Satori in Kalos
Chapter 22
Memories 3
Clemont didn't really have a gym. Yveltal knocked it down.
What he did have was a tent.
"This suuuuuuucks" He complained.
Satori let him complain his heart out, waiting for her time to battle. He didn't look to be much older than Calem, nor did he act much older. Even without a gym, he still had to administer proper challenges. By inserting himself at the very end he managed to minimize that number, but not null it out completely.
After all, Satori was here.
"Ugh, so anyways," he finally said. "My gym is about knowledge. My old gym had this awesome setup, we had quiz booths and all sorts of fun stuff. If I do it now, though, I just seem like a boring schoolteacher."
"Okay."
"So, can we just battle? If you don't know your stuff you'll just lose."
"You don't seem very enthusiastic about this," Satori said. "This is my final badge. Isn't this important?"
"Blah." Clemont frowned even more. "My gym~"
Another round of complaints and they finally began their match. Satori considered herself to be fairly competent at Pokemon battles now, but her ability still carried her a long way. That was exceedingly apparent by the battle with Clemont.
Through her journey across Kalos, Satori noted that every gym had a sort of "trick" or "lesson" to it. Some of these lessons Satori already knew, some she could circumvent or bypass with her ability, and some she really did have to learn. Clemont's lesson fell squarely into the second category: his gym was about knowledge.
Knowledge of different pokemon, their weaknesses, abilities, and all the minutia that came along with that. Trevor would have rocked this gym.
The kicker was that Clemont knew everything that needed to be known to defeat his Pokemon. They were obscure types with obscure moves and obscure abilities. But since Clemont knew of them, and more importantly thought about them, Satori knew them too.
And so she won with ease. The secrets were known to her, after all. She felt a little bad, and Satori knew that she probably didn't deserve the eight badges in her pouch. It was playing mahjong with a mirror behind your opponent. Just a bit unfair.
Then again, it's not like her ability was technically against the league's rules or anything.
After it was all over Satori and everybody went out for a big expensive dinner to celebrate. Satori and Calem both secured all eight gym badges of the Kalos league, and their next destination was Victory Road. An occasion to celebrate indeed.
Satori expected a feeling of finality after getting that last badge, but it didn't come. Instead, it felt like she was just beginning. Starting for real. As if she had almost finished the prologue and was about to find out the real premise of the story.
That feeling didn't pass as she and the others walked towards Victory Road. It was mocking, in a way: the entrance lied halfway between the towns of Santalune and Snowbelle.. The final route of Satori's journey was so close to where her adventure began. Except so much had happened since. It was a strange to think about.
Satori was pleased to find the snow let up when they reached the large tunnel that served as the entrance. It was even kind of warm. The entire group walked through the tunnel and admired the architecture.
"Wow, how pretty..." Shauna commented. There were numerous carvings in the pillars. The tunnel was really large, someone could easily drive a truck through it.
At the halfway point of the tunnel was a massive staircase. Not only was it wide, it rose up into the darkness to the point they couldn't see the top.
"Wonderful," Satori said.
"It's part of the experience," Calem shot back.
And thus they began their climb. It wasn't actually as tall as it looked from below, but it still took a solid ten minutes for them to climb to the top. There were lanterns all along the sides that kept the stairs well lit, and the wall carvings kept the ambiance.
When the group reached the top, they found a young woman standing there. She wore muted green colors and a white apparition spun around her. She looked down at Satori and the group as they walked up to the top of the stairs.
"I'm Youmu," she said and held out her hands in a "stop" gesture. "Beyond this point is Victory Road. By league rules you must have all eight gym badges to get past this point."
Satori and Calem pulled out their badges and showed them to the girl. She looked them over, nodded, and handed them back.
"Just the two of you?"
They nodded.
"Sorry, but the rest of your party can't go with."
The group looked down. "We sort of expected that, I guess." Rin said. "Still, I wanted to see you guys face off against the Elite Four..."
"Victory Road is very dangerous," Youmu explained. "We don't require eight badges just because that's how the system is run. It's proof that you have the Pokemon to protect you and the skill needed to keep you safe."
"Alright, alright, jeez..." Rin backed off. The group gave each other a few looks until Rin shrugged. "I guess this is goodbye, then."
"We'll be routing for you guys," Tierno said.
"Yeah, you go kick their butts." Shauna exclaimed.
Rin gave Satori a big hug, and the others exchanged similar sentiments. They had traveled around Kalos together for months, but now Satori and Calem had to go it alone. After making sure they had all of their belongings together, the two trainers gave the group one last wave and headed into Victory Road.
"If you die, please don't haunt me," Youmu said as they passed by.
It didn't take very long for the paved concrete to turn to dirt, though numerous lanterns still hung on the wall. There were even a few large torches stuck into the ground in the larger chambers. Satori quickly realized why, after about five minutes they came across a massive underground lake. Clearly Victory Road didn't really start until the other side.
On that other side they could see sunlight pouring in from a small cave opening. Their obvious destination. "How do we get across?" Satori asked.
"Pokemon, obviously." Calem answered and tossed out a Lapras. Satori and Calem could both easily get on its back and ride their way across the lake. It was actually well lit, light spilled in from an exit on the other side of the lake.
"When did you get a Lapras?"
"Awhile back in Lavarre. I never trained her for combat but she's useful for, well, this exact situation."
Satori looked over the side of the Lapras into the murky depths of the lake. She thought about asking if any pokemon were lurking underneath waiting to attack them, but it would be a pointless question. She already knew the answer.
Lapras ferried them across the divide with no difficulty and they hopped off on the other side. Satori heard the thoughts of a couple pokemon in the water, but they weren't interested in the Lapras.
It was only a short distance to the exit which opened up to a grassy, open cliff side. The roar of a massive waterfall drowned out anything Calem or Satori tried to say to each other. They shrugged and just followed the path over a stone bridge and into another cave. It was a nice little respite, but Satori knew the real climb was about to begin.
