The randomness continues~

Today, we have more battles. Because battles are cool and I practically wrote this entire thing just to go crazy with writing battles. And conspiracy. Yep. :D

I don't own Pokemon. Did I forget the disclaimer last time? Huh. Better fix that I suppose. I never remember these things. xD

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The Gym Trainers recognized him as he walked in. They stepped aside, bright eyes watching him intently, as he slowly made his way up the aisle to where Roxanne was waiting. She was balanced lithely on her platform, glittering ruby eyes focused and eager.

"You're back," the Rock-type Trainer said, brushing a curly lock of taupe hair back. She smiled confidently, scanning him over as though searching him thoroughly for flaws, cracks. "Then let's see what you've got."

And it began.

Perhaps she suspected he would lead with Oddish, because Roxanne sent out Onix first. Beck decided instead to go out with Baltoy. He watched Roxanne's face carefully for any signs of a reckless light that would announce her intention to use Explosion.

She was observing his Pokemon with a small concentration-filled frown, and Beck decided, from her patient expression, that she had decided to fight Baltoy rather than sacrifice her Pokemon immediately. For now, at least, he didn't have to fear Onix Exploding right off the bat.

"Mud Slap," he ordered. Roxanne looked surprised to see the top-like Pokemon respond with greater speed than previously. Baltoy shot towards the Onix and hurled a concentrated stream of mud that washed against its side. Onix growled and irately shook the thick dirt off, swatting at Baltoy with its tail and forcing it to retreat.

"Iron Tail," Roxanne called. With surprising speed of its own, Onix lashed out suddenly, its flashing tail a harsh white blur, striking the top-like Pokemon with force that made Beck wince. Like a small toy hurled furiously by a child throwing a tantrum, Baltoy was sent crashing into the wall.

"That's it," Roxanne said, leaning forward. "Hit it again, while its Defense has dropped!"

Baltoy got no opportunity to recover enough to dodge; it was sent flying with the second Iron Tail.

"Mud Slap!" Beck cried desperately. Baltoy managed to twist aside as a third Iron Tail was thrown its way and threw more mud at Onix, hitting it right in the face. The rock snake snarled and as it was attempting to dislodge the dirt over its eyes, Baltoy struck it again.

"Iron Tail!"

Onix roared and lashed out blindly, the mud still obstructing its vision. Baltoy hastily hovered back to barely avoid the wildly swinging tail.

Roxanne's eyes were almost pinkish in fiery light. "To the left. Concentrate!"

Onix seemed to pause, and then struck again with no warning. Baltoy gave a cry of surprise as it was thumped solidly right in the chest, the sound hollow and painful, and then sent tumbling onto the floor once again. The small Pokemon skidded a good twenty feet before coming to rest, with a groan, at Beck's feet.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked in concern. The top-like Pokemon attempted to rise and Beck shook his head, kneeling down and gently picking Baltoy up. He felt a little anxious, having his first Pokemon taken out so quickly, but he tried to sound reassuring. "Take a break. You've done a good job, weakening that Onix."

He put Baltoy back into its capsule to rest for the match, and then sent out Rush, the Poliwhirl he had borrowed. Roxanne looked surprised and as she stared at the Water-type, and Beck called out, "Use Bubblebeam!"

Rush blinked at the Onix for a moment, turned back to peer at Beck, and then shot a powerful stream of bubbles at his opponent.

"Dodge it!" Roxanne cried. Onix growled, slithered away with fair speed, only slightly grazed by the Bubblebeam.

"Quickly—Rock Slide!" she shouted.

Onix shook its head like there was an irritating fly buzzing in its ears and Beck realized it was still half-blinded from Baltoy's Mud Slaps. The Rock Slide attack missed the Poliwhirl completely. Beck smiled and called to Rush, to counterattack.

Roxanne's eyes narrowed. "Onix, use Ex—,"

"Bubblebeam!"

Rush was faster than the rock snake. The Water-type attack streamed out, hitting Onix in the face and then washing over its body. The Rock-type let out a pained roar and then heavily collapsed, causing the floor to shake and groan.

