The Jubilant City

"One minute to spare Persephone, how freaking lucky were we!" Blaze and Persephone were alone on the ferry today. Some days it was really busy, but it had been a quiet weekend according to the man running the service.

"It's great to have the ferry all to ourselves on the first day of our journey, and it would be even better if all the Pokemon got along." Spiny and Laxus were both glaring at each other. Laxus was growling at the Sandshrew, not wanting to play nice with it. Spiny was just trying not to lose its confidence against the Shinx.

"It's just your Pokemon Persephone. They're quite free-spirited." Blaze chuckled slightly watching the show between the two Pokemon. Amy was flying around the ferry carefree while Gertrud was lazily laying on a separate couch nearby.

Laxus says that he wants to beat Spiny in a one on one battle. Spiny doesn't want to fight her new comrade. It's even more entertaining if you knew what they were saying, although there are a few choice phrases that you probably don't want to hear. The little grass type jumped onto the couch back and stuck her head over the top. Just as she did, Amy came crashing into her, unable to change direction fast enough.

"Flabé?" The Flabébé looked at Gertrud apologetically. At least they had become friends in their short time together. Gertrud held onto the Flabébé's flower in one rose and Amy landed into her other rose hand.

She's quite headstrong, but she's quite a sweet Pokemon. I can't wait to see what she is like in battle. I'm sure she'll be amazing. Gertrud put Amy back on her flower and set her back off on her way, the Flabébé constantly using Fairy Wind to move itself around.

"She's quite fun to watch." Persephone giggled as Amy flew past right next to her cheek. "I wonder what other moves she knows. Persephone held up her Poketch to the little flower fairy. "Okay, it says that she also knows Vine Whip and Lucky Chant. I'm surprised that Amy isn't part grass type, Flabébés look kinda grassy and they have a lot of grass attacks."

Blaze just shrugged. "Don't question nature, that's just what happens." Amy came up to him and rubbed her cheek against his. Blaze rubbed her head with his index finger, to which Amy smiled with glee. "You're going to be really strong one day. I can just tell, you and Gertrud will be amazing members of this team." Gertrud hung off the back of her chair with her arms folded, grinning happily.

"I wish my Pokemon would get along as well as Amy and Gertrud do." Persephone watched her Pokemon continue to bicker. It was irritating that they just couldn't get along. Spiny was starting to get fed up with Laxus and threw some sand into the Shinx's face. The Shinx went to tackle Spiny and missed as Spiny stepped out of the way. "Laxus is too reckless for his own good. He's going to be a lot to handle."

He's young, he'll learn it time… I think. He seems like a bit of an idiot. Persephone sighed.

"Gertrud, I didn't need to know that. Now I'm even more worried about Laxus." She watched Laxus and Spiny continuing to fight each other. She was tempted to bring one of them back into its Pokeball, but the longer they were around each other, the more likely they would get along… Right?

"Attention passengers, we will be arriving off the coast of Jubilife City in two minutes. Make sure all valuables and Pokemon are in Pokeballs to ensure that they are safe." The announcement came out of the loudspeaker. Persephone stared at Spiny and Laxus. The Sandshrew was curious about the announcement, looking back at Persephone. Laxus was still just growling.

"Alright, back in the Pokeballs you go." Spiny had a bit of a happy look on her face. Laxus didn't even realise he was being called back. Both had returned to their Pokeballs at the same time. "What am I going to do with you two?"

Amy stopped herself in front of Blaze and stared at him, her eyes trying to convince him to let her stay out of her Pokeball. Blaze rolled his eyes. "I'll let you out when we actually get to Jubilife. I don't want you to get hurt on the way there." The Flabébé had a forlorn look on her face, but was smiling slightly being able to come out soon.

"Aww, don't worry girl." Blaze was rubbing the fairy Pokemon's head with one of his fingers, Amy was laughing. "Alright, in you go." Amy reached out and touched the Pokeball. She was covered in a red light which was then sucked inside the ball.

I'm almost starting to get jealous of how much you take care of Amy. She is a sweet little thing though, I understand why you dote over her. Roselia was now sitting on the back edge of her chair, waiting for the boat to stop. Anyway, are we going straight to Eterna or are we sticking around in Jubilife for a while?

"I think we'll check out the Battle Tent in Jubilife before we move on to Eterna. I want to see how Amy holds up in a fight." Blaze held up the Flabébé's Pokeball and tossed it up and down a few times.