The second cave was dark. And long. They had to pull out their flashlights and Satori also sent out her Pikachu. This turned out to be a good move when pokemon started dropping from the ceiling. While Satori could hear their presence, she couldn't pinpoint their exact locations.
"Eeiyya!" Satori shouted when one landed right on top of her. Pikachu zapped it and it ran off, but it still traumatized Satori. "What was that thing?"
"Ariados," Calem explained. "If it bit you it would probably be really bad."
From there on both Calem and Satori had out most of their Pokemon. Navigating was tough, and they got lost several times. It was dark, confusing and they had no maps. They had to climb up, slide down, backtrack and guess at a direction so often they were tempted to split up a few times to find their way.
"Is that a light?" Calem asked after at least three hours of exploration.
Satori looked to where he was pointing. "Maybe. Let's find out."
It was, and the cave opened up to the outside.
They had a view of the entire mountain range. They didn't even realize how steep they had been climbing up in the cave until they just how high they were. The mountains were bathed in an orange glow as the sun slowly set in the sky.
"Oh my god..." Calem said.
"This seems like a nice place to camp out," Satori suggested. They were in a large meadow-like area on the cliffs. The ruins of a fort or castle or something were scattered around and offered a good place to pitch a tent.
"Yeah. I could use a break."
With the help of their Pokemon, they set up camp and started roasting dinner.
"Hey, Satori." Calem said after finishing his meal. "I think I should say something. Just to be clear."
Satori tilted her head. "What is it?"
"Well, I've—" He sighed. "I've been thinking a lot about what the professor said. I do feel like I'm in your shadow. Like by associating with you, I kind of... I dunno. Lost my identity as a Pokemon trainer. Became your...your sidekick."
Satori stayed silent.
"But you know, I think I'm okay with that. Because you're damn good Satori. I know it's because you're a youkai and you can read minds, but you're damn good anyways. Losing to you just makes me want to try harder."
Calem stood up.
"With Yveltal in your roster, I can't win. Yveltal makes you almost guaranteed to win the championship, so I won't bother."
"You're giving up?"
Calem shook his head. "I'll take on the Elite Four, but not the champion. Whoever it is. But someday I'll be back to challenge you for it. I'll beat you one day. But it won't be soon."
Satori sat in silence for a moment, and then smiled. "I don't know why I'm doing this." Calem gave her a strange look. "You have everything so figured out, Calem. But I don't. I'm walking the path to the championship as hundreds have done before me, but I don't know why. I just am."
"Haha..." Calem sat down. "That kind of hurts."
"Sorry. I enjoy the idea of being top dog, of being the very best. But fame and publicity isn't good for someone like me. A satori."
"I'm sorry?"
"A satori reads minds, Calem. My radius is finite but still large and I can't filter it out or turn it off. Crowds of people aren't just uncomfortable, it hurts. Just seeing someone in person tells me more than I ever really want to know. Their deepest traumas, the secrets they want to hide most. It's driven..." Satori looked down. "It's driven others of my kind near suicide."
Calem shifted uncomfortably.
"Sorry for killing the mood," Satori said. "I'll take the championship, but you better promise Calem. Promise to take it back from me, because I think you deserve it a bit more than I."
Calem smiled. "If I deserve it more than you then you won't have a choice in keeping it."
"I won't make it easy."
"Better not."
And with that, they finished their meals and headed off to bed. It was early, but they were tired. They had their Pokemon take watch during the night, but luckily nothing nocturnal attacked them.
In the morning they ate a quick breakfast, nothing too hearty, and soon got on their way. Another day of mountain climbing and spelunking awaited them.
"Why can't we just fly up?" Satori asked.
"It's the ex—"
"Don't say it's the damn experience," she shot back. "At some point the experience isn't worth it."
Calem rolled his eyes as they pressed through another cave. This cave was especially devious because they could see the exit. It was right there. Yup, right up there.
Way up there.
Worse was the slope was too steep to just climb up and had no handholds. And to crush any hopes of simply climbing up, there was a quaint little signboard fixed to the side.
Don't rock climb.
Although there was an arrow below it that gave them an initial starting direction, it wasn't all that helpful. The passage was anything but obvious and then they started getting attacked by bat pokemon. Satori tossed Noibat to try to run interference with mild success.
They had to hike for hours, fighting off wild pokemon and anything else that tried to attack them. Victory Road opened up to the outside a couple more times but always led to another cave, and Satori thought it would never end.
She and Calem didn't talk much. The exercise was meditative and neither of them had very many thoughts at all. After their pokemon started to get exhausted they put them on a rotation, but neither Satori nor Calem were afforded that luxury.
Eventually they reached a short cavern with a stone archway and torches along the wall.
"Wait, is this... is this the end?" Satori asked.
"Looks like it. Let's find out!" Calem said and started to run. Satori chased after him.
They passed by a few more stone archways and slowly rose until they came across a large door.
Welcome to the Pokemon League
"Woo!" Calem shouted, and high-fived Satori. They both grabbed the handles on the door and pushed them open.
They were greeted with a giant castle a few hundred yards off in the distance, a grassy meadow and a small Shinto shrine off to the side. The sun was high in the sky and they had to shield their eyes from the glare off of the shining rooftops.
"Uh, now what?" Satori asked.
Calem gestured to a signpost. "Look, here. 'Newcomers, head inside to register for your challenge.' I guess let's go inside."
The doors of the castle opened heavily, slowly creaking inwards. It took all of their strength just to push them open, and the interior was massive. Marble floors and stone columns rose up at least fifty feet, the hall stretching back endlessly. There was a central column that housed a single computer terminal.
It read, quite simply, "insert ID."
