An Age of Valour
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Eight: The Bird Gym
It was half past nine the next morning when Lydia and Jesse headed out into Violet City. The town was already bustling with commotion as they asked for directions to the gym.
"Just go north," the man they asked told them, pointing. "It's a big building with the Pokéball sign out front. You can't miss it. If you hit the Tin Tower, then you've gone too far. Double back. It's right next to Earl's Pokémon Academy."
"Thank you," Lydia said politely. The man nodded and continued on his way as the two trainers headed up the way that he had instructed. "Okay, so what was this Pokémon Academy that he was talking about?"
"Probably one of those crash-course places. You ace tests and you get a badge, no real work actually made," Jesse said, scowling. "There's too few of them that actually make it to the Leagues and none of them make it through the preliminaries."
"Seriously?" Lydia asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Well, maybe some of them, but not one has ever made it to the third round," Jesse admitted, softening his temperament on the place. "There's a couple that are a couple of decent trainers, but most of them never put any real work into training."
"Doesn't sound like you're too fond of them."
Jesse glanced at her sharply. "I was there, once," he said coldly. "And I hated every minute of it. My great-uncle put me into it, telling my mother that it was better than my going off on my own. She was too worried about me leaving, anyway that she agreed. After about six months of it, I left and told my mother I wasn't going back. She was furious with me. Still is, as a matter of fact." His gaze was hard. "I can't even contact my sisters to talk to them. My mother won't let me. She hangs up whenever I call." He sighed and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Jess." Lydia wrapped an arm around him, trying to comfort him. Eevee looked equally worried as she rubbed Jesse's ankles tenderly.
Jesse smiled weakly. "Thanks, Lydia. And thank, Eevee," he added, reaching down and stroking the fox Pokémon gently. "Means a lot."
"I also meant, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," Lydia said quietly. Jesse shook his head, waving her off.
"Forget about it. You would've found out eventually. Besides, friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other, right?" He looked at her severely and she nodded.
"Right," she agreed, glancing up ahead. "Oh! There's the gym!" She hurried up to the sign that the man had told them about. "Violet City Gym, Leader Faulkner," she read. "The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon."
She glanced towards Jesse, who was staring across the street at the Pokémon Academy. His green eyes were hard as he was looking at them and she walked over, touching his arm gently.
"Want to take out your anger on some bird masters?" she inquired. Jesse smiled slightly and they walked into the gym together, Eevee right next to his trainer as they entered.
A young girl was feeding a Pidgey as they walked in, giggling slightly, but she looked up, suddenly serious as she saw them. Instantly, she was on her feet, her eyes narrowing. "So, who are you two?" she wanted to know, placing her hands on her hips.
"I'm Lydia, this is Jesse," she told the girl, smiling. "The gym leader happen to be around?"
"Why? You're not thinking of challenging my dad, are you?" the girl wanted to know, looking angry. "I know what they say about him; he's just a pushover. Good for beginners. Well, he's not. He's one of the best gym leaders that there are! You two aren't good enough to take him."
Lydia bit her lip, trying not to smile and looked at Jesse. He, too, was having trouble keeping a straight face. "Kid, don't you think your dad has the right to decide whether or not he wants to accept challengers?" he asked.
"Doesn't matter whether he wants to or not, he has to," the girl complained. "Gym leader rules."
"Well, then, you should probably let him know he has challengers," Lydia pointed out gently. She bent down. "We just want the chance to see if we're as good as your dad. We're here because we love Pokémon and want to help them get stronger and better."
The girl's eyes softened as she looked at Lydia, then her eyes flickered towards something behind them.
"Bertie, you know better than to keep my challengers waiting," a voice said from behind them. Lydia looked up to see a man that looked like he could be the girl's father standing behind them. Bertie gulped and scampered away, leaving Lydia and Jesse with Faulkner.
"Sorry about that," he told them. "She's been getting a bit angry lately, after her mother left. You two wanted to challenge me?" he asked, looking at the pair of them. "Very well, then. Follow me," he said, gesturing them to join him. Lydia followed him, Jesse behind her, as they climbed what seemed like a huge amount of stairs, finally reaching the top.
"Why don't you put in an elevator?" Lydia grumbled, her chest heaving as her feet found level. Jesse smirked at her and Faulkner grinned.
"I like to tire out my challengers," he replied. "Who's first?'
Lydia, unable to speak, pointed at Jesse. The trainer rolled his eyes before taking his place at the challenger's end while Faulkner took his own place. Jesse handed his Pokédex to the referee, who entered it into a computer.
"This match between challenger Jesse Turner of Alyson City and Gym Leader Faulkner shall now begin!"
Watching the match from the sidelines, Lydia had to admit that Jesse knew what he was doing and that Bertie was right, too; her dad was most definitely not a pushover. The longer the match went on, the more her nerves started to heighten.
Despite being at a disadvantage, Ivysaur successfully took out Faulkner's Pidgey, but was called out of the match when Pidgeotto took the floor and Gastly was sent out. After a series of lick attacks, mixed in with a hypnosis attack, was enough to take the bird Pokémon out of the match.
"Pidgeotto is unable to battle," the referee called. "The match goes to challenger Jesse Turner of Alyson City!"