"And I need to see how Spiny and Laxus do in a trainer battle rather than fighting each other." Persephone was holding both Pokeballs, looking at them with a saddened expression.

Blaze, be glad that we don't feel movement while we are in those things, Amy would have a massive headache otherwise. Gertrud snickered, covering her mouth with one of her rose hands.

"We have arrived on the outskirts of Jubilife, please be prepared to exit the ferry." The announcer spoke once again. Gertrud climbed onto Blaze's hand, then jumped up onto his shoulder. Persephone strapped Laxus and Spiny's Pokeballs to her belt.

"Well, I guess we're off." Persephone and Blaze both exited the ferry, with the city of Jubilife looming in front of them. They had been here before plenty of times. However, this time it was their first time going in as Pokemon trainers. It was their first city that they would enter as Pokemon trainers.

"Blaze, are you ready for this?" Persephone had her hands wrapped behind her neck, her voice shaking ever so slightly. "Oh Arceus, why am I so nervous. Jubilife City isn't that scary." She looked down for a second. Gertrud jumped over from Blaze's shoulder onto Persephone's. She hugged the girl, albeit her arms didn't stretch around very much.

Blaze is feeling the same way… Although, he is often extremely nervous in public. You've got Pokemon, you are on a journey, away from home. This town means that you won't be returning home for quite a while. Persephone looked at Gertrud.

"Thank you for the encouragement Gertrud." She spoke as sarcastically as possible. Blaze looked over for a second, then his gaze directed itself straight back to the ground. "And now Blaze is worried even more than usual."

"Not helping." Blaze whispered under his breath. Persephone and Gertrud didn't quite hear what he said, they ignored it.

A large amount of the walk was an awkward silence. Persephone was walking with her head held high, hands behind her neck, although she wasn't feeling as confident as she looked. Blaze on the other hand was as nervous as he appeared, one arm rubbing the other as if he was cold, head hung down.

When they did finally arrive, they both just stood there for a minute.

Persephone broke the silence. "So… Blaze… Are you ready? We really are doing this. We're going to be on a full on Pokemon journey." Blaze smirked and finally looked up for the first time in a few minutes.

"Weren't you the one who had to convince me to come, or were you not actually ready either? I guess this is why kids often go off at ten. They still feel an attachment to their homes, but they don't get completely homesick." Blaze snickered.

"Yea, but the maturity of a ten year old isn't that amazing. Have you heard all those stories people have written about those ten year olds where they take down all sorts of evil organizations and stuff. There was that story about the boy and Team Galactic. I could never do that sort of thing."

So, are we going in or are we just going to stand here for the rest of the day? Gertrud looked at the two of them, waiting impatiently for the two of them.

Both of them laughed at their own nervousness. They looked at each other. "Blaze, together, just like that moment when we left Canalave." Persephone smiled.

The boy nodded. "Yea, let's." He grabbed Perephone's hand and looked straight ahead. Gertrud walked down and stood on the clasp between their hands.

"3, 2, 1." They both stepped forward into the town.

Blaze had been holding in a breath. He exhaled with relief, Peresphone giggling at the sight. "Well, there really is no turning back now. We're really doing this. No regrets, 'ey Persephone?"

"None at all. We're really doing it." She looked around before looking at Blaze. "We're you going to let Amy out?"

"Oh yea." He sent the little Flabébé out of its Pokeball. "Hey girl, sorry it took too long." The flower fairy twirled around happily.

"Fla, Flabé" Amy was moving around happily, using the Fairy Wind to turn around quickly. She was looking around the city, as she had never been very far away from Rowan's laboratory in her life.

"Well, someone seems to be enjoying her time." Blaze was smiling, a bit less nervous with both Amy and Gertrud around. When they did pass by some people though, he suddenly became anxious again. Gertrud stood on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Blaze, come on. You've got Persephone and me with you, not to mention Amy. Look at that little bundle of energy. She's buzzing around like a little Combee. Blaze laughed at Gertrud's analogy, and was quickly grateful that there was no one around. Most of Gertrud's telepathic speech would go directly to Persephone and Blaze, although sometimes she would be selective in which one she talked to. There were other people who naturally heard the communications, like Blaze and Persephone's parents and Cecil, but otherwise Gertrud had to actively make other people hear it.

"So, the Pokemon Centre and then the Battle Tent. I think that Spiny and Laxus will need a bit of healing." Persephone had grabbed one of the two Pokeballs from her belt and looked at it, worried about her Pokemon. "I wish these two would get along."