Satori and Calem looked at each other. Satori shrugged and stuck her trainer ID card into the machine. It sucked it in, and a few seconds later a menu appeared on the screen. There were options for scheduling a challenge or editing her personal information.
Her challenge was scheduled for the next day. Calem went after her, and his was the day after. When they were done a message appeared suggesting they stay at the shrine until their appointment, it was free of charge.
Their footsteps echoed in the hall as they walked back out into the grassy meadow. With nothing better to do, they made their way up the steps to the shrine.
At the top of the steps they found a green-haired woman sweeping by the gate. "Oh, hey, it's you," she exclaimed when she saw Satori. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Well here I am."
The woman let go of her broom and held out her hand to shake. "Welcome to the Moriya Shrine, I'm Sanae. We try to give trainers a place to relax right before their big day." She spun around on her heel and walked towards the shrine. "Hurry up."
Calem and Satori went after her.
"You two are the first, you know."
"The first what?" Calem asked.
"Well," Sanae gestured towards the castle. "After all that hubabub with your legendary a few months back, Drasna went down to run the Santalune gym. Then after the nonsense with Lysandre we lost Malva, who's in some god-forsaken prison I bet. Then Diantha gets overthrown by some mystery champion just the other day."
"Okay, so what about it?"
"So, you're the first." Sanae stepped up onto the wooden porch of the shrine. "The first to challenge the 'new league.' I can't comment on how difficult it will be."
Sanae led them around of the side of the building, and showed them to a small room.
"Make yourselves at home. There's a hot spring out back, and I'll make us all dinner later. I'd tell you to try to relax, but let's be serious. You won't." Sanae grinned and left Satori and Calem in their room.
"It's really quiet, here." Calem said after a moment.
Satori couldn't honestly agree. As long as she was around someone, she always heard the thoughts of others. "Uh huh," she said simply.
He pulled out his phone, and started typing into it. "Oh good, we have reception. I'm going to tell everyone we made it."
Satori nodded. "I'm going to go for a walk."
Calem gave her a wave before fiddling with his phone. Satori walked away from the shrine and back down the steps towards the meadow. When she reached the bottom step, she found what she was looking for. Quiet.
It had been a long time, Satori realized. A long time since she was completely alone. When she traveled she was always with somebody. In town there was always someone nearby. But there was no one here. A massive castle, a beautiful meadow, and no one but the shrine maiden and Calem.
If she became champion, she could be the queen of this castle. Live a quiet life with no one's thoughts to read.
Satori laid on her back in the grass and stared up at the clouds. The reality wasn't so, Satori knew. Even if she became champion she wouldn't be able to just hole up in the castle and turn everyone away. But it was a nice thought.
She spent longer than she thought lying there in the grass. In the quiet with only her own thoughts to bounce around her mind.
Satori pulled out Yveltal's ultra ball and tossed it up in the air, playing catch with herself. She hadn't ever used Yveltal in "fair" combat but she fully intended to. Hopefully nothing went terribly wrong.
She put away Yveltal's ball and released her other Pokemon, letting them play around in the meadow. It disturbed the quiet but all good things must come to an end. It's not like Satori disliked being around her Pokemon or anything. It just... wasn't quiet.
Calem wandered out of the shrine when he saw Satori, and let out his own Pokemon. One last play-date before the finale. They tried to relax as best they could, but the pressure of what tomorrow would bring still pressed on Satori's mind.
"Alright," Satori said when it became sunset. "We should head back."
Calem agreed. "I want to eat Sanae's cooking."
Sanae's cooking, as it turned out, was only mediocre. Satori didn't want to blame her too much for it, she probably had frozen ingredients instead of fresh fruit considering her location. It was at least better than the canned soup they usually had on the road.
An hour after they ate Satori and Calem decided to go visit the hot springs. They were pretty big, easily large enough for both of them and their Pokemon.
"Aahhhhhhhhh"
"Aahhhhhhhhh"
Both of them were very much enjoying it.
"This is nice," Calem said. "Makes it all worth it."
They had waited until dark to go in, and although they didn't have a good view of anything but the sky they could still see the stars. Then Pikachu splashed water in her face.
"Hey!"
Play with me, boss. Your head's been up in the air at late.
Satori rolled her eyes. "Oh, alright. No sparks."
No sparks.
Calem floated over as Satori and Pikachu tossed a Pokeball back and fourth. "Hey Satori, you can speak with your Pokemon, right?"
"Mmhmm." Satori pointed towards her eye, which was bobbing in the water like a buoy. "Why?"
"Can you help me talk to mine?"
Satori widened her eyes. "Of course. You're not bad at judging their wants and needs to be honest."
"Yeah but knowing when they're hungry isn't the same as talking with them."
Calem's Frogadier emerged from the depths of the hot springs between the two of them. Satori turned her attention towards him.
I am the darkness.
"Uh huh." Satori looked up at Calem. "Strike up a conversation, I'll mediate."
Their conversation was kind of boring. Calem mostly asked if his Pokemon were happy with the choices he'd made, and stuff like that. There wasn't any real drama, and Satori quickly tired of it. But it looked like Calem found it really important so she didn't stop. It was kind of like being a translator, except instead of translating she just repeated back the exact thing she heard.
I am the night, I am the darkness, I am totally ninja!
Frogadier had a strange personality. It didn't seem very malicious though, just comedic. Unlike Satori's Pokemon. Pikachu was a bully, Absol was cryptically terrifying and Yveltal was...Yveltal.
Buncha misfits, she had.
"We should get out," Satori said. "It's been awhile."
Calem nodded. "Thank you for this. I...it really means a lot."
Satori didn't respond, but smiled. She got out of the bath and wrapped a towel around herself before heading back inside. She tossed a few towels to her Pokemon, Sanae had some of all shapes and sizes. Clearly this bath catered to Pokemon.
