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Chapter 6
July 8th, 2006
The group of trainers couldn't all fit into Burgundy's dining room properly, and for fear of them making a mess, and it was a perfectly reasonable fear, she had ordered for them all to sit outside and eat their food instead, even in the cold July weather of Lacunosa Town.
Leaf shivered in her spot, the French toast sitting on her lap warmed her thighs quite nicely. She had gotten more clothes, courteously of the money from various people in the group. She had already worn her warmest clothing and now she was dressed in an outfit similar to the one she would wear when she was younger, except a black skirt instead of red.
Gary was sitting next to her on the low deck Burgundy had right outside of the back door. He was chatting happily with Clemont before he noticed her harsh shiver. He looked over to her with a concerned expression. "Are you cold?" She noticed that Clemont was also giving her a concerned look.
She shook her head. "I'm alright, it's just the breeze. Everybody mostly done with their food anyway, I can wait another ten minutes..." Gary wasn't listening and was unzipping the hooded sweater he wore. "Gary no!" Leaf protested. "That's unnecessary stop it." He froze what he was doing with the sweater half off. "I understand that you want to help me but I don't want people to help me anymore. I had enough help less than a month ago, I want to do things for myself and not rely on other people, even if it is just an offer for a sweater."
Gary blinked and laughed. "You're too stubborn." However he still shrugged off the jacket and placed it between them. "I'm not giving you the jacket; I'm just putting it beside us. I'm not helping, I'm conveniently placing." He flashed her another smile. "We can go out and get you another sweater today, there's probably warmer ones here than in Johto."
Gary turned back to Clemont and revived the conversation they were previously having. Leaf still didn't take the jacket and continued on eating her breakfast happily.
A weight appeared next to her on the side where the deck was empty. Leaf glanced over and there was Georgia sitting there with smile. "Hello!" She greeted. "I'm trying to talk to everybody to both talk to new people and annoy Iris when she learns that her friends and friends with me as well."
"I assume you and Iris are rivals then?" Leaf inquired as she cut another piece of her breakfast.
"Yep!" Georgia nodded once. "A quick reasoning to our rivalry is that she masters dragon types, and I master ice types."
Leaf smiled. "That does bring in some reasoning. Are you a gym leader then?"
Georgia frowned. "No, there used to be an ice type gym but the leader decided to pursue a career in acting again rather than as a gym leader anymore. I've tried to persuade him to open it back up, or at least take over it but he very much refuses, and since there is already a building there it will just make things easier for it to be reopened." She shrugged. "The past leader is so stubborn, I want to become a gym leader, but since so many have popped up in the past few years it's hard to just open up another new one, we don't need it, but that's why if the previous one is opened again, there wouldn't be much of an issue, no need to build anything, just some paperwork confirming that I'm the new gym leader. Brycen, the previous gym leader will really have to do most of the work, and he doesn't want to do that."
"Could Iris do anything about it?" Leaf asked.
Georgia nodded. "Oh yeah of course she could do something about it, but I'd rather her not get involved until necessary, like when signing the papers later on." She shrugged and pulled her cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip. "It sounds stupid to not ask her for help, I know. However, as a rival I won't let Iris just help me when I can do the majority of it myself." Georgia faced the direction Iris was sitting and looked at Leaf from the corner of her eye. "Do you have a rival?"
Leaf shook her head, "I never really had the chance to have one. Gary and Ash are the closest I have to one, but I really don't have that sort of relationship with either of them."
Georgia faced her again and tilted her head to the side like a confused growlithe. "What do you mean you never had the chance?"
Leaf shifted uncomfortably, she could feel Gary's thigh press into her own, he had moved closer to her. Once again, Gary and Clemont's conversation had stopped. Other than the two behind her, nobody else seemed to notice the change in mood. "I actually don't think I can say, but I will tell you that I was gone for years and nobody could do anything about it."
Georgia sensed the change in tone. "What kind of pokémon do you have? There are so many new trainers here and it's been ages from the last time I've had a pokémon battle."
Leaf looked at her with a smile. "I'll battle you, even though I haven't had a real pokémon battle in a few years, my pokémon are extremely strong, if you're up to the challenge?"
"Oh, I'm very ready for this so called challenge!" Georgia jumped up from where she was sitting. "To the pokémon center!" She shouted, and the people who weren't listening into their conversation a few feet away looked over.
"Why?" Iris asked with a slight scowl.
"Because Leaf and I are going to have a pokémon battle!" She announced with a maniac grin.
Ash immediately jumped up. "I wanna battle too!" He whirled around to be able to look at everybody. "Somebody battle me too!"
