High-Flying Winona, Chapter 62

The rest of the road towards Fortree City was scenic from the Institute. Plenty of tress, wildlife, a great view of the entire river from atop a large boulder on the side of the road. The fact that most of the trees in the area were already yellow going on red only made the route that much more beautiful. Even Vulpix seemed to have a taste for the beauty of it all, as she barked towards the river.

"It is beautiful, right girl?" I scratched behind her ears. Just to my right was the river, and a thought occurred to me. I pulled Feebas's Pokeball from my belt, staring at it for the longest time. I could release him here, and allow him to go back to his old life as if my capturing him never happened. I reached out my hand over the river, my thumb on the release button. That was when Vulpix lightly scratched at my leg.

"Don't worry, Vulpix," I said, taking my thumb off the button. "I can't do it."

I pulled back, looking down at the Pokeball. Ugly though he was, he was still my Pokemon, and I'd never forgive myself if I abandoned him -or her, for all I knew- because of appearance. I tried to think of what Mom would say to me:

"Goodness, Star! Why'd you get such an ugly fish?" I shook my head, trying to think more like a Mom.

"Goodness, Star! You could've picked a better looking fish!"

I laughed to myself, which confused Vulpix. Had it been so long, that I didn't know what Mom would say? Or was I just not mom material yet? I put the Pokeball back on my belt, and daringly jumped down off the boulder, which was a few feet high. Once Vulpix was down as well, we continued towards Fortree City.

"Don't worry, girl," I said to her. "I'll never abandon one of my friends. Never ever."

~o~

"Well, we're here," I said, double checking my Pokenav. "According to this thing, we're in Fortree City."

I looked around, seeing only large piles of fallen leaves and thick tree trunks. Confused, I asked Vulpix to look around while I examined the Pokenav further. Could it be wrong? Or could I have taken a wrong turn? Thing was, there was no other turn to take, it was a rather straightforward road from Route 119 to here. I heard Vulpix barking, so I turned off the Pokenav and decided to look with my own eyes. She was standing by a tree trunk, scratching at a rope ladder dangling beside it.

"Don't tell me..." My voice trailed off. I picked up Vulpix and told her to hang onto my bag, which I swung around to my back and started climbing. When I reached the top, I finally saw Fortree City with my own eyes. Nestled among the trees, small houses made up the entire town. The houses were connected by narrow rope bridges, though there wasn't anyone walking around. I guess I could see why not; wouldn't want to wear out those bridges.

"Be careful, Vulpix, wouldn't want to fall down." Vulpix jumped off my bag, and ran down one of the rope bridges to explore. If the entire town was up here in the trees, that meant the gym had to be here as well. Walking slowly across the rope bridges, I kept a sharp lookout for the gym, though I found myself getting more and more distracted by the sights. Unlike every other city I'd ever visited on my travels, nothing had been as grand as this one.

From afar, I could hear Vulpix barking again, so I picked up the pace and met up with her on the other side of town. A flight of stone steps climbed higher into the sky from there, up to some sort of manmade structure built on top of the thickest and tallest tree in the forest.

"Well, if this isn't the gym, I don't know what else it could be." I took the first step, and Vulpix followed close. After only a few steps I started crawling up instead, my fear of taking a tumble to my doom growing the higher up I went. I was certain this gym leader would be using flying types.

Once I had reached the top, I looked around, seeing only an empty arena. By this point, it didn't surprise me, to be honest. I was certain the gym leader was off having tea or something of that nature instead of tending to her duty. And climbing back down to the city was out of the question for me.

"Doesn't any gym leader in Hoenn ever just wait for their challengers to come knocking?"

"Some of us have other matters to attend to," came a voice from behind me. Startled, I jumped away from the entrance, and looked upon the owner of the voice. She was oddly dressed in some sort of jumpsuit, with a pair of goggles resting on her head. Her lavender hair was poking out from the sides over her ears, making it look as if she had wings on her head.

"You're the gym leader here?"

"I am, and you're Star, correct?" I was left a bit stunned.

"H-How did you know my name?"

"I've seen you on TV, and I saw you last night at the festival. You're the girl who pulled up that giant catch of Pokemon from the river, right?" I nodded, though the only thing going through my mind at the time was how did I miss her at the festival dressed like that?

"Y-Yeah, that was me. Um, I've come-"

"To challenge me for a badge, I know. Keep talking to yourself like that and everyone's bound to know your every intention." She strolled past me, walking lofty the entire time, as if trying to keep her feet on the ground. Or trying especially hard to keep them off the ground.