"Way to go, Jess!" Lydia exclaimed, hurrying over to hug him. He returned the embrace briefly.
"Your turn," he told her as he took his place on the sidelines. Lydia smirked as she looked at Faulkner, who nodded to the referee. She handed over her Pokédex to him, which he entered the data into the computer before returning it to her.
"This match between challenger Lydia Talon of Rosewaters Isle and Gym Leader Faulkner will now begin!" he called.
"Eevee, I choose you!" Lydia called, sending the fox Pokémon out into the match. Faulkner smirked.
"A normal?" he remarked, looking as though he'd already won the match. Lydia gave him a sweet, innocent smile in return.
"You haven't seen anything yet," she told him lightly. "You gonna sent your Pokémon out or not?"
Faulkner smiled. "You're sure in a hurry to lose," he told her, but produced a Spearow all the same. "Spearow, fury attack!"
"Dodge and use tackle!" Lydia shouted. Eevee obeyed, moving out of the way in the very last second to avoid the attack. He then turned and tackled Spearow head on, but the bird managed to peck him as Eevee unleashed the attack, so both Pokémon were injured.
"Eevee!" Lydia yelled. The fox Pokémon struggled to his feet and looked towards his trainer. "Can you continue?"
"Vee!"
"All right, then," Lydia said, relieved. She didn't want to switch just yet, but Eevee's safety came first. The moment that she was certain that he couldn't battle, then she was going to use Poliwag.
"Sure you want to continue?" Faulkner asked her and she nodded. "Have it your way, then. Spearow, pursuit!" Lydia's eyes went wide; the dark type attack would only do twice as much damage if she even tried to switch Pokémon. It might take both her Pokémon out before they had the chance to do anything.
"Don't let it hit you, Eevee!" Lydia shouted. "Dodge with quick attack!" The fox Pokémon disappeared, appearing in short appearances, but too quick for Spearow or the gym leader or his trainer to see Eevee. "Now take down!"
The attack hit dead on and Spearow was knocked from the air onto the ground, unconscious. Faulkner recalled it, looking slightly annoyed. "Nice tactics," he said. "But this match is just getting started. Go, Fearow!"
"Eevee, come back!" Lydia knew that the take down had drained Eevee, which was her main reason for calling the fox Pokémon back. "You did great, buddy," she told him. "Why don't we let Poliwag take it from here?"
With a small nod, Eevee allowed Lydia to send Poliwag into the match. Faulkner's eyes narrowed. "Fearow, let's finish up this little girl. Pursuit!"
"No way," Lydia retorted. "Poliwag, use bubble! Then follow up with hypnosis!" The first attack hit her mark, but the hypnosis attack was missed by Fearow managing to dodge it. "Shoot!" she grumbled. How was she supposed to stop it from flying so high?
"Fury attack, Fearow!" Faulkner called, taking her hesitation for admittance to defeat. "Finish it!"
"Water gun!" The command was out of her mouth before she could even stop to think. Poliwag released the water attack, sending it straight at Fearow. The attack hit the mark and Fearow was sailing down, wounded badly but not defeated. Not yet. "Now bubble one more time!"
"Poliwag!" The tagpole Pokémon did as she was told and unleashed another bubble attacked, sending Fearow into the wall. The crash was enough for both trainers to feel its impact and Lydia instantly felt worried that she'd hurt Fearow severely.
"Fearow is unable to battle," the referee announced as Faulkner hurried over to his fallen Pokémon. "This match goes to challenger Lydia Talon of Rosewaters Isle!"
Lydia hurried over to Faulkner as he glanced up at the referee, then to Lydia and Jesse, who had both joined him. "Is Fearow all right?" she asked, kneeling beside the bird.
"Yeah, he's fine," Faulkner said. "Just needs a good rest." He sent Fearow into his Pokéball and turned to the two of them. "Congratulations, the both of you. You two have earned these." He handed each of them a badge. "The Zephyr Badge is proof that you have won your match here at the Violet City Gym. And I'll have some money put into your accounts as well."
"Money?" Lydia repeated. "We get money just for winning?"
"Got to keep us going somehow," Jesse responded. "It's for potions, antidotes, stuff like that." Lydia nodded. "Thank you, sir."
Faulkner nodded. "If you two are headed for Azalea Town, then you might want to stop by the Ruins of Alph. They're quite something to see and there are some Pokémon that you won't have been expecting." He smiled. "If ever you would like to come and challenge me just for the practice, my doors are wide open. I definitely learned a few things from the two of you."
Lydia smiled. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment, considering this was my first battle."
The bird master stopped and looked at her, a quirky smile appearing on his face. She had a feeling that she knew what was coming. "Your first match . . . ever?" he asked and she nodded. "What, did you start a bit late or something?"
"A bit," Lydia admitted. "It's a long story."
Faulkner nodded. "Talon . . . you wouldn't be Jack Talon's daughter, by any chance, would you?"
"Niece," she corrected. "I'm his niece. My dad is his older brother."
Without questioning this, Faulkner escorted them out the door. After a quick treatment at the Pokémon centre, Lydia and Jesse were on their way to the Ruins of Alph and then to Azalea Town and their next gym battles.