Chapter 43: VS Barry

Training went well. Slowly but surely, my team and I grew stronger. Kamina and Cerberus trained in the icy northern routes outside of Snowpoint, battling ice-type pokemon and honing their teamwork. Rose, Redwood and Mufasa trained in the sea of Route 223, their grass and electric attacks devastating the local Tentacruel and Mantyke. Finally, Moka had a unique training regimen. Using the VS Seeker, she battled a variety of trainers pokemon, testing her limits against multiple opponents. At the end of it all, we celebrated with a party back at the League's PokeCenter, at which I gave them some presents. Mufasa got a red scarf to wear over the Magnet necklace. Rose received a Miracle Seed, which had been molded into two earrings. Redwood received a monocle and top-hat, much to his amusement. Cerberus wore his present, a pair of Blackglasses, without comment, but I could tell he enjoyed them. Kamina's new black headband fit nicely, making him look more heroic than ever. Finally, Moka received a set of special claw sheaths, meant to raise her attack in battle, that also looked quite intimidating.

Everyone enjoyed their presents, and I was no exception. Somehow, the team had managed to put my badges on display on the front of my jacket, and on the back was a patch with not only the six of them, but every other pokemon that had fallen. Brittany, Lin, Trisha, Sora, Armstrong, Lola and Franklin all floated in the sky on the patch, smiling brightly. It was so great that I was