Shortly after they all went to bed. Satori had trouble sleeping though, nervousness of what the next day would hold for her. It may end up being one of the most important days of her life, the day she becomes the champion.
Or maybe she'll get beat by one of the Elite Four and just flake out. And in the process let down the entirety of the Kalos region who were looking at her to win. Yeah, that could always happen.
She lied in bed for about an hour until sleep took her.
The morning came and Satori was awoken by the smell of bacon wafting through the shrine. She shuffled through the halls to find Sanae cooking a large breakfast. "Good mornin'"
Calem was sitting down at the table, so Satori sat across from him. Sanae served them the meal, and sat down next to them.
Satori's nerves were getting to her though. Her appointment time inched closer and closer, and Satori ended up pacing around the shrine until the time finally arrived.
Calem and Satori stood in front of the castle. The Pokemon League.
"Well, this is it." Calem said. "I don't know what to say."
"Me neither."
"I'm going to hug you now."
Before she could protest, Calem wrapped his arms around Satori. She decided to return it.
"Good luck. See you on the other side, I guess."
Satori nodded. "It was an honor adventuring with you, Calem. I'm glad we did it." They broke off from the hug.
"So am I."
"See you on the other side."
And Satori stepped through the doors of the league building, them slowly closing behind her and cutting her off from the world.
There was a man standing by a cart near the central terminal. He waved Satori over.
"Hello, my friend. I have many wares for sale. Potions, revives, elixers. You'll need these to survive through the Elite Four."
Satori nodded. She was already somewhat stocked up, but being a little excessive couldn't hurt. She bought a full range of items that would help in the battles to come. The man thanked her for her time, and pointed her towards the rear of the hall.
"You will want to go that way," he said. "You will have to face off against the Elite Four all in a row, although in any order you chose. If you defeat all four, you are allowed to challenge the champion.
"Thank you." Satori said, and headed towards the back of the building. She came across a large door with a simple keypad to the side of it. On the display was a simple instruction: "swipe ID." Satori slid her card through the slot, and the door opened.
The room was large, as was expected by the majesty of the castle. There was a purple stained-glass window which tainted the light in a violet hue. Despite the size and how cold it was, Satori rather liked it. She enjoyed the peace and quiet.
There were four doors, an emblem above each. An anvil, a drop of water, a ghost and a clenched fist. The types were kind of easy to deduce, so Satori decided to go for the "anvil" first. The door opened into a small room with an elevator.
Satori rode the elevator up, and it opened into a massive chamber. The floor was steel-plated and there were two massive swords sticking up from the ground, wider around than Satori's entire body. Steel chains hung from the hilts and draped the ceiling.
Standing a distance away from Satori was a man clad in armor plating. "Welcome, Komeiji Satori. I am Wikstrom, and I am glad to see you came into my chamber first." Wikstrom pounded on his armored chest. "One who seeks out the strongest opponent first is certainly worthy of being here."
"That is somewhat arrogant."
Wikstrom laughed. "There's a fine line between self-confidence and arrogance, my girl." He then raised his arm above his head, and snapped his fingers.
The two swords in the ground spun around once, the chains tightening. Slits in the walls were pulled open, and blades came swinging down across the battlefield. The wind gushed as they rushed by, slicing the air itself.
More doors opened up from the ceiling, and hundreds of tiny metal pieces of shrapnel fell, tumbling over all the chains and the two massive swords onto the ground. A few fell next to Satori, and she saw all of them had spikes sticking up.
"Caltrops and blades," Wikstrom explained. "Your battles here will be unlike those you have faced anywhere else. The very environment itself is not just something to take into account, it is actively working against you."
The extremely dangerous conditions seriously worried Satori. Those blades and those spikes looked like they wouldn't just knock out her Pokemon, they would kill her Pokemon.
"The contest will be best of three," Wikstrom said. "If you are not aware, your legendary is not permitted." He pulled out his roster and flashed Satori three pokeballs. "Choose your three wisely. If you do not come at me with everything you have, the best in your arsenal, you will not be victorious."
Satori stared at her roster. Delphox had to be included, it was her main type advantage. Pikachu, too, its speed would help avoid the dangerous terrain. Her third... would be Absol. Noibat's flying ability would help with the terrain, but it did not have type advantage.
"My first Pokemon will be Klefki," Wikstrom announced. Satori raised her eyebrows at the declaration. She would have found out anyways, but the fact that he told her was worrying. He, in a sense, took away one of her advantages.
"Well then," Satori said and flashed her roster. "Mine will be Delphox."
"Ha ha, an honorable one aren't you? I'm growing to like you, I truly hope you do not disappoint!"
Wikstrom threw out his pokeball, and Satori did hers. Klefki and Delphox emerged onto the stage, in the only safe areas away from the blades and caltrops.
This is an absolutely terrifying situation, master.
Tell me about it. Satori rolled her eyes. I will be relaying Klefki's thoughts to you, but your number one priority is not getting hit by the blades.
Roger.
"Klefki, flash cannon!"
Satori instantly saw what her disadvantage was. Klefki was so small, but its attack was really powerful. A beam of light shot out towards Delphox who barely had enough time to dodge out of the way.
No, Delphox watch where you're falling—
Delphox's dodge landed her right onto the caltrops. Satori could hear Delphox curse in pain as she stepped all over them. Less damaging than the flash cannon, at the very least.
The target is too small for a flamethrower, Delphox. Just light up the entire area.
Delphox found her footing, and pulled the branch from her tail. She drew it in a circle in front of her, and fire burst fourth chaotically. Seeing the flames lick a big portion of the stage gave Satori an idea.
"Melt the caltrops, Delphox!" Satori shouted. In response, Delphox coordinated her flames towards the ground. The steel easily melted into pudding under the intense heat. It was an often understated fact that fire Pokemon generated really hot flames.
