After a long night's worth of sleep, Victini and I were walking towards Turffield along with Serena.
"So, what do you plan on doing once we get to Turffield?" Serena asked.
"Defeat the gym leader there. They're in the ultra class rank, so defeating them would be the best way to climb the ranks quickly," I answered.
The two of us continued walking in silence. Victini was sitting on my shoulder, watching us.
After having climbed one final hill, our destination lay directly ahead of us.
"We're here," I said.
From our perspective on top of the mound, the only recognizable buildings that stood out were the gym and pokémon center.
Quickening our pace, we quickly made our way to the city gates.
"And here we are! Hmm... Actually, I suppose I'll go to the pokémon center first before heading for the gym," I said.
"Are you seriously going to challenge a gym leader with just one pokémon?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Don't underestimate the strength of this little one. She can do things that would make some trainers jealous," I said while Victini gave a confident smile.
"Well, if you say so," she shrugged, "then it'll be alright. Still, good luck! I'll go explore the city looking for things to use as a reference for my tour in the meantime. Tell me how it went!"
After saying her goodbyes, she walked into the opposite direction Victini and I went.
"Isn't it incredible? I mean, we just met and traveled with one of the most famous models from Hoenn!"
Victini let out a long sigh, which caused me to laugh. She used to watch movies with me when we were younger. Her favorites were always the romantic ones.
"How old are you again?" I asked sarcastically.
"Same as you, big-head!" She replied and started laughing again.
We laughed and picked up our pace.
After Victini had a check-up at the Pokécenter, we both headed to the gym, the city's prominent feature.
When we entered, we found ourselves in some sort of reception hall with multiple vacant chairs and a counter at the back.
Since the place was empty, I went straight to the reception.
"Uh, excuse me? I'd like to request a battle with the leader of this gym."
The attendant looked at me without much surprise.
"One more challenger, I see. I'll let Milo know. Do you already have a dynamax uniform and bracelet?" she asked.
"Uniform?"
"Yes. You see, here in Galar, challengers use dynamax bracelets to increase the power of their pokémon. In order to protect themselves from potential injuries, trainers are required to wear special uniforms during matches."
"Ah, I see. I already have received the band, but I don't have the uniform."
"Well, in that case, I need you to choose a three digit number. Once you've done that, I'll order you a uniform. They are free for challengers, so don't worry about the price."
"Ok, uh..." I said and started to think about what number to choose.
{What number should I choose? I honestly have no idea... Truth be told, I never thought this would be necessary} I thought.
I kept thinking for a few seconds until I suddenly had an idea.
"Tini, can you come here, please?"
Victini, who was behind me, came to face me.
"Please stay still for a moment," I said and took my rotomphone out of my pocket.
I pointed the camera at Victini, and after a few seconds, her info appeared.
494
Victini
This Pokémon brings victory. It is said that Trainers with Victini always win, regardless of the type of encounter. When it shares the infinite energy it creates, that being's entire body will be overflowing with power.
"Ok, can the number be 494?" I asked the attendant.
"Sure. I'll order the uniform right away. Please feel free to take a seat over there while you wait," she said.
I made myself comfortable as Victini layed down on my lap.
After a few minutes, I saw a man in a suit bring in a set of clothes. Without thinking, I approached the counter.
"Perfect. Here's your uniform; the changing room is over there."
She pointed to a sign depicting the male sign next to her.
I entered the changing room while Victini stayed outside and put my new uniform on. It was rather simple, being white with blue accents. The only unique figure it had was the number 494 stamped on its back.
I also put on the dynamax bracelet, which was now glowing red, apparently charged.
After changing, I exited the changing room.
"Uh, not what I expected, but it could be worse," Victini said, clearly a bit disappointed.
Shrugging the strange remark off, I again approached the counter.
"Great, it looks good on you. I think that whoever gave you the bracelet has already warned you before, but I'll repeat it just in case: This bracelet is fragile, so be careful with it," she warned.
"I'll remember that," I said.