One down.

Beck refrained from leaping up and celebrating so loudly this time, but he flashed Rush a proud smile.

There was a worried expression on Roxanne's face, as she realized the threat the Poliwhirl posed to her team. She sent out Nosepass.

"Protect!" she called immediately. Nosepass emerged from the Pokeball and cast a shield against the incoming Bubblebeam.

"Now, use Double Team!"

Rush looked around wildly, and warily stepped back from the illusionary Nosepass that appeared. He began shooting Bubblebeam randomly, but the attacks only hit copies that leered briefly before vanishing.

Beck saw that desperate light glinting in Roxanne's eyes and knew that she wasn't going to take any chances with regular attacks.

"Explosion!"

Beck winced, because once again there was nothing he could do. He himself wasn't sure which one of the many Nosepass was the real one and there was no chance Rush would be able to dodge the attack.

The entire Gym was rocked with the impact of the move, even harder than when Onix had used it in the previous match. Beck groaned as he clutched his ears, wondering how long it would be before he went deaf from it all.

Feeling his head ringing like, well, he had just listened to something explode very loudly, Beck fumbled for Rush's Pokeball and withdrew the defeated Poliwhirl without looking up.

"O-Oddish," he managed, as he hurled another Pokeball. The Grass-type emerged with an eager bounce and looked over to see who his opponent was. Glaring back in a hostile manner, was Roxanne's Golem. Oddish's crimson eyes narrowed in concentration at the sight of his nemesis.

"Alright Oddish," Beck said with a weak grin, one hand still pressed to the side of his head. "Let's show off your new move. Mega Drain!"

Golem, of course, had to make things difficult by using Magnitude. The roots that were the Mega Drain attack were bigger and stronger than Absorb, but they were still torn apart easily by the force of Golem's quake. Oddish wailed as he was thrown aside and then pelted by flying debris.

This time, Beck lost his balance, too, and tripped, falling on his face in quite an embarrassing manner. He scrambled to his feet and saw Oddish looking desperately to him for instruction.

Feeling rather incompetent from falling and losing focus, Beck called out, "Try Mega Drain again! They can't consistently keep up such powerful Magnitudes."

He was right. The next quake that Golem unleashed was barely enough to neglect the Mega Drain attack. Oddish recovered from the attack and surged forward with renewed fury, launching more roots.

But Golem wouldn't go down so quietly. It used Protect.

And then it blew up, seemingly just to spite them.

"Could you please quit it?" Beck couldn't help but holler, as he staggered back from the force of Golem's Explosion. He felt horrible, because this would be the second time that Oddish was KO'd by something Exploding in his face. The boy didn't think it was the most pleasant way to be constantly knocked out by.

"Gl…"

Suddenly, there was a terrible stench in the air—like the putrid depths of the worst swamp, polluted with old garbage. Beck's breath hitched in surprise as he heard Roxanne gag, "What is this?"

The boy held his hand over his mouth and his nose as he looked up and saw an unfamiliar round blue shape with a bright pinkish-red flower on top of it.

"Gloom?" The Pokemon slowly turned around cautiously and Beck stared at it for a moment.

"Oddish…?" he asked blankly. "I mean…not Oddish anymore. You…you're…evolved?"

Gloom looked down on himself and experimentally waved his newly grown arms. "Gloom…" he said thoughtfully.

"How?" Roxanne's voice rang sharply across the room. She stared in disbelief, looking between her unconscious Golem, the crater from the Explosion, and the still-standing Gloom.

Beck blinked at Gloom. "I…have no idea," he admitted. "How did you emerge from that unharmed?"

The Pokemon stumbled a little and gave him a pointed look. I didn't.

Beck then saw that the Grass-type's side was charred, and he winced in sympathy. "Ouch…but…how did you avoid most of it?"

"I get it," Roxanne said suddenly, staring at her fainted Pokemon. It was facing towards her, despite its opponent being in the other direction. "Your Oddish evolved just before the Explosion and then began giving off this…stink. This caused Golem to instinctively turn away from the horrible stench and direct his Explosion away, and that, combined with Gloom's increased Speed, allowed it to avoid the brunt of the attack."