"Paul will!" May volunteered with a smile. "It's been ages since you guys have fought against another right?"
"Yes!" Ash exclaimed.
"No," Paul rebuked quickly. "It'll still be ages before we battle again."
"And by ages, he means an hour and a half at most. Don't worry Ash, you'll battle him!" May promised with a smile.
July 8th, 2006
As a matter of fact, Burgundy lived quite close to the pokémon center. The walk was fairly quick; everybody had put on warmer clothes, like pants and sweaters. Gary had forced Leaf into wearing one of his sweaters. It was an odd feeling to wear such warm clothes in what was one of the hottest months of the year, or at least it was in Kanto.
Ash looked at Dawn and Paul, the two of them hardly noticed the chill, wearing clothes that they would normally wear. Then again, they did live in the northernmost region out of all of them and it was never really that hot there, the temperature would typically range from -20 degrees Celsius and all the way to about 20 degrees above zero, only the very southern cities experienced the 20 degree heat that they did get. Out of the two of them, Dawn was the only one who would've lived with the heat for only the first twelve years of her life before ultimately setting out on her first journey with Ash and Brock.
The chill wasn't awfully bad, but it was jarring and reached deep into the bones, making it feel far cooler than it really was, and it was just from the western winds from the ocean would pick up from the Giant Chasm.
Ash was pumped for the battle he so readily wanted to have with Paul, it really had been ages since they last battled in the Lily of the Valley Conference. It only made him more excited because of his success in the Lumiose Conference, who knew that he would do so well?
Ash was not only pumped for his own battle, but he was excited to see Leaf battle again. It had been over two years since he had last challenged Paul, and a while longer since Leaf had battled anybody. He figured that it would also be fun to see how Georgia had improved over time.
Iris had tried to make herself hidden, shoving much of her hair under a hat and a hood, with an oversized sweater and a ski mask on. Considering how pleased most of the region is with her actions, it's best that she doesn't make herself recognisable.
Nurse Joy gave them the okay to use the battle field, she did cast a wary gaze onto Iris but the Unovian Champion simply ignored it.
Ash raced outside and happily sat down on a nearby bench so he could have the perfect view of the battle field. Iris slid in next to him, pressing herself closely against him and allowing her large and lanky boyfriend to slip in next to her. On his other side, Gary sat next to him, giving him more room.
Something flicked the back of his head and he looked up to meet a pair of beautiful sea coloured eyes, she grinned and him and rest her hand on his shoulders, he smiled back and went back to face the battle.
The bench was a safe distance away. There were people standing behind him and some were sitting in front of him. Gary leaded into his left side and whispered, "Do you think she'll be alright?"
Ash smiled faintly at the concern in his voice. "'Course she'll be fine!" He reassured his friend whole heartedly. "She wants to do this, I can tell. She wants to get back into battling. She wasn't the best out of the three of us for no reason."
"Yeah, I guess so." Gary breath bellowed out in front of him creating a faint mist. "I'm just a little bit worried I guess."
"Well don't worry, she's gonna be perfectly fine, I do understand what you're thinking though." He jammed his elbow into Gary's side, and the brunet jabbed his elbow back with more than enough force.
"Shut up loser." Gary muttered.
"Hey!" Ash grumbled. "At least I'm not the one who wrote that on a damned city sign and permanently vandalised it!"
Gary scoffed, "It's not still there moron, it's been eight years!"
"It's still there." Misty butted in. "I visit you and Tracey at work and I go over to Delia's. I always pass the sign." Misty glanced up at the battle field and swiftly flung her hand over the mouth of the two men before her. "Now shut up, the battle's starting."
Ash and Gary both immediately straightened their postures and turned their gazes onto the women standing across from each other.
Georgia was holding a strong pose. Her shoulders opened wide with dominance as if she was asking for a fight. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips with her chin raised. Leaf was shorter than her so her eyes were cast on a downwards angle to gleefully stare down her opponent like a mother Beartic, which in all honesty, she really could be.
"You ready?" She asked snarkily.
Ash glanced to Leaf, a grin sent shoots of pain through his cheek muscles. Leaf had her legs spread out, unlike Georgia; her head was tilted downwards, eyes looking up at her opponent, also taking on a powerful, dominant stance. "Only if you believe you are."
Georgia smirked and reached towards the belt at her waist, "Then let the battle begin!" Clemont jumped up and skidded over to the side of the field.
"You need a ref!" He said quickly. "I'll do it!"
Leaf glanced over to him and her smile softened. "Thank you Clemont!" As she looked back to her opponent, her demeanour changed back to strength rather than kind.
Georgia tossed out her first pokémon; it was a small pokémon that Ash recognised to be new, a Mawile.