"Alright then. Go to your right, Milo is waiting for you at the stadium. Good luck."
I did as told, heading down the right hall.
As I walked I could hear the crowd's loud screams echoing faintly, making me both anxious and excited for the coming battle. When I finally got close to the set of doors, I shot a glance at Victini in the corner of my vision as she did the same.
We opened the doors.
The gym was packed with people watching and screaming and chanting, most in favor of the gym leader.
I approached the center of the battlefield, where the person I assumed to be Milo was standing.
"So you're the challenger, huh? I'm Milo, Galar's grass-type Gym Leader," he introduced himself.
"I'm Harden from Pallet town in Kanto. Nice to meet you," I said.
"The pleasure is all mine. Now, are you ready?"
"More than ever!" I said, enthusiasm palpable in my voice.
We both backed away from each other while silence descended upon the stadium.
Until we suddenly came to a stop and turned around.
"Gossifleur! Let's hit the hay!" he said.
Milo threw his pokéball, releasing a Gossifleur.
"Victini, let's emerge victorious!"
Victini approached the center of the stadium, flaunting her fire.
"This will be a 1v1 battle without switches," the referee started to explain. "Also, each trainer will be able to use up to two pokémon. With that said: begin!"
"Victini, start with Flame Charge!" I said.
Victini responded in kind by covering her body in fire and then shooting towards her opponent.
She managed to strike Gossifleur directly, throwing him back a little.
"Not bad. Gossifleur, use Leafage!"
Multiple magically glowing leaves began to surround Glossifleur. Not for long though, as they were soon after flung towards Victini.
"Use Quick Attack to dodge!"
Victini's body was enveloped in a faint light blue aura as she dashed across the field to dodge every leaf. However, one of the last ones managed to hit her.
"Victini!" I shouted, a bit worried.
When the dust settled, Victini was still up in the air, having sustained a few scratches.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine."
"Great, then use Quick Attack once again!"
Victini's ears glowed blue and Victini again sprinted towards Gossifleur, this time launching him into the air.
"Great! Now finish with Flame Charge!"
Victini's body was again covered with fire, but this time, Victini didn't move. Instead, the fire she conjured started to concentrate in front of her face. After a few seconds, she launched a large fireball towards Gossifleur.
When the dust settled, Gossifleur was on the floor, unconscious.
"Gossifleur is incapacitated. The winner is Victini!" The judge said, while I was still awestruck by her impromptu move.
"D-Did you know how to do this?" I asked. Victini shot me a worried glance.
"No? I mean, it was kind of an accident," she explained. I sighed, but not was able to hide a small smile.
"Not bad... Not bad at all! But this just means that we need to get serious! Come out, Eldegoss!" he said as he threw his pokéball.
"It's dynamax time! You're about to be uprooted!" he shouted.
Milo retrieved his pokémon and activated his bracelet. A red energy started to seep into his pokéball, which in turn started to drastically increase in size. Once it stopped, Milo threw it back, releasing a huge version of Eldegoss.
"This is Max-Eldegoss!"
Victini and me were really intimidated, but now was not the time to back down.
"If that's what you want, then so be it! Let's go, Victini!" I said enthusiastically.
I touched my dynamax band, causing multiple red energy beams to connect to Victini, who also began to grow in size.
After a few seconds, Victini was behind me, at what seemed like over a hundred times her usual size.
"Come on, Victini! Use Max-Flare!" Victini began to surround herself with fire, which she then launched as a concentrated ray at Max-Eldegoss.
Even though the attack didn't manage to defeat it, the damage done was clearly visible.
"Not bad... Max-Eldegoss! Use Max-Seeds!"
Multiple giant seeds formed around Max-Eldegoss, which were then thrown towards Victini, exploding upon contact.
Victini was pushed back slightly.
"Enough joking around! Victini, use Max-Victory!"
Victini's ears started to catch fire, indicating her final move.
After a few seconds, the fire surrounding her ears was launched in a massive storm, hitting Max-Eldegoss.