Klefki, despite its maneuverability, couldn't escape this radiant heat and slowly took damage. It wasn't crippling, but it was enough that Satori could see this plan was working. Confirmation from Wikstrom's thoughts justified Satori's plan—he was impressed.
"Hell, no one's tried that on me before!" He said. Satori couldn't help but pity those who came before her. "Klefki, repeat!"
Another flash cannon shot towards Delphox, but with the caltrops melted she easily dodged it with Satori's assistance. From there, Delphox threw her fire all over the stage in an attempt to raise the temperature. She didn't have to hit Klefki directly, she just had to get mostly near Klefki.
Satori could hear the pokemon's struggles in the heat.
"Alright, that's enough." Wikstrom said and recalled Klefki. Delphox ceased her baptism of flames and let the stage return to normal. The caltrops had melted but the blades were still swinging. "Excellent performance. My next will be Aegislash, yours?"
"Can I continue with Delphox?"
"You may."
"Then I shall."
Wikstrom sent out Aegislash next, the sword-and-shield ghost pokemon. Almost immediately it made a beeline for Delphox, weaving in and out of the blades as if they weren't even there. The Aegislash slashed with its sword-half, grazing Delphox as she dodged to the side.
Before she could retaliate, the Aegislash retreated back through the blades. Delphox had yet to actually go beyond the edges of the battlefield, staying away from the dangerous center.
"If you don't brave the danger, you'll never push forward!" Wikstrom said. He was being awfully helpful in this whole ordeal.
Satori growled. "Delphox," Fire blast the freaking razor blades. Time it right.
Delphox did a double take. That move takes a lot out of me, are you sure you want me to?
Yes. Aim for the part where the blade connects to the shaft, see if you can hit multiple at once.
"Fire blast!"
Satori's call put Wikstrom on the defensive, a trick she used a number of times. Battles had a tendency of taking turns even though that was never strictly enforced. So whenever a trainer called out a move name the "accepted" reaction was for the other to go on the defensive.
It helped when she wanted to pull of tricks like this and buy a few seconds. It helped Delphox time her attack to her best ability, and she launched a star-shaped fire blast into the center of the stage. It wasn't even close to Aegislash.
But the attack hit several of the falling blades right on target, weakening their structural integrity.
Now buy time.
Delphox followed up by doing what she did against Klefki and bathing the stage in a lower-heat fire. It was just a distraction, after all.
"You didn't really do what I think you did.=," Wikstrom said in a daze. The battle halted for a moment as the creaking of the blades echoed throughout the chamber. Then the first broke, the blade falling from the shaft and embedding itself into the floor. Two others fell soon after, but the others looked like they would hold.
It still made the stage far safer.
"Now, Delphox, burn that sword to ash!" Satori shouted.
Without the protection of the blades Aegislash's retreats were not as effective, and Delphox spent the last of her energy lighting up the entire stage to defeat it. She took grazes and a solid hit once, but Satori's insight kept off most of the damage and a few flamethrowers later the battle was over.
"You win," said Wikstrom as he recalled Aegislash. He snapped his fingers again and the blades ground to a halt. The stage silent, he and Satori walked to each other. They met in the center.
"That was different."
Wikstrom smiled. "Almost all who challenge me see the environment as fixed. As something that must be worked with, worked around. But you did not see it that way, you saw it as something you could manage. Change. Remove. If there is a lesson I seek to teach, that isn't it. But it seems like an important one all the same."
He held out his hand, and Satori shook it. "If I may ask," she said. "Why were you so forthcoming with details?"
"Honor," he said before Satori could read it from his thoughts. "I do not enjoy the games of deceit and trickery that some of the other gyms and Elite Four play with. Straightforward strength is what I believe in."
"I see."
"Well, one down little Satori. Three to go. I wish you luck."
With that the elevator opened again, and Satori quickly found herself in the central lobby area with the stained-glass window. Her first act was to apply a potion to Delphox to bring it back up to full fighting strength.
Satori let herself breath easy for a moment. There was no time limit (beyond being reasonable), so she let herself relax for a few minutes before choosing her next opponent.
She decided the room with the image of a fist was her next destination. A fighting type would let her use Noibat. She entered the elevator and rode it up.
The door opened to reveal lots and lots of rocks. It reminded Satori a bit of Grant's gym, plenty of boulders and stones to use during the fight. It looked like environment was going to play another key factor in this battle.
Satori walked forward and turned around the large chamber looking for the next member. She found her sitting on one of the larger boulders, drinking from a gourd.
"H-h-heeeeeey! Isn't, isn't time for ssssomething?" She was really drunk, and her thoughts were in a similar state.
"Yes, I believe we're supposed to battle. I'm Komeiji Satori."
"Rrright." The woman hopped off the boulder and landed on her two feet in front of Satori. Turns out they were about the same height and the "woman" was really more of a girl. "M'names Suika." She flexed her muscles. "I-I'm gunna beat you up."
Satori coughed, and the drunkard named Suika hobbled away. She reached the other side of the chamber, and turned around. She fixed the gourd to a strap on her hip, shook her head and slapped her cheeks a couple of times.
"Right, right, Satori. Uhhh." She held up her fists. "Come at me."
"Excuse me?" Satori stared at her opponent, and just noticed the two horns on her head. "Oh. You're—"
"Whaaduv it?" She rolled her head around her neck. "Have your Pokemon attack me. If they can knock me out of the ring you win."
There was a large circle drawn in white chalk on the ground. It was faint, Satori didn't really notice it until it was pointed out. If Suika wasn't obviously nonhuman Satori would have had reservations about attacking her.
Suika's kind, however, were notoriously resilient.
Satori tossed out Noibat. She wasn't quite sure what to expect, type advantages didn't exactly apply to non-Pokemon. But it was worth a shot.
"Noibat, knock her back." Satori shouted.