"I agree with you on Laxus and Spiny, but I'm pretty sure they heal up you Pokemon before a match in the Battle Tent, so you don't really have to worry about the Pokemon Centre." Blaze spoke, head still down and in an almost incomprehensible mumble that only Persephone could decipher.

"One of these days you are going to have to stop being so nervous in public. Honestly, you are going to end up as one of those… what are they called… hikkikomori I keep reading about." Persephone stopped in front of Blaze and ducked down so she could see his face. "You won't get anywhere with your head pointed at the ground all the time."

"That's why Gertrud is so important to me, and you as well. Both of you pull me along, you guys interpret the world for me." Blaze couldn't stand when Persephone got philosophical with him, but he kind of appreciated it.

Daww, isn't that sweet. Now, if you two lovebirds could get moving, people are staring. Gertrud's little joke got Blaze blushing like crazy. Both Persephone and Gertrud giggled, with Amy floating in confusing about what was going on. Still, I think that we should get to the Battle Tent.

Blaze and Persephone both nodded their heads in unison. They continued on, Blaze looking up for a second to check if Gertrud was telling the truth. Persephone and Gertrud giggled again, there wasn't anyone around, or at least anyone who was staring at them.

"Alright you two pranksters, let's get moving."

It didn't take too long to reach the Battle Tent. While Jublife was quite an expansive city, it was easy to find your way around quickly, and if not there were always taxis. It only took about fifteen minutes to reach on foot.

"Alright, we're here. Now, let's sign up. There should be plenty of people, but it might take a while to find some newbi-"

A girl, probably in her late teens with a Zorua on her shoulder walked past. Blaze was a bit frightened by her appearance, she was quite tall, with white hair and a creepy black suit on.

"Zufi, you ready to challenge the Tent again today? I'm sure Sienna will do much better today. One day we will talk Zen's place as the dark type gym leader." The girl was speaking to the Zorua.

Blaze was suddenly afraid of entering the Battle Tent. These were the kinds of people he liked to avoid. He didn't like strangers, as he could not tell what they were like, but people who went out of their way to make themselves look intimidating put him on edge.

He hoped that he wouldn't have to battle her, but she looked a lot older than a starter trainer. Surely she wouldn't have pokemon at the same skill level as him.

Surely…

"Blaze, you coming soon? Come on, we should sign up right away." Persephone was already by the entrance. The tall girl had walked right past her, Persephone only glancing at the girl quickly before averting her attention back to Blaze.

"Coming…" Blaze spoke unenthusiastically. He didn't want to have to pass by that girl again. Gertrud tried to get his attention by tapping him with one of her petal hands.

Is something the matter? We can just watch instead of battling if you want. Gertrud was worried. Blaze's Flabébé on the other hand was floating right next to Persephone, eagerly awaiting its trainer.

"Oh… It's nothing Gertrud… Don't worry about it." Blaze walked into the Battle Tent behind Persephone.

To call the building a tent was a bit of an understatement on the building itself. It had started out as a concept in Hoenn, where it was indeed a tent that some people had set up with certain rules ad an idea to have a place where trainers could battle without any thought of paying their competition or worrying about rushing to heal Pokemon.

Soon after the idea had spread to Unova and Sinnoh, but they created a facility similar to a Contest arena where trainers could watch battles, wait in a lobby for other trainers, and compete against other trainers of similar ability. It took off fast and similar buildings were built in most towns around both regions.

"Alright, so, where are we going to go? We don't have any badges, I'm pretty sure that is one of the things you need to put in sign-ups." Persephone was looking around a bit confused. She had been in the facility before, but only to watch other people battle, never to battle others.

It was as if the white haired girl was just there to show them where they were supposed to go. In the corner of his vision, Blaze saw her tapping on a screen similar to the phone boxes they used to have installed around Pokemon centres before Xtransceivers became popular. Then he saw her place two Pokeballs into a tray containing six round indents. A fanned out red beam scanned them and she took them out before walking away.

"Well, I'd assume that is where challengers sign up for this." Blaze pointed to where the girl had just been. There was no way that he would be facing her, he didn't have to worry.

Both Blaze and Persephone walked up to individual screens. Information was displayed on the screen to describe the Battle Tent, with an icon in the top left saying "Signups". Blaze tapped it and some text boxes came on screen with areas to fill out details.

First question, Name. Blaze entered his full name, Blaze Ishida, with the onscreen keyboard and clicked the Next button. Second question was gender and age. He tapped male and then typed 14 before clicking Next. Why would they care about his age?