Mawile spun in a circle before fully facing Leaf, the mouth on the back of its head shot up and stood straight in the air behind it.
Leaf smiled and threw her own opposing pokémon onto the field, a Wigglytuff. Ash grinned, he remembered the bubbly Jigglypuff it once had been, now it screamed power. He could see the muscles even through the thick pink fur.
"Wiggly!" It shouted and struck a pose.
Without a seconds hesitation Georgia barked out an order. "Mawile, iron defence!" Mawile flexed its arms and a quick flash of faint white light moved over its body and left it with a silver sheen. "Now toxic!" Mawile's giant mouth snapped open and a beam of purple and black sludge spat out, barrelling rapidly at Wigglytuff.
Without Leaf asking, Wigglytuff bounced out of the way of the attack easily. "Disable!" Wigglytuff had a small blue glow outlining it before disappearing in a sparkle. "Thunder!"
Wigglytuff snapped its fingers and pointed them to Mawile, a flash of yellow energy split through the air with a resonating crack and landed heavily onto Mawile. Mawile held its ground and barely budged from the impact other than a small stumble.
"Play rough!" Georgia called firmly. Mawile sprang forward with a smile, its muscles visibly growing and it began to strike one hit after another on Wigglytuff.
Wigglytuff held its arms up over the most vulnerable part of its body. "Thunder again!" Leaf shouted and Wigglytuff quickly snatched a hold of some part of Mawile's body and sent another stifling shock through the steel-type's body. Mawile stopped its barrage of attacks and let out a grunt of pain. The iron defence really boosted its resistance to a much higher state.
"Crunch!" Georgia called out and her pokémon snaked its large mouth around Wigglytuff and snapped down firmly.
"Dazzling gleam!" Leaf immediately shouted and Wigglytuff shoved its hands directly into the center of Mawile's body, slamming into it and yanking it free of the crunch. Wigglytuff held Mawile down to the ground and its pink body exploded with a series of bright, blinding lights.
The lights slowly died down, revealing a fainted Mawile and a panting Wigglytuff. It stood back and gently picked up Mawile.
"Mawile is unable to battle, this round goes to Wigglytuff!" Wigglytuff smiled down at the Mawile in its arms and stood before Georgia.
"Wiggly!" It said and raised Mawile to Georgia. Georgia gave the pokémon a small, hard smile and returned Mawile to its pokéball.
Wigglytuff raced back to Leaf and stood before its trainer as the two waited for Georgia's next pokémon. Georgia took a moment and sent out her next pokémon, a Vanilluxe.
"Vanille!" She cried out cheerily and turned to give her trainer a smile. This pokémon wasn't often used by Georgia if Ash remembered correctly. Pikachu shifted excitedly on his lap and pointed to Vaniluxe with a smile. Nothing made Ash happier than seeing his own pokémon cheerfully remember another.
"Vanilluxe, hail!" Vanilluxe slowly rose into the air and did slow, continuous spins. Dark clouds skirted the sky and very quickly, chunks of ice pelted from the sky. "Now blizzard!" The winds immediately picked up and made the frigid air even colder. It sent shivers that could reach your very bone. Wigglytuff had no way of avoiding the attack and simply held up its arms to help protect its face even if slightly. "Toxic!" Georgia shouted. A ball of sludge form before Vanilluxe and the ice started to collide with it, melting in the purple acid. Vanilluxe threw the glob of sludge at Wigglytufff, who was still too busy protecting itself from the blizzard. The attack hit head on, and being part fairy, it was super effective. Wigglytuff's arms fell from its defensive position and the blizzard hit it full throttle, sending it toppling to the ground in defeat.
Leaf smiled down at her pokémon and returned it with a flash of red. "Nidoqueen go!" She called as she quickly tossed out her next pokéball. The giant pokémon stopped on the ground with a loud thud and roared aggressively. "Brick break!" Nidoqueen's hand flashed into a bright white colour and with immense speed, leapt at Vanilluxe, easily hitting it head on. Vanillluxe was smacked backwards, skidding along the yellow coloured grass. "Smack down!" Nidoqueen stretched her jaw open wide and shot a sparkling-golden sphere directly at Vanilluxe, one again hitting it dead on. Vanilluxe laid on the ground, hail slowly falling from the sky. Its body took on a green glow and its wounds healed before your very eyes. With a jolt, Vanilluxe jumped up and swirled around in the sky once again, a cheerful smile on both of its faces.
Leaf narrowed her eyes and she put a calculating look on Vanilluxe. "Snow cloak…" She said slowly. Georgia looked smug and placed her hand on her hips.