"Huh," said Beck, blinking. He paused and cautiously removed his hand from his nose, gingerly breathing in. The awful smell that Gloom was giving off seemed to have faded.

He recalled learning somewhere that smells only lasted for twenty seconds or something, before people stopped registering them. Taking in a deep, seemingly untainted breath of air, Beck grinned broadly and said, "Well, good job, O—Gloom!"

The Grass-type nodded cheerily and then winced, peering down at his wound again. Beck bit his lip, as he watched Roxanne sent out her Kabuto.

"Ice Beam!" Roxanne ordered, a confident smile on her face.

"Dodge it!"

Gloom obeyed, but Beck could tell that his injuries were slowing him down. "Use Mega Drain!"

Roxanne's eyes glittered defiantly. "Ice Beam. Aim for the roots!"

Kabuto complied and quickly froze over the roots that emerged from the ground. Gloom tried to use Mega Drain again, but to no avail. Beck stepped back, worried. He had a disadvantage now, being unable to take advantage of Kabuto's quadruple weakness to Grass.

"Now, aim for Gloom!"

Both Beck and his Pokemon flinched.

"Get in close," the boy called, his eyes tracking the beam of frost that Kabuto was preparing to unleash. Gloom flashed him an odd look, but obeyed. He flitted around the Ice Beam and surged towards his opponent.

Beck shouted for a Mega Drain. Kabuto froze as it was commanded to use Ice Beam, glowing crimson eyes darting between the roots surging from the ground, and Gloom who was charging towards it. In its hesitation, one of the roots slapped Kabuto and began hungrily wrapping around it, inflicting some damage. Desperately, the Rock-type swung its Ice Beam in an arc, freezing the roots and then lashing it towards its opponent in the same instance.

Before the frosty attack hit him, Gloom's eyes widened in resentment and he seemed to positively flip out at the prospect of being defeated immediately upon evolution. With a thin, angry cry, he crossly released a large plume of golden dust. The powder spread out in a cloud that washed over Kabuto vengefully, even as Gloom fell to the Ice Beam.

The Kabuto hissed angrily, stumbling back. Its small legs scrabbled and twitched, its mobility reduced with great severity because of the Stun Spore. Beck shook his head in amazed disbelief. This was the second time that the Gloom had managed to inflict a Status condition on his opponent as he was knocked out. The Grass-type really had to be commended for his tenacity.

Thanking Gloom softly, Beck withdrew the Grass-type and held up the Pokeball of his final Pokemon.

"Okay. It's up to you, Igneous."

"Surf," Roxanne replied coldly.

Igneous emerged from his Pokeball and just like last time, was immediately faced with a wall of roaring water about to crash into him. He seemed to sigh and look at his Trainer ruefully.

Beck laughed sheepishly. "Yeah…Magnitude?"

The boy and the Numel got lucky again. The quake was enough to break the Surf attack, just like last time. The already weakened Kabuto was thrown harshly away. This time, Beck didn't give it an opportunity to counterattack.

"Quickly, use Take Down!"

Recklessly, Igneous charged and threw his entire weight onto the Rock-type. It wasn't enough to do too much damage, but it knocked the rapidly tiring Kabuto back. The Rock-type certainly couldn't unleash a Surf if it was being pummeled left and right, after all. Roxanne seemed to realize this, and shouted for Kabuto to put distance between it and its opponent.

The Rock-type obeyed, and when Igneous tried to pursue him with Take Down, Kabuto stopped him with a wall of Rock Slide. Igneous growled as he was pelted by the falling slabs of stone and had to back away to avoid being buried by them.

With his head, the Numel cleared aside the barrier of rocks and then glanced back at his Trainer. Beck was practically gnawing at his nails. Kabuto had managed to retreat a safe distance away where it could spew Surfs at its leisure. The boy was pretty sure his luck would run out with Magnitude—sooner or later, he would get a quake that wouldn't be strong enough to stop a Surf and that would be game over. But Igneous's only other long-range move was…

"Flame Burst," the boy decided to try. Igneous looked puzzled, but turned and obeyed. He shot a small, condensed fire ball across the battlefield, the orange flames cackling loudly.