The flying bat pokemon circled over Suika's head and seemingly at random swooped down in a tackle. The attack didn't seem to phase Suika, who sidestepped out of the way. The Noibat tried this a few more times with no success.
"Eeyyyy, yyyou can have more than one..."
Satori decided not to question this rule and tossed out Absol to join Noibat. Sending out all of them at once would be detrimental, she wasn't that great at micromanagement. Two, maybe three would be her effective maximum.
The problem was that Noibat was still new compared to the rest of her roster, and needed more direction. She would have to communicate this verbally, which gave away her plans to Suika. Although by her drunken state that probably wasn't a major issue.
"Noibat, pester her but don't get hit!"
Satori didn't give Absol any direction, but she knew what she was doing. Distraction and attack, mistress? She nodded.
The Noibat flew around Suika's head like a stereotypical annoying bat, who tried to swat it away. Satori had told it not to get hit but there wasn't much she could do beyond that. Suika wasn't a pushover. She read Noibat's trajectory and punched it right in the face.
The Noibat flew into a boulder and crumpled to the ground at the same time Absol leaped to crash into Suika.
Suika grabbed Absol by her legs and used her own momentum to swing Absol into the ground. Satori winced at the impact and had no choice but to recall both Pokemon. That tactic had failed and Satori was down two of her five resources.
Suika just raised her fists again. "Nnnnext."
In retrospect, physical was a bad idea. But Satori had specials too. "Go, Pikachu!"
The yellow mouse Pokemon darted around the field, and at Satori's demand launched thunder down at Suika. She dodged the first, but the second she wouldn't be able to avoid.
She punched it in the air.
The thunder dissipated.
"What?" Satori exclaimed. Suika laughed.
"Gonnna be harder than that to knock me 'round."
Pikachu used his speed to dart around the field and try to catch Suika off guard, but despite how nimble he was she always had him in her eye. But at least he was quick enough to dodge Suika's follow up attacks, which were just punches and kicks.
It was a bit of a stalemate, except that Pikachu would get exhausted before too long. Satori needed to do something unexpected to catch Suika off guard.
"Go, Wobbuffet!" Satori tossed the blue Pokemon into the fray.
"Wobba wobba!" It saluted. Beyond that, it didn't really do much.
Suika laughed. It wasn't a malicious laugh, she just found the Pokemon amusing. Most people did.
"Pikachu, remember that time while training in Lavarre?" Satori asked.
Are you serious right now, boss?
"Just, do it if you can."
Scanning Suika's thoughts, she only barely processed the commands given. Satori was thankful for that, Suika seemed mostly to run off of base instinct rather than clever ploys. Kind of the opposite of Satori, in some ways.
Pikachu circled around and launched a few lower-level electric blasts at Suika to no effect. It took a little while, longer than Satori wanted, for him to position himself correctly without being obvious about what he was doing.
Then, when Suika was between Pikachu and Wobbuffet, he launched his strongest thunderbolt. Suika, as predicted, dodged. The thunderbolt kept going in a straight line.
"Wobba wobba!" The Pokemon shouted as the thunderbolt rammed into him, and was consequently reflected the exact direction it came from. In that moment, Pikachu followed up with a second thunderbolt.
Suika wasn't quite sure what hit her, but it was enough to knock her into a boulder on the side of the arena. It was outside the white line.
"Ha ha ha ha, awww man, that was hilarious." Suika said as she got up, dusting herself off. She pulled her gourd out and took a swig. "There's, uhh, a lesson or something in this. I don't remember what it was."
Satori sighed. She had understoodthe point. "Not all battles are against other Pokemon."
"Welp, I won't keep you. G'luck."
And Satori found herself back in the room with the stained glass, halfway through her challenge. She burned through quite a lot of her revives and potions to bring her Pokemon back to full health. Now she had to choose between the ghost and the drop of water.
Water it was.
Like before, she rode the elevator up to the next arena. When she emerged and saw what she would be facing, she only had one thing to say.
"Well, I'm not sure what I expected."
The arena was a massive pool. Two waterfalls poured down from the ceiling, and off to the side was a large whirlpool. The water was constantly moving, but always staying the same level. The only solid surfaces were two metal platforms on either end and a small metal platform in the center.
On the other side was a blonde man.
"You, girl." He said. "Let me ask you, do you think battling can be considered an art form?"
The question threw Satori a little bit. She knew the answer he wanted to hear, though she thought she could do better.
"That would depend on the battle."
"Oh? And how do—"
"Art is not real," Satori said. "It can represent the real, it can mimic the real, but ultimately it is a fabrication. Many 'battles' I've fought are like this, they're just contests. Games. But some battles happen because they must, because we'll die if they do not happen. That is not art."
The man frowned. "That answer is foolish. Art cannot be real? I argue the opposite, art can only be the real!" He held out a roster of only two Pokeballs and shouted, "I am Siebold, your third challenge. Whoever is knocked off of their platform into the water first is the loser."
He threw a Starmie into the water, but Satori only saw it for a second before it dove beneath the surface. She could still hear its thoughts, but her normal eyes could not trace it. As far as she knew, none of her Pokemon could swim. Well, Absol could. Oh, and Pikachu...
Ah, this would be easy.
"Go, Pikachu!" Satori tossed the Pokeball onto the island in the center, and Pikachu emerged onto it. His mobility was severely limited, but he didn't need to do much. "Electrify the water," Satori commanded.
Thunder burst down from the heavens and smashed into the water. There was a loud buzzing sound, and Satori realized her mistake as lightning started to arc across the metal framework. She didn't feel anything, but lost her balance a little bit as the metal framework vibrated.
She looked down and saw the bottoms of her shoes partially melted as well as steam rising from the metal framework. How strong was Pikachu's attack?"
Uh, oops. Are you okay boss?
