uncomfortable at Satori's complaining, but his response was always the same. To enter Korrina's gym, you have to put on roller skates and skate around a large rink to get to her.
"That's dumb."
"Jesus, Satori." Calem said. "Just suck it up and put them on."
Satori begrudgingly sat down and strapped the gym-issued rollerblades to her feet. They were well kept, but Satori still didn't really want to do it. Apparently every gym leader decided to make some elaborate course to pester their challengers. Satori decided she'd just have to deal with it.
Apparently spectators were exempt from that requirement, since Shauna, Tiermo and Trevor happily walked towards the stands surrounding the central area where Korrina stood.
"Whoever gets there first gets to battle first," Calem said. He then took off on the rollerblades to travel the course. Satori tried to follow behind him, but only made it about ten feet before she fell down on her arm.
"Eeiiiaa!" Satori uttered in pain. A few people looked over, but she waved them away and pulled herself back up. Unlike everyone else who was gliding around the track as if they were floating on air, Satori was wobbling worse than her Wobbuffet. No one outwardly mocked her for it, but she still felt embarrassed.
The gym mostly looped around with concentric circles. There were long bars for grinding on to get closer to Korrina, but Satori wasn't nearly at the level required for that. There was a "long way" around that she was forced to take, and by the time she managed to make it Calem had already started battling Korrina. She ended up falling four times.
Satori ended up sitting cross-legged as she watched Calem fight Korrina. She diligently tried to pay attention to what pokemon Korrina used so she could plan accordingly. Hopefully she went into this battle actually prepared, unlike when she faced against Grant.
Calem ended up winning the battle, and everyone clapped at the end. He and Korrina exchanged a few words although Satori was too far away to make out what they were. Eventually they shook hands and Calem left the arena towards the stands. Now it was Satori's turn.
Before the battle began, Korrina spent a few minutes reviving her pokemon and bringing them back up to peak condition so she could battle again. Finally, she stood ready to face Satori.
"Sorry about that," Korrina said. "It's not often I face two challengers in a row."
Satori shook her head. "Don't worry about it."
"So, you're the girl who gave up the mega ring huh? Miss Satori. I can't say I expected that."
Satori shrugged but otherwise didn't respond. Korrina pulled out her first pokeball and Satori did the same. Korrina's first pokemon was Mienfoo, a fighting type. Satori smiled and sent out Wobbuffet.
"Wobba wobba!" The pokemon shouted, as per usual. Satori wasn't sure what to expect from Korrina, but the look on her face was actually proud.
Impressive choice, Korrina thought. Most people overlook Wobbuffet's usefulness, but it's really the bane of this gym. I'm surprised this girl knew that. I don't really have a choice except to attack it.
Satori didn't actually know that, she just liked the blue pokemon. But she knew it now. She felt kind of bad that Korrina was intentionally playing into her tactic, but it wasn't unreasonable to assume the leaders went easy on people who didn't have many badges.
Mienfoo attacked Wobbuffet in a strange way and Satori didn't quite catch what happened. Neither did her pokemon, and its counter attack didn't land. Korrina chuckled at Satori's confused look.
"That move's called Fake-Out." Korrina explained. "It'll only work once."
Sure enough, the Mienfoo followed up with a hard punch into Wobbuffet, but this time the blue pokemon bounced back and smacked Mienfoo hard, ending the round right then and there. Korrina called back the pokemon, and sent out her next—Machoke.
The Machoke didn't come right after the Wobbuffet, instead reaching over the side of the arena. Satori didn't know what it was doing until it pulled out a giant boulder from beneath and threw it at Wobbuffet.
"W-W-What?" Satori shouted as she ran away. The boulder smacked into Wobbuffet and knocked it unconscious. "Where the hell did that come from?"