"So, we can battle now?"

"Of course, I've nothing else to do today. My name is Winona, by the way."

Winona took her place on the far side of the arena, atop a booth overlooking the arena. There was a similar booth for me, so I climbed up to it and prepared for the battle. The arena consisted of the entire structure, so one misstep could spell that Pokemon's doom.

"Alright, Star, let me explain the rules of my gym. We will each be allowed to use three Pokemon. There is limited ground to move on, so any Pokemon that can't fly will be at a disadvantage, to be sure. Also, despite there being clear marks on the field, the bounds rule does not apply to this battle; so long as your Pokemon doesn't fall into the forest, the sky's the limit! Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I do." What I understood was that the rules were entirely in her favor. Still, I was the challenger here, so it was up to me to beat her regardless of the obstacles. Despite all these conditions, Winona's first Pokemon was a large brown Pokemon, covered in leaves. You know the drill: Pokedex time!

"Tropius, the Fruit Pokemon. It flies by flapping its broad leaves. The bunch of fruit that grows around its neck is deliciously sweet. In the spring, it scatters pollen from its neck."

"That thing can fly? No way," I said to myself in disbelief. Tropius was a good six feet tall, and looked rather heavy.

"Come on, Star! You're here to battle, right?"

"Well, it's a grass type as well, so Vulpix, why don't you take him on?" Vulpix nodded, and jumped down to the arena.

"Her! Tropius is a girl!" Winona corrected me from the far side of the field. Once Vulpix was in place, Winona pressed a button on her platform, which sounded a loud whistle. The battle was on.

"Tropius, fly up high and ready your Solar Beam!"

"Vulpix, Flamethrower!"

To my amazement, the half dozen leaves on Tropius's back started flapping, and propelled the massive critter into the air. It didn't manage to get very far, though, when Vulpix ran up under her and let loose her Flamethrower attack. A direct hit, Tropius caught on fire and was forced back to the ground, badly burned. That was just too easy!

"Tropius, use Synthesis!"

Tropius's body began to glow, and instantly the wounds all over her body began to vanish before my eyes. Before I let my awe get the better of me, I continued the battle.

"Vulpix, use Flamethrower one more time!"

"Tropius, Sunny Day!"

Vulpix blasted the grass type again with her flames, but this time Tropius managed to dodge the blow entirely by launching herself into the air. She continued to fly higher and higher, until she stopped to flap her massive leaf-wings towards the sky. Clearing up the clouds, she revealed the sun over the arena, instantly warming things up around us. A welcome bit of warmth, I might add.

"Now, use Solar Beam again!"

"Vulpix, Flamethrower!"

Expecting Tropius to be left wide open as she charged, Vulpix jumped as high into the air as she could, and blasted the grass type with fire again. However, Tropius countered with Solar Beam, which overpowered her flames and managed to strike Vulpix dead on, crashing her into the ground. The damage wasn't severe, allowing Vulpix to recover rather quickly.

"Tropius, Solar Beam again!"

"Vulpix, get out of the way!"

Tropius instantly charged and fired her beam attack again, narrowly missing Vulpix on the ground. Being so close to direct sunlight was allowing Tropius to use Solar Beam without penalty. What's worse, while Tropius was in the air, Vulpix was at a severe disadvantage. Winona continued to order Solar Beam attacks, and Vulpix kept dodging them, but it was clear that her energy was quickly draining. She wouldn't be able to avoid those attacks for much longer.

"Vulpix, return!" My order caused even Tropius to stop firing. No longer in danger, Vulpix slowly walked back to my side.

"Giving up, Star? Or do you plan to finally do battle in the skies?" Though I did have a few flying Pokemon with which to combat Winona, I had to keep playing to type advantages. There was one Pokemon on my team that would turn the tables on this battle. I picked out his Pokeball, and threw it onto the field.

"Ooh, a Vaporeon? You're making this too easy, Star! Tropius, Solar Beam!"

"Vaporeon, dodge and use Aurora Beam!"

Tropius fired her beam first, which Vaporeon nimbly dodged just before it struck with a sidestep. He followed up with the Aurora Beam, which ascended much quicker, despite thinning out a bit by the time it struck Tropius. Because of the growing heat, Vaporeon's attack, being ice type, wasn't at full strength.

"Tropius, dive in close and sweep him away with Razor Leaf!" About time she had a change of tactics.