Starmie floated up to the surface, so although the tactic worked Satori really did not want to try it again. She looked over at Siebold who looked like he had a similar experience. As effective as he was, Pikachu was a double edged sword here.
"Pikachu, return." Satori recalled him as Siebold recalled the fainted Starmie.
Siebold smiled and tossed out his next Pokemon. Gyarados.
A massive snake-like pokemon emerged in the water, a bona fide sea monster. Satori just stared up at its massive size for a moment before trying to figure out what to do.
"Go, Absol!" Satori threw him onto the island in the center. "Knock down Siebold!"
Satori didn't have to wonder whether Siebold would use the Gyarados to attack her or defend himself for long. He was choosing the former.
The Gyarados, much faster than Absol swimming through the pool, made a beeline for Satori. She could read its thoughts but it was massive enough that she didn't have very much room to dodge. Her only move was to act like a deer in headlights as it approached.
Then she hit the ground hard and flattened herself as best she could as the Gyarados rammed the air above her. Even though it initially missed her, its underbelly dragged against her back and pulled her to the side of the platform. She just barely held on.
Absol was close to Siebold, but after the Gyarados failed it turned back towards Siebold. It was close.
Then Gyarados snapped Absol up in its jaw and threw her across the arena. No, it wasn't just across the arena, it was at Satori.
She managed to dodge the flying Absol, but had to recall her. Satori didn't really have a lot of options as the Gyarados loomed over her, waiting for her to choose her next Pokemon.
"Go, Pikachu."
"You really want to try that again?" Siebold shouted.
The Pikachu landed in front of Satori, at her feet. She knew a little bit about how electricity worked, Utsuho explained some of the principles to her. It only kills you if the current goes through your body. Satori was wet, which was a major problem, but her shoes had rubber bottoms.
But those were kind of wet. It was risky as hell. And she was probably wrong about how it worked anyways.
"If this is art, Siebold, and it's really real, then I should take this risk." Satori shouted.
"Then do it."
That wasn't what Satori wanted to hear, he called her bluff.
Do it.
Satori looked down at her Pikachu. The look on his face was more determined than Satori had ever seen him.
She nodded.
Pikachu planted his four feet on the ground, raised his tail into the air and sparks began to come from his cheeks. Satori made sure not to touch anything.
A bolt of lightning shot out from Pikachu towards the Gyarados. It tried to dodge, but it was too big. Pikachu hit it anyways, electricity coursing through the water pokemon's body. It didn't stand a chance, and was out cold.
Satori had closed her eyes, but upon realizing she was still alive opened them. She and Siebold seemed to be fine, though Gyarados was out cold.
Pikachu started strutting around like he owned the place. Ha ha, look at me now. Took down a freaking sea monster.
"Nearly at my expense," Satori said quietly.
Hardly. You think I'm that bad at electromancy? Pikachu hopped up onto Satori's head, and made a few sparks. You said attack the water last time, I assumed you knew what you were doing.
Satori didn't have a response to that.
"Well, it looks like I lose," Siebold said. "Only two Pokemon, so..."
"Technically it's not over until you fall into the water," Satori said. He nodded. "If I may ask, why do you only have two? You're in the Elite Four, I don't really understand."
"Ah... well, knocking trainers off platforms is not terribly difficult. I'm surprised you didn't fall off when Gyarados attacked you. Most lose at that point, so I don't need more than two."
Satori had a slight edge from reading its exact thoughts and how it planned on attacking her. That must have been what kept her on solid ground. "It seems to me that a lot of people try to teach me to fight with my Pokemon, rather than remain a spectator."
"That's because they are. People don't learn that lesson, I'm afraid." Siebold shrugged. "There is only one more opponent left for you, Komeiji Satori. She, ah, she will be an interesting one I think. Good luck."
And with that Siebold dived into the water with more elegance than a loser should have.
Satori turned on her heel back to the stained-glass lobby area. Three down, one left. Pikachu remained out, and she poked it on its cheek. "Told you."
Told me what?
"You'd get strong coming with me."
I took down a GYARADOS, you saw that right? In one hit. Yeah, I'll admit you were right on that one. But 'attack the water,' seriously? You know metal conducts electricity right?
"Shut it."
Just saying, maybe I should be the alpha.
"I dare you to try it."
Maybe some other time.
"Thought so."
All that was left for Satori to face was the ghost room, whatever that entailed. It was kind of obviously going to involve ghost Pokemon. Beyond that, Satori had no idea.
"Beyond that" apparently meant a creepy fog throughout the entire chamber and a disembodied voice that Satori couldn't divine the source of.
"I'm hungry~" the ghostly voice said. "Youmu~"
So much for the creepy ambiance.
"Uh, excuse me?" Satori asked. "Is someone there?"
"Oohhhhh..." An apparition slowly formed in the mist until it bumped into Satori, knocking her to the ground. "Ohhh, sorry, this mist is hard to see in..."
Satori pulled herself up. "No, er, no worries."
"I'm Yuyuko...there's some ghosts floating about, I think you're supposed to defeat them. I'd help but I'm hungry right now..." The woman started to float off. Float, not walk. Float.
"Wait, I think we're supposed to be enemies..."
"B-But, you seem nice..."
Satori sighed. "No, never mind, sorry. I'll go defeat the ghosts."
"Okay~"
The woman disappeared into the mist. Satori was meeting all sorts of characters today. She tossed out her Delphox.
Can you somehow light the way for us?
Delphox generated a few dancing lights in a radius around Satori. They helped somewhat, but not nearly as much as she would like. Sorry, this mist is weird.
It's fine.
Satori and Delphox wandered aimlessly a little bit until Delphox stopped, and some of the lights around them cut out. What's wrong, Satori asked.
Those remaining light's aren't mine.
Their first target. Satori walked towards the phantom lights, but saw that they were only candles. On the ceiling above her was also a chandelier, but that was it. Satori sighed and continued her walk.