"Surf!"

The Kabuto paused for a moment, seeming to be trying to catch its breath. Laboriously, it finally managed to summon up on another cresting wave that extinguished the fire with a harsh hiss of steam. The water surged towards Igneous like a predator that had finally cornered its prey.

Beck stared blankly at the great wall of water, at a loss and sure that he would lose now. He could feel some of the misty droplets hit his cheek, even from here, the wave stirring up a cold, biting breeze. And in the furious roar of the cold winter wave, he could hear Sarah scoffing at him. In fact he could practically make out her exact words…

"Flame Burst deals residue damage."

What?

Beck blinked and realized he was recalling what Sarah had said to him during their training session. He had noticed that Igneous's attacks were also setting nearby objects like bushes and patches of grass on fire, even though he was aiming for Ninjask. Sarah had informed him that Flame Burst would not only damage what it was directly aimed at, but also what was around that target.

The boy paused for another fraction of a second. "Flame Burst!"

Igneous launched a fire ball that was easily swallowed into the depths of the surging water. Roxanne looked confused, and then gasped as she saw her Kabuto flinch violently, seemingly from nothing, and almost fall off the wave. Said wave was less than ten feet away from Igneous now.

The Numel shot another Flame Burst which hit the Rock-Water-type again. With the quadruple resistance, it still wasn't enough to KO…but the additional residue damage was. Kabuto groaned, falling back in exhaustion. The wave faltered with its owner and then collapsed like a tent with no poles to hold it up.

Kabuto fell to the ground, the water wailing as it fell with it. Igneous scrambled backwards in alarm, barely avoiding the crashing water that splashed with the force of the fallen wave.

"We did it," Beck whispered, half in shock at his luck. "Great work, Igneous!"

The Numel sighed happily, waddling up to him and bumping the boy's side with his head. Beck grinned, giving him a handful of well-earned Berries.

Roxanne shook her head slowly, as she withdrew Kabuto. She stepped towards him, crossing over the drenched and crater-ridden battlefield. "I see. I still have much to learn. You outplayed me in the end, using your Pokemon's strengths in such a way…I'll study hard so I can match up to people like you. But now—here you've earned this."

Beck nodded reverently as he accepted the Stone Badge. He patted Igneous proudly on the head. With this, he was one step closer to becoming a great Trainer, like his father was said to be.

I hope you're watching, dad.

It had been quite a close and exhilarating match and, after visiting the Pokemon Center, Beck decided to give his team a pep talk to congratulate them on the win. He walked to the large courtyard just before the Devon Corps building, where he was due to return Rush the Poliwhirl to his owner. Beck felt a little sad, parting with the borrowed Water-type that proved to be an adaptive and friendly partner, but he was also eager to get Solo back.

"Great job today, guys," Beck said, when he had assembled his team before him. "Thanks to everyone's hard work, we got the Stone Badge!"

Igneous lowed in acknowledgement. Gloom did a happy twirl, waving his small arms up and down. The Grass-type seemed to have developed a fascination with the novelty of arms and relished every opportunity to use them. Already, he had established a quirky routine of shaking hands with everyone and everything that also had arms.

Rush nodded gladly, and right on cue, Gloom took the opportunity to seize the Water-type's mitten-like hand and energetically shake it. The Poliwhirl blinked, seeming slightly taken aback, but he humored the Gloom and accepted the handshake.

The only one that seemed a little down was Baltoy. It hovered a little off to the side, staring at some distant houses. Beck took a step towards it and asked, "What's wrong?"

Baltoy shook itself and straightened a little, like it was saying, What? No, nothing at all.

Beck stared at the top Pokemon for a moment. "Are you still tired from the Gym match?"

At this, Baltoy shook itself even harder, in a vigorous no.