Satori recalled her Wobbuffet and sent out Absol in its place. The Absol carefully began approaching the large Machoke. The Machoke grabbed another boulder and tried the same tactic, but Satori saw this one coming and directed the Absol out of the boulder's path. Absol used the opportunity to charge the Machoke and land a solid hit against it. Satori could sense the amount of damage Machoke had sustained through his thoughts, and wasn't focused on his next attack. It was a strong punch, and it hit Absol right in the torso. The Absol fell back, but was still able to fight.
Before Absol could land another hit though, Machoke punched it again and the Absol was down. Satori was starting to feel like her Absol was of the "glass cannon" variety. Satori recalled her Absol and fingered her third pokeball, but didn't send it out immediately.
"Hey, Korrina, do you know why I rejected the mega ring even though I had claim to it?" Satori shouted, timing her taunt with the throw of her pokeball. Out popped Braixen. Korrina just looked puzzled, so Satori continued. "Absol thought it sounded painful. Something that should only be used when her life is in serious danger."
Satori was pleased to see her Braixen make her move as Satori spoke. They understood each other well enough such that Braixen knew when Satori was trying to distract her opponents. And Satori could hear Korrina's mind and sense her fears. Her taunt wasn't spot on, but it uncovered a kernel of trauma that Satori grabbed onto.
Braixen had caused flames to surround the Machoke, slowly inflicting damage. It looked like the fire was dancing around the Machoke, slowly nipping at its stamina. But Satori was focused on Korrina.
"Doesn't it bother you, Korrina?" Satori shouted enough so everyone could hear. "Mega evolution is a new, untested and relatively unknown field. How do you know that you aren't causing permanent damage to your pokemon every time you use it? Braixen, now."
The ploy worked perfectly, and Braixen charged the Machoke surrounded by flames. The Machoke was hit and fainted, Braixen standing victorious. Korrina recalled the pokemon, but her hands trembled. Satori couldn't help but smile a little bit.
"H-How did you realize that?" Korrina said rather quietly. It was hard to make out. "You're right, we don't know if there are any long-term effects."
"I don't see how you can justify doing that to your pokemon," Satori said. "Your friends."
Korrina started shaking her head back and fourth to get her bearings, and then tossed out her last pokemon. Hawlucha. It was a strange type of pokemon, a fighting/flying hybrid with bright green and red feathers. Braixen managed to light it up with fire spin, but the Hawlucha dived down and took down the Braixen.
But this was acceptable. Satori sent out her last pokemon, Pikachu, which had significant type advantage. Korrina's thoughts, Satori was pleased to see, were still distracted on what Satori had brought up. It was enough so that Pikachu didn't come into any real trouble as it took down Hawlucha, although most of that was the type advantage.
Korrina recalled her pokemon. "Congratulations, Miss Satori." She pulled out the box that was starting to become familiar now, and handed it towards Satori. Satori grabbed it and opened it, seeing exactly what she expected. A badge, a TM, and a solid amount of cold, hard cash. The badge was strange, Satori couldn't quite make out what it was supposed to be. But she just shrugged and stuck it into her nice case.
"That was mean," Korrina said as Satori looked over the spoils. "You distracted me."
"It seems to work fairly reliably for winning." Satori said offhandedly.
"It isn't exactly in the spirit of the game, but to each there own." Korrina paused for a moment and looked up at the stands, where Calem was shifting uncomfortably. "I think your shouting is causing your little friend to have second thoughts about mega evolution."
Satori followed her gaze to Calem, who kind of smiled and waved when he realized he was being stared at. "He should." Satori said simply.
Korrina just nodded silently for a moment before turning back to Satori. "The TM is Power-Up Punch, by the way. You probably didn't notice it, but it raises the attack power of the pokemon who uses it after every punch. It's very useful for fights that stretch on for a long time." Korrina paused. "Now if you'll excuse me, alak, alay, I must be on my way!"
Satori raised her brow at the strange salutation as Korrina jetted off on her roller blades. Satori just shrugged, and held her new badge up to the light to admire it before setting it into her pack. The Rumble Badge.