Feeling the hot air brush up against my face, I turned around to shield myself from the heat.
When the dust finally cleared, Eldegoss, now reverted to his normal size, was unconscious.
"Eldegoss is knocked out! The winner is challenger Harden from Pallet Town!" the judge announced.
The whole audience started to cheer, while Victini returned to her normal size.
As soon as she stopped shrinking, I gave her a big hug, both of us exhilarated by our victory.
Milo slowly approached us.
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you very much! That was an amazing battle," I said.
"I agree for sure. Here, this is the grass badge, the proof of your victory. Since you are also a participant of the World Coronation Championship, you'll also now have a better ranking!" he said as he handed me the badge.
Entranced by our victory, I took the badge almost absentmindedly and put it in my case.
Victini and I were resting in the pokémon center until we finally saw a familiar face walk in.
"Uh? Hey Serena!" I called.
I approached the girl. She looked excited about something.
"From the happiness on your face, I can tell you found the inspiration you wanted," I said.
Victini then sat on my shouder.
"Sure did! I mean, I certainly did find out a few things about Turffield's culture. I also happened to come across tidbits of old legends and even found out that every once in a while, they host a kind of harvest party honouring pokémon like Wooloo and Miltank," she explained.
"Well, I guess that makes a lot of sense. After all, from what I know, the city's reliant on agriculture and the sale of products like wool and milk to stay afloat," I said.
The girl seemed to perk up a bit at Harden's words.
"You're right, getting to know the customs and traditions of different cities is always interesting! But what about you? How was your battle?"
I took my rotomphone and badge case out of my backpack.
"Badge obtained and rank increased!"
My rotomphone now showed the ranking 892.
"That's great! At this rate, you will reach master class in no time!" she said.
"Hopefully. But for now, I'm rather hungry... What do you say about getting something to eat?" I asked.
"Sounds good to me. I heard there's a good restaurant nearby," she said and pointed to the pokécenter's door.
"Great! Come on, it's on me!" I said, and the both of us went into the direction of the restaurant.
Opening the diner's doors, we were met by a hectic sight. Numerous waiters were pacing around and squeezing by while plates seemed to fly in and out of the kitchen.
Taking a moment to orient ourselves, we soon settled for a table located near the restaurant's back. Looking around, I noticed the place was actually quite casually designed with decoration that matched the city's style and several ornamental plants. One wall was even painted to show a lush mountain range in front of a stunning sunset.
With our meals on their way after ordering, the three of us were simply chatting until something came to my mind.
"Hey Serena. I think I never asked, but you once said that you're a trainer. But from what I know, you're also a performer. Even though licenses for both are managed by the pokémon company, they are still entirely seperate things, which leads me to believe that you wanted to be a pokémon trainer at first. You only chose to become a performer later on, right?" I asked.
She looked at me with a surprised expression.
"Yes, but where are you going with this?"
"I'm just curious. If it's not too nosy to ask, what made you change your mind?"
She looked at me, a little reluctantly
"I suppose I have no problem telling you, but please keep it a secret, ok?"
"You have my word."
She nodded.
"...You see, before I became a performer, or rather a coach, I had a childhood friend. We were very close, but after some time, we had to go separate ways since I was from Kalos and he, well... Let's just say distance was an issue, so we didn't see each other for years.
"However, he eventually went to Kalos to participate in the league. Due to some... events, he made an appearance on TV, and I decided that I would go try find and follow him on his journey. You know, I missed him and I hoped he remembered me. Unfortunately, he was never very smart when it came to anything outside of pokémon battles. So, I met him again, and we travelled together for around six months, if memory serves me right.
"In the end though, we parted ways again. Even so, I promised myself that someday I would meet him again and that I finally would-" She suddenly stopped talking and her face started turning red. I was confused for a moment, but I was able to connect the dots.
"Ohhhhh, I see," I said.
"Its not what you're thinking!" she almost shouted.
"No need to hide it, Serena. You made it quite obvious. You have a crush on that friend, don't you?"
She looked at me reluctantly, but eventually nodded.
"Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of. It's quite touching, to be honest," I said.
She looked at me for a few seconds and started to laugh.
"You're an interesting person, Harden... I mean, you've met me less than a day ago, and you can already read me like an open book."
"Well, as said, you made it rather obvious."
"Just keep this between us, ok? I don't want this to go public yet."
"As I said, you have my word. I won't. But in return... please try to keep the fact that I can understand Victini between the two of us as well, please."
"Uh? Sure, I won't tell anyone... But why'd you want that?"
"Well, how do I put this... If the fact we can understand- communicate with each other due to our use of aura becomes public, there might be terrible consequences. For both her and myself, I mean," I explained, only managing to make her more confused in the process. I sighed.
I explained everything I knew about aura to her, allowing her to slowly to catch on.
"I see... But why are you so worried about this going public then?" she asked.
"You see, I've started developing my aura control from a young age, when I was nine, I think. One day, I decided to show it to Professor Oak, the famous professor from Kanto. He was amazed by my 'gift', but... he gave me a warning too. According to him, Aura is considered an ancient pokémon fighting art primarily used by a few legends like Sir Aaron and others known as 'aura guardians'. Barely anything is known about these guardians, but what is known about Sir Aaron and his aura skills has been a subject of intense interest and debate, he said. I think the scientists want to know what he did, and most importantly, how he did it.
"Now, what would happen if a child coming out of nowhere was suddenly able to use this aura? ...It wouldn't take long for researchers to pick up on this, and considering that some of them were already interested in me solely because of Victini, attracting even more of them is something I very much want to avoid. I don't know what they'll do to Victini or me..."
"Wait, you said that they were interested in you because of Victini?"
"Yes. You know, certain legendary and mythical pokémon are seen as really important cultural and historical figures, meaning that capturing them is strictly forbidden. For example, everyone knows that Zekrom and Reshiram rest in Eindoak Town, but no trainer tries to capture them. Or think about Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Lugia, Ho-oh, or Celebi. We know in which regions they live in; we know their behaviour. And yet, a legitimate hunt has never been attempted by scientists. Can you guess why?" I asked.
She seems to think for a second, before answering.
"Cultural legends, ancient beliefs and public opinion," she said.
"Exactly. However, in this case, Victini does not actually fit any of the criteria. With the help of Professor Oak, it was proved that she is not the same Victini from the city of Eindoak. ...This means that anyone can capture her without any consequences. While I am currently Victini's trainer, some researcher could argue that studying her for further research progress would be better than having her be with a trainer and being used and possibly hurt in combat or something like that...", I said with a quivering voice.
"Therefore, Professor Oak offered years ago to tutor me until I turn ten... Even today, Professor Oak is technically responsible for Victini, even though I am her trainer,just not legally- you get the gist. This way, no researcher can request to study her and my abilities with aura are also kept hidden.
"If any of it goes public, it could become a scandal and in the worst case, I could lose her, and, even if we only knew each other for two years. I don't think I would be able to continue as a trainer without her help... She is pretty much my biggest motivation in all this and.." Before I was able to finish, I felt a small weight on my shoulder. I looked to my side to see Victini sit on my shoulder like she normally does, but before I could say anything, she started to hug my neck as best as she could without saying a word herself. I was a little shocked at first, but I returned the hug.
Slowly regaining my bearings, I noticed Serena giving me a concerned look.
"...This is a rather hard topic for me..." I said.
"It's fine, I can completely understand that. I can't imagine what I would do if anyone tried to take my Delphox away. No one should have to go through such things..."
"Well, you're twelve and you already have to worry about your career as a performer as well. We're different and similar at the same time," I joked.
"I guess you could say that... Well, if we continue travelling together, I'm sure we can watch out for and support each other?" she asked.
"Why, it would be an honor!" I said and we laughed a little.
The rest of the stay at the restaurant went by normally. We ate, we laughed, we talked. Even if I had to translate everything Victini said, it was an amazing night to remember.
Still, I can't help but have a bad feeling.