The boy paused, as realization dawned on him. "Are you upset that you lost against your opponent again?"

The top Pokemon froze, and Beck knew he had hit the bull's-eye. It was true though, and Beck hadn't even noticed it until now. Baltoy had not won a single match against anyone. It had been knocked out in one hit by Flannery's Camelrupt, had been dispatched by a single Surf from Roxanne's Kabuto, and then lost again to her Onix.

"It's okay," Beck immediately counseled, kneeling down and patting the top Pokemon on its peculiar-shaped head. "You're doing fine. You've gotten a lot stronger, and I bet you'll evolve soon too." He grinned, trying to change the topic to a cheery one. "I saw a Claydol once, when I was little. They're really cool—when you become one, you'll have multiple eyes and detachable arms."

Baltoy seemed to perk up at the interesting thought of having detachable arms, while Gloom perked up at just the word "arms". Rush looked quite confused at the joke he was obviously missing and Igneous rolled his eyes at their silliness and looked away.

Beck laughed. He could have stood there for the rest of the day, watching his Pokemons' antics, but then he remembered he had to meet the Youngster, to return Rush. He glanced around and saw that it was five minutes to noon—the appointed time. Hastily, the boy had his team say goodbye to Rush and then withdrew everyone, hurrying to the entrance of the Devon Corps Building.

He scanned around for a moment, and seeing no one there, looked inside. There was no one in the lobby except for a seated woman reading a magazine, a secretary on the phone, and a bored-looking guard who blocked the stairs to the second floor.

Maybe he was still on his way. Not everyone was as obsessed with being prudent as Beck was, after all. The boy stepped back outside, found a comfortable portion of the wall to lean on, and waited.

Ten minutes passed, with no sign of Rush's owner. Beck frowned a little, and wondered if something had happened.

After another few minutes, Beck walked back across the courtyard and glanced around. From his angle, he could see much of the nearby streets. He didn't see the Youngster anywhere.

He's not coming.

Beck frowned again, impatiently pushing the Suspicion Voice into a neat, dark corner of his mind where it belonged, and continued waiting. After another period of time, Beck set out to begin to search. As he walked, Sarah materialized behind him.

"What are you doing?"

He flinched so violently that he almost stepped on her foot. Beck whirled around, backed away two paces, and gasped, "Don't do that."

She regarded him amusedly, brushing her hazel hair back innocuously. "Do what?"

Beck shook his head. "Nevermind. You're back?"

"Yep. Did you win the Badge?"

He blinked and then nodded. "Y-yeah. I beat the Gym."

"That's good. We can go then."

"Oh…no not yet. There's someone I have to find." He explained to her about how he had borrowed Rush the Poliwhirl, in exchange for Solo, and how he had to go make the trade-back now. Something odd glinted in Sarah's sharp eyes. She paused. "You're sure he told you to meet by the Devon Corps building at this time? That he's in the city?"

"Yes I'm positive…" Beck said, puzzled.

Sarah shrugged. "Orange hat? Dressed like a Youngster? I'll go look for him, then. In the meantime, why don't you go to the PokeMart and resupply? Our next stop is a bit of a long trip."

Without awaiting his reply (like usual), the undercover agent turned gracefully on her heels and vanished into a nearby crowd. Beck sighed at her abruptness, but took out his backpack. Wedged within the secure lower front pocket were his Trainer Card, and a wad of cash. He counted the bills first, and then glanced at the sum displayed on his Card, adding up the total amount of money he had.

"We should restock on Super Potions," he said thoughtfully. "I suppose this is enough."

Upon walking out of the store, Beck nearly smashed into Sarah again. He was about to grumble something about her habit of appearing out of nowhere, when she remarked, "The one you're looking for isn't here."

"Huh?"

"I saw no one matching your description of the person who traded you the Poliwhirl," Sarah said simply. "I had all of the buildings and the entire city checked, and even scouted the surrounding outside Routes."

Beck was sure she was exaggerating. She couldn't have combed the entire city so quickly. "Maybe you—,"

She shook her head adamantly. "He's not here."