"Vanilluxe and I have been working hard for quite some time; we can now restore its energy much faster than normal."
Leaf had a small smile make its way onto her face. "I guess we'll just have to keep hitting you over and over." She shrugged easily. "Hold Vanilluxe down with brick break and then hit it with earth power."
Nidoqueen had immense leg muscles obviously, as for a third time it catapulted itself into the air and smashed into Vanilluxe, bringing it down to the ground with it under a glowing white hand. The two landed on the ground with a large bout of dust and a few snowflakes. The ground visibly cracked under the two and Nidoqueen jumped back as sparkling gold pillars erupted from the ground. "Poison jab!" Nidoqueen jumped into the array of rock pillars, with a glowing purple hand now. Nidoqueen landed her hit again and the pillars disappeared around them, sinking back into the ground and restoring itself into its original state. Vanilluxe had fainted.
Georgia scowled and returned her pokémon, quickly sending out her third, a huge Cryogonal. The snowflake pokémon didn't do much, just lazily floated in the air giving Nidoqueen a firm look.
"Brick break again Nidoqueen."
Nidoqueen raced towards Cryogonal. "Solar beam!" A glow overtook Cryogonal, it began to absorb as much sun rays as possible. Nidoqueen struck it with the brick break and it did some noticeable damage to the ice type. Nevertheless, it still successfully absorbed all the necessary energy and shot the beam at Nidoqueen, hitting it on the side of its stomach. Nidoqueen grunted at the impact.
"Take down!" Nidoqueen formed the glowing gold sphere in her hands again and fired it at Cryogonal, hitting it dead on like before. Cryogonal flew backwards in the air, but refrained from touching the ground.
Ash frowned and shifted in his spot. "Georgia's acting weird…" He said, a few people turned to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Iris asked, her voice muffled by the ski mask she was still wearing. "She seems the same to me. Plus you haven't seen her since you left. I mean neither have I but I've seen her more times over the past two years than you have. She seems like the usual Georgia to me."
Ash furrowed his brows and shook his head. "No, it's not that. She was doing well with her first pokémon, but ever since that she's... been different…"
"Maybe from the pressure off the battle?" Misty suggested. "Leaf's shown that she is still the impeccable battler she was before Team Rocket."
Ash shook his head. "No, that doesn't seem right…" He sighed and leaned forward, making sure to keep eye contact on all of Georgia's movements.
Cryogonal had been knocked out by another of Nidoqueen's attacks; Nidoqueen had scratched gracing her body and seemed to be in pain, clenching one hand at her side. The next pokémon Georgia sent out was her Beartic. Beartic sent a flurry of attacks at Nidoqueen as instructed by Georgia, making the already tired pokémon faint.
"She doesn't battle like that…" He muttered. Pikachu looked up at him with a concerned gaze.
When Georgia had instructed harsh attacking on Leaf's next pokémon, defeating it in the same way as Nidoqueen, Ash stood up. "This battle is over." He announced and walked up to the battle field. Neither of the two battling women took any notice of him and he quickly stepped up to Leaf. "Put the pokéball back, the battle's over."
Leaf looked at him confusedly. "My pokémon will be fine, they can still battle—"
"No it's over, there's something wrong." He took out his own pokéball when Georgia didn't move. "Talonflame, I choose you!" He told Talonflame to stand by him and not go out onto the field. Talonflame was only there to protect in case something went wrong. "Georgia, return Beartic to her pokéball." Again Georgia didn't move.
Suddenly, the temperature began to drastically drop to hazardous degrees. If it wasn't for his fire-type beside him, he would've been shivering. Flame body was a very helpful ability. Georgia seemed to not even notice the puffs of warm breath emitting from her nose, still staring directly at Ash. "Georgia?" He questioned. The ground rumbled deeply and a loud screech pierced the sound barrier, Ash quickly bent forward and covered his ears with his hands as best as he could. He had an eye closed in pain. He looked up at the right moment to see Georgia collapse forward, landing on the ground with a thud.
The screech stopped and he stared at Georgia in disbelief. The noise wasn't from her, but something was affecting her, badly.
"Georgia!" Burgundy screamed and ran forward to her friend. Clemont was right on her trail. Beartic circled her trainer and let out saddened cries, nudging her with a paw.
Ash's eyes widened and he whipped his head around to face Iris and Cilan. They looked at him; Iris had fury painted on her features while Cilan was filled to the brim with concern. Iris had pulled off her ski mask and made a mad dash to the front of the pokémon center, Cilan and Ash held each other's gazes for a moment before racing after her. Leaving the rest in disbelief.
Yo guys! I'm baaaaack! I came home last Monday but I didn't want to write or post anything until yesterday...
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