The next few questions were more on Pokemon training. The first was a drop down option box next to a question saying "How long was it since you started your Pokemon journey?" Thank god there was an option that said less than a week, otherwise it would have been awkward for Blaze. The next question was seemingly redundant, although he had heard of prodigies who beat their first gym in under a week. It was asking how many gym badges he had earnt, once again with a drop down option box. He clicked the number zero.

Finally, it asked him to place his Pokeballs in the tray below the screen. While he did this, the screen said "Smile for the camera." He looked at the screen and frowned. He didn't need to smile, he really didn't care. The camera flashed as the red beam from before scanned his Pokeballs. The screen said "Error, all Pokemon must be in Pokeballs." Gertrud looked at Blaze and frowned before jumping down and touching her Pokeball, letting herself be absorbed into the capsule. Amy looked at Blaze, curious as to why Gertrud had gone back into her Pokeball before following suit without need for prompting from her trainer.

Blaze got the machine to rescan the Pokeballs, and details for both Gertrud and Amy, were displayed on the screen. Above each of their species names, there was a blank box that could clearly have text entered. Blaze assumed that this was for the Pokemon's nicknames, so he entered Gertrud and Amy into each of their boxes respectively. The machine rescanned the Pokeballs, and a message saying "data saved" appeared on screen. He guessed that meant that the Battle Tent would save the data for each challenger so that it didn't need to ask the same questions repeatedly.

Persephone looked over at Blaze to see if he had finished with the process yet. He nodded before releasing Gertrud and Amy from their Pokeballs again. Amy spun around, happy to be out again. Gertrud just jumped back on Blaze's shoulder.

So, I guess we just wait for an announcement. I'm not going to be surprised if it takes a while for the system to find suitable trainer matches unless they decided to pair you two. Blaze and Persephone worried at the thought. Both of them didn't really want to face the other at the moment.

"Yea, I guess we wai-"

"Will Blaze Ishida and Hextilda MacCoarson please come to the main lobby, your match is about to start." The announcement came over the loud speaker. Blaze looked over at the reception desk, which was clearly visible from any section of the building. He saw none other than that tall, creepy looking girl walking up to it.

"Oh Arceus please no!" Blaze's hand was covering his right eye, something he did when he was really nervous. "No, please, no!"

"Blaze, go on, you're up." Persephone couldn't see the issue. Blaze hadn't told her that this girl that he was about to fight in a Pokemon Battle was scaring him. Persephone gave him a slight push and against his own will Blaze's feet started moving towards the reception desk.

When he reached the desk he practically whispered to the Receptionist. "I'm Blaze Ishida, I'm here for the battle." He was shivering from how nervous he was. He couldn't stand the fact that of all people in here, he was facing that girl.

The receptionist pushed a button and the door to the main battle floor opened. He walked through, cursing his own luck. How ironic that the receptionist had just wished him good luck before he went in.

On the other side of the battlefield, there was the girl, her Zorua still standing on her shoulder. She grinned at Blaze, somewhere between a happy and slasher grin. "So, you're my challenger? Well, you don't look so good."

Blaze wasn't sure if she was referring to the fact that he was shaking to the point where it almost looked like he was twitching, or that she could somehow tell that this was his first battle. He was thinking the worst from this girl though.

"Well, my name is Hextilda, which I would assume you would already know from that announcement. I plan on becoming the future leader of the dark type gym in Hearthome. Anyway, you must be Blaze Ishida, it's nice to meet you." The girl spoke in a weird mix between condescending and friendly. She pulled out a top hat with a few bite marks and put it on.

Blaze spoke to Gertrud, who was still on his shoulder for the moment. Amy was floating around his shoulder, sizing up her trainer's opponent. The Flabébé flew over to Hextilda and gave her the most menacing stare that could come from such a tiny Pokemon.

"Not much of a talker, are you? Well, I admire your Flabébé, she has spiri-"

I apologize for Blaze, he is extremely nervous and it seems your appearance has scared him speechless. Hextilda acted shocked, but not as shocked as Gertrud had expected. Amy flew back over to Blaze as Hextilda spoke.

"Hmm, so you have a Pokemon who can use telepathic communication as well. Zufi here is telepathic as well, so I'm used to it." Hextilda smiled at her foe. "Well, I guess that's something we have in common.

The announcer of the match spoke into the microphone that was right in front of him on the desk. "Will the two of the challengers please get the battle underway?"