The boy refused to believe her and began his own search. Sarah accompanied him silently, and after a good twenty minutes, Beck gave up and accepted what she said as the truth. He had returned to the Devon Corps Building and asked around, but no one had seen a Youngster enter or pass by. Rush's owner had indeed vanished without a trace.

"What happened?" Beck murmured, a strange heavy feeling starting to throb within him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sarah turned her eyes lazily onto the sky."You were tricked."

He stared at her blankly. "Tricked…?"

The girl shrugged. "He wanted Solo, despite him being your weakest party member. But still, Skarmory are rare and coveted Pokemon. He must have wanted yours enough to give up his own Pokemon and then make a break for it."

Beck could only gape at her. "But…"

Sarah looked him in the eye. "So the kid randomly comes up to you and offers to give you his Poliwhirl. Then, he suddenly changes it to a 'temporary' trade. Doesn't that seem suspicious to you?"

Beck hesitated. He had vaguely thought something was a little odd about the Youngster's offer, but he had also thought any suspicions about a simple matter were ridiculous. Sarah read the look on his face. "So you did think something was off. Why didn't you refuse the offer then?"

"I thought…I was being paranoid. I don't automatically assume people who talk to me lie," he said defensively, and with a little accusation.

She snorted, green eyes unsympathetic. "You seem to have good instincts about people lying, but you don't trust them, do you?" She walked past him. "If you don't trust yourself, then who is there to trust?"

The boy stared after her, uncomprehendingly. "Then…Solo. Where's Solo?"

Sarah halted and turned back, raising an eyebrow. "Considering the circumstances, I would think that the Youngster has him halfway across Hoenn by now. I doubt you'll see him again. And even if you do, there's nothing you can do to get Solo back. You traded him away, of your own free will, but you can't force his new owner to give him back."

His new owner. The words made a strange sort of fury simmer within Beck. "Can't….you do anything?"

She blinked. "Me?"

"You're a member of the International Police," Beck said desperately, in a low, pained voice. "Can't you—,"

A mirthless smile tugged at her lips. "But no crime was committed. And even if I was ludicrously abusive with my power, I can't arrest someone for making a trade just because the other party is dissatisfied."

So saying, she turned away again, never looking back.

"Our next destination is Dewford Town," she said coolly over her shoulder. "We are going to meet someone along the way who will travel with us there. That person is my contact, and he is also an undercover agent. In public, call him 'Alec'."

Having delivered her short instructions, Sarah began walking.

Beck glared at her back, furious at her complete indifference. Some especially childish part of him cried out for petty revenge, urged him to grab the nearest pedestrian and tell them Sarah's identity and try to ruin her day.

Bad idea, said the Suspicion Voice snidely. If it wasn't a manifestation of his subconscious, Beck might have been tempted to throw something at it.

He seethed silently at the ground, knowing he was indeed being immature about something that was his own fault. How naïve Sarah must have thought of him—she was right about his instincts and it wasn't the first time, either. Alarm bells had ringed in his head, practically every time Beck had spoken to Sabriel, but he always ignored them.

He was angry at Sarah, when he should have been angry with himself. (Her cold demeanor didn't help it though.) Beck sighed, feeling his anger bleed out of him like it was from an open wound. He tried to summon up the vestiges of happiness and optimism from his win at the Rustboro Gym. Yes, he had paid for being gullible, but at least he had Rush now. The Poliwhirl was a strong Pokemon, and they were getting along very well. He had won his third Gym Badge. He was almost halfway through the Gyms. Oddish had evolved. Igneous was stronger and friendlier, too.

Still, the thoughts of Solo dogged him, as Beck sullenly followed Sarah out of the city. Worst of all, the Skarmory might have forgotten about him already. The bird had not yet bonded very closely to him. Solo might have been happy to have gotten away. That thought stung more than the fact that he had been tricked.

He should have listened to his instincts, no matter how faintly they rang in warning.

I told you so, the Suspicion Voice said smugly.

.

Yep yep.

More craziness to come next time~

Thanks for reading. :D