The mist made the room rather cold, which Satori was really starting to dislike. It was a damp sort of cold, and her clothes—while not wet—felt heavier on her body. She walked for a minute or so before Delphox caught her attention.
Uhh, master. Behind you...
Satori turned around. The candles and chandelier were right behind her.
Then the chandelier fell on her.
"Ahh!" she shouted and tumbled out of the way. Delphox stood protectively in front of her as the chandelier hovered in front of them, and two eyes appeared on the center part. Satori stared at it. "Jesus...how did I not see that..."
They're ghosts, I don't think they think. We never really encountered them before.
Satori ruffled her brow. So they're my weakness.
Well, your eye works on whatever level Pokemon psychic abilities work. I think. I've always gotten the feeling I could resist your gaze.
Really?
You're really strong, so I personally probably couldn't. But I wouldn't be surprised if a pure psychic like Alakazam would be able to block its thoughts. In any case, I think these thoughtless ghosts are about to attack us.
At Delphox's use of the plural, Satori realized the candles were also Pokemon. They all started to circle her, she couldn't help but get a little nervous and called out Pikachu.
Need me again, so soon? Pikachu looked smug. No no, I get it, being the strongest is so difficult sometimes.
Satori ignored the comment and just directed Pikachu to attack the ghosts. The candles were easy to take down, between Delphox's psychic attacks and Pikachu's lightening they scattered off. The chandelier—or, rather, Chandelure, as was its proper name, was a far tougher beast.
It was strange not being able to listen to its thoughts. But it attacked in a manner that didn't require thoughts, so it was pretty easy to read anyways.
As soon as the Chandelure fainted, it suddenly became dark. Delphox was quick on the uptake and cast a few more dancing lights.
"HAUNTER!"
"Eeeiiiiii!" Satori dropped to her knees and held her hands in front of her face. A purple pokemon had appeared right in front of her. It started licking Satori on her cheek.
Delphox and Pikachu quickly shooed it away. Pikachu chased after it into the mist.
"I hate it here," Satori said. Delphox shrugged.
Pikachu didn't come back.
"Pikachu?" Satori asked hesitantly. No response. She repeated it a bit louder, but there was still nothing but silence on the other end.
Hey, where did you guys go? He asked in his thoughts. At least that still worked, but when Satori tried to give Pikachu directions she realized she couldn't. She had absolutely no idea where they were, there was nothing but mist all around.
Before returning to Pikachu, Satori came across a large sword stuck in the ground.
"No, I'm not getting fooled again." Satori declared. "Delphox, use flamethrower on that."
Delphox outstretched her stick and a burst of flames came fourth, bathing the sword in fire. It melted a little bit, and bent over as Delphox finished her attack. Satori walked over to it.
"Oh, I guess it was just a normal sword..."
Ahh, I'm being attacked, Pikachu said frantically with his mind. Satori tried to get a mental picture of what was happening from him, but the mist must have been dampening the sound because she couldn't physically hear it.
We need to help him, Delphox said.
HOW? We don't know where he is.
Noibat has excellent hearing.
Satori grabbed Noibat's Pokeball and tossed him in front of her at Delphox's suggestion. He could indeed hear the sounds of Pikachu's battle, and led Satori and Delphox to it.
By the time they arrived, Pikachu was unconscious with four floating swords circling around and Mismagius above.
"Damn!"
Delphox and Noibat flew out to attack while Satori recalled the unconscious Pikachu into its pokeball.
Noibat was only partially effective, but Delphox supplied a healthy amount of fire. Satori hesitated to call out either Absol or Wobbuffet, neither would be of much use.
The two Doublades, which is what they scanned as in Satori's pokedex, quickly went down. The Mismagius decided to run away after that, but before they could pursue Satori told Noibat and Delphox to stay put. They had to keep together.
Five minutes later, the woman bumped into them again.
"Ohh, hi." She floated around Satori. "Seems the spirits are put to rest."
"Is that your way of saying I win...?"
The woman smiled. "Yes. Congratulations...I guess you beat us."
"R-Really?"
"Yuuuup~" The woman faded back into the mist. Satori was kind of dumbfounded. She was expecting a little more fanfare. A little more...something.
Instead, it took her ten minutes to find the elevator again.
Once she did she noticed the stained-glass room was a lot brighter. The back wall had opened up, and Satori just now realized it was actually a massive door. Wikstrom stood in front of it.
"Ah, congratulations Satori." He said. "I figured after seeing you choose Yuyuko last, you'd want a bit more formal of a celebration."
"Thanks. She's quite, well, I don't know the word."
"Yes, she's like that." Wikstrom laughed. "We don't have a real problem with youkai and like kin being trainers, but their personalities are always hard to work around. In any case, congratulations on defeating the Elite Four." He held out his hand, and Satori shook it.
"It wasn't what I expected."
"And that is what throws most people. So, what will you do now? Will you take on the champion?" Wikstrom gestured behind him. "They lie in wait through the radiant chamber."
Satori nodded.
"Then don't let me keep you. Take as long as you need to prepare." Wikstrom then left, leaving Satori alone. A dark purple room behind her, a bright, radiant room in front of her.
She caressed the ultra ball in her hand. If there was ever a time to legitimately use Yveltal, now would be it. Satori wondered if she could really control him. Control him in a situation that wasn't serious, when life and death weren't on the line.
Satori healed her other Pokemon, let them rest up, and walked into the radiant chamber. The walls were lit with a bright white light and led to a circular platform. She made her way to the platform and stood on top of it.
The platform shifted and slowly rose up into the air. The walls of the chamber faded away as Satori took the floating elevator up into the ceiling, through a floor of stone and up into the final arena. It was brightly lit with golden walls.
Standing alone in the arena was a girl with green hair. She smiled when Satori emerged.
"Hey sis!"