"Fine, fine. I may as well crush my competition as fast as possible." Hextilda gave that joy crossed slasher smile once again. "And I think I'll go with a double battle this time around, just for the fun of it. Go, Sienna and Inditius."

A small green rock type Pokemon and a purple bug like Pokemon appeared from the Pokeballs. There was one more Pokeball strapped to Hextilda's belt. "We'll go for a 2-v-2 battle. I won't use this one here." On the screen, there was a picture of a Larvitar and a question mark on the place of what should have been a Skorupi.

"What the hell…" Blaze looked at the screen. There was something weird going on. He had read about this from something, but he wasn't very sure exactly what it was. He gathered up the courage to speak. "I'll be using Amy and Gertrud, my Flabébé and Roselia." Gertrud jumped off his shoulder and onto the battlefield. Amy floated in the air next to the Roselia.

The Zorua on Hextilda's shoulder transformed into Gertrud and smiled. Well, good luck to you Blaze, and you two Gertrud. Blaze chuckled at the Zorua.

"Well, I guess I'll have the first move. Gertrud, use Growth, and Amy use Lucky Chant." A white light surrounded Gertrud's body, which she absorbed, breathing in. Amy sang and physical rings of music notes appeared and surrounded Gertrud and Amy like a shield.

Hextilda looked at Zufi the Zorua, who had changed back to normal. "Well then, I guess we're up. Sienna, Nasty Plot, Inditius, whip up a Sandstorm." Sand came from the Larvitar's backside, covering the whole battlefield and the stands with swirling sands. Meanwhile, the Skorupi seemed to be grinning maniacally about something.

Why would a Skorupi be doing something to raise its Special Attack, when Skorupis specialized in Physical attacks and defences. In fact, he was quite sure that Skorupis couldn't learn Nasty Plot. There was something wrong here.

Zufi transformed again, this time into an almost perfect replica of Persephone, who Blaze noticed was in the stands cheering him on. The only issue was that Zufi's replica had a Zorua's tail. Persephone was giggling, with Zufi grinning at the girl she had transformed into.

That was it! "Amy, use Vine Whip on Sienna, then I want you to intercept her attacks." Flabébés were great at taking special attacks, and while he didn't want to put Amy in harm's way, she was more likely to take the hits than Gertrud. Plus, Gertrud would be better focusing on Inditius the Larvitar.

Amy turned and nodded at her trainer. "Flabé" she said in acknowledgment. A vine grew out from the Flabébé's orange flower which quickly rushed towards the Skorupi. The Skorupi jumped out of the way, but Amy managed to swing the vine rapidly to hit her foe. While this was happening, he told Gertrud to line up a Poison Sting. The Skorupi's body flickered slightly, the Pokemon focusing on something else, not noticing the poisoned barb that was coming straight for her.

The barb stuck right in the Pokemon's side and its form shimmered. As its illusion broke, Sienna the Zoroark gave a growl. "Well Blaze, I'm surprised that this is your first battle. You seem to handle both Gertrud and Amy quite well, and their aim in a Sandstorm is quite exceptional. I'm still not going easy on you."

"Arceus, you sound like Cecil when he is in the middle of a battle." To Blaze's surprise, he wasn't nervous anymore. He was actually enjoying himself. "Well, you did say you had aspirations to be a gym leader, so I guess the fact that you sound like him isn't a bad thing."

"Anyway, let's go at this. Sienna, use Flamethrower on Amy! Inditius, attack Gertrud with Bite!" Sienna formed a mass of fire in her mouth while Inditius charged straight towards Gertrud. A stream of fire came out of Sienna's mouth, headed straight for the Flabébé. Amy manipulated the wind to dull the fire, but it was not enough to stop fire from slamming into her, albeit with about half the original power.

Gertrud was trying to outmanoeuvre Inditius's jaw, but due to the Sandstorm, her visibility was down. Unable to react as fast as usual, the Larvitar was able to clamp down on her arm. Gertrud gritted her teeth trying to resist making a slight sound from the bite. Blaze was trying to think of something quickly. Sienna's attacks were clearly powerful, and Inditius was enhanced by the Sandstorm.

He was backed right into a corner. Damn it, what was he going to do now…

Thank you to Derahex on Lake Valor for submitting the character of Hextilda. I found it fun trying to interpret her character, and I tried to make her seem intimidating and fun at the same character. Hopefully I should be able to get Persephone's battle started up next chapter.