"Vaporeon, guard yourself with Bubblebeam!"

Vaporeon spun around in a circle, creating a barrier of bubbles. Regardless, Tropius swooped in much closer, doing corkscrews in midair to fire dozens of small leaves at Vaporeon. The barrier of bubbles was eliminated, but each time with a bright flash of light, just as I expected.

"Vaporeon, Quick Attack and grab onto Tropius!"

Vaporeon jumped right through the explosions, tackling Tropius in the side while biting onto one of her leaf-wings. Tropius ascended back into the air, trying to shake off Vaporeon the entire time.

"Tropius, knock him loose with Sweet Scent!"

"Vaporeon, Aurora Beam now!"

Tropius started releasing a pink cloud of fragrance around herself, while Vaporeon let go just before breathing in any of it. His Aurora Beam was off just slightly, striking Tropius's leaf-wings more than her body. However, this proved far more effective, as those leaves started to freeze over, and Tropius began descending herself.

"Vaporeon, finish with Aurora Beam!"

Unable to dodge the blow, and with the sun finally starting to lose strength because of growing cloud cover, Tropius took the full force of the ice attack. By the time she touched back down, she was knocked out entirely. Winona called back Tropius, and prepared her next critter.

"Congratulations, Star. That was quite the battle strategy," she complimented me. I laughed a bit, since she didn't realize it was more lucky circumstance than actual planning of my own. She released her second Pokemon, which was an actual bird Pokemon this time. Upon its release, I noticed a faint glint on its feathers, telltale sign it was a special, shiny Pokemon.

"Swellow, the Swallow Pokemon. It circles the sky in search of prey. When it spots one, it dives steeply to catch the prey."

"Alright, Swellow, Aerial Ace!"

"Vaporeon, use Aurora Beam!"

Yeah, it may seem like I'm really spamming that move, but being flying types, they were all weak to ice. Expecting this to end faster because there was nothing to weaken Vaporeon's attack, I was shocked when he wasn't able to actually use the ability on Swellow. The bird Pokemon came in at such an incredible speed, from across the arena, to strike Vaporeon dead on.

"Vaporeon, get up and try Aurora Beam again!"

"Swellow, Hyper Beam!"

Swellow stopped at a hover just ahead of Vaporeon. My blue critter regained his posture and launched his attack, which was countered at the same time by Swellow's Hyper Beam. The two energy attacks clashed in midair, creating a bubble of raw energy that blew up like a balloon before exploding and covering the field. A cold wind blew past me, and I looked out to the field to see what had happened. Vaporeon was still standing, though partially frozen to the ground. Swellow, on the other hand, was down on the floor, covered in icicles and immobile. Without saying a word, Winona called back Swellow, and released her final Pokemon.

"Altaria, Dragon Breath!"

"Vaporeon, get out of there!"

Unfortunately, Vaporeon was completely trapped by the ice, and was covered in Altaria's dreadful green attack. After it was over, Vaporeon fell over, defeated and paralyzed. I recalled him, and took the opportunity to scan this new Pokemon.

"Altaria, the Humming Pokemon. It hums in a beautiful soprano voice. It flies among white clouds in the blue sky. It launches intensely hot fireballs from its mouth." I experienced that last part firsthand.

"Well, Star? Care to release a Pokemon to battle Altaria?" Vaporeon would've been my best bet, as ice was the only means I had for taking out flyers and dragons. Any flying types of my own couldn't hope to take on Altaria in the air, so I had to come up with a new plan. I needed time to study Altaria's moves, so I asked Vulpix to enter the battle again.

"Vulpix, start with Will-O-Wisp!"

"Altaria, Cotton Guard!"

Vulpix unleashed the dark flames upon Altaria, but the flying Pokemon seemed to ward them off without issue using those fluffy cloud wings. If it could do away with fire that easily, I'd be in big trouble.

"Altaria, use Mist!"

The blue critter took to circling the sky, releasing a soft, white veil that obscured it from view. This would make attacking it much more difficult, but I had to keep trying until I could decide what Pokemon to use against her.

"Vulpix, use Ember and cover as much ground as possible!"

Vulpix ran around in a similar circle, only in the opposite direction, releasing small flames all over the field. However, not a single one of them seemed to connect. Altaria had been out of view for a while now, making both of us equally nervous as to Winona's next move.

"Altaria, Take Down!"

"Vulpix, dodge it!"

Though she tried, there was no way Vulpix could dodge something she couldn't see. Altaria came from behind, slamming Vulpix into the ground and dragging her a small ways towards my end of the field. Altaria had taken some damage from the attack herself, but was able to get up and walk away from the scene without difficulty.

"Vulpix! Are you okay?" She got up from the ground, battered up a bit, and barely able to walk. She was out of the question for further battling. "Thanks, girl, take a good rest!"

"That's two down, Star! Pick your last Pokemon!" I looked down at my belt, split between Pelipper and Beedrill. Either would have a hard time handling Altaria's speed and ability in the air, making this next decision all the more important. As my mind raced to make the best decision, Winona grew impatient and yelled out again.

"Star! Pick a Pokemon now or you forfeit!" In my haste, I picked a Pokeball, and threw it out without thinking. The critter to be chosen was Smeargle, which while not the Pokemon I wanted certainly ended up a better selection over Feebas.

"Finally! Let's end this, shall we? Altaria, Dragon Breath!" A lightbulb went off in my head.

"Smeargle, watch out!"

The small painter ran out of the way, just barely dodging the green breath attack.

"Now, use Sketch!"

Taking his tail in his hand, Smeargle swashed a mess of green paint into the air, which emulated Altaria's attack right back at her. It struck the Pokemon directly in the back as she swung around for another pass at Smeargle. What's more, the attack seemed to have paralyzed Altaria.

"Snap out of it, Altaria! Use Take Down!"

"Smeargle, Dragon Breath again!"

Altaria fought off the paralysis, taking a sharp nosedive towards Smeargle. The white Pokemon on the ground took his tail in his hand, swashing more green paint before him to release another breath attack. Altaria, unable to react quick enough to evade it, was struck head on. Smeargle then jumped out of the way, allowing Altaria to crash into the ground at full pelt, reversing the damage right back at herself. When the dust settled, Altaria was knocked out cold.

"I-I don't believe it!" Was all Winona could say. Seeing his victory, Smeargle began cheering, which in turn caused both myself and Vulpix to cheer as well.

~o~

"You've earned the Featherbadge, Star," Winona informed me, as she handed me the small badge. It was shaped more like a wing than a feather, though.

"Thanks, Winona." I promptly pinned it onto my trainer card, right next to Norman's Balancebadge.

"Looking to get into the Pokemon League?"

"No, I'm not," I said, getting tired of being asked the same question over and over. "I am on my way to the Battle Frontier, though."

"Are you now? Well, I have a feeling you'd do well there. You're a lot luckier than you look, not to mention downright clever. Gotta be careful, though: the trainers at the Battle Frontier aren't cakewalks. Many of them could easily top even gym leaders without breaking a sweat."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to win the top prize or anything. I was invited by Roxanne, so that's why I'm going."

"Oh, she did, did she? Mind showing me how?"

"Um, sure?" I dug around my bag, looking for the pamphlet Roxanne had given me with her information. I showed it to Winona, who promptly ripped it in two before my very eyes.

"H-Hey! What'd you do that for!?" I watched as she let the pieces be taken away by the wind.

"Here, from me." She produced a card from her pocket, and handed it to me. It bore the design of the frontier, like the one I had seen back in Fallarbor Town, as well as an image of the Featherbadge.

"What is this?"

"It's a special card that grants me VIP access to the island. Show that when you get there, and you'll not only be allowed into the frontier, but also escorted to the gym leaders' lounge. Poor little Roxanne just doesn't have the clearance to get you in all the way."

"Oh, well, thanks...?" I put the card into my bag, but I was still not sure why Winona had done that. Was there more history between herself and Roxanne, like there was with Flannery? My questions seemed to be written on my face.

"Let me take a wild guess: Flannery mention something about Roxanne?" My eyes widened.

"Well, she did say something about their past," I mumbled.

"Typical, that girl can't get over it," she said with her hand on her forehead. "Tell you what, I'll share the entire story once we meet up at the frontier. Trust me, you'll want to hear it."

"Okay, if you say so." Honestly, by that point, I didn't want to have anything to do with this little triangle anymore.

"Now, I'll join you down to the Pokemon Center. Where're you headed next?"

"Oh, Lilycove City! A friend of mine is waiting for me there." And a shopping spree, something I chose not to add.

"That's great!"

Along the way down, Winona shared some neat tidbits about the city, which I made sure to make notes about in my head. Now that the battle was over, we were talking just like old friends, which put my mind at ease. It was like talking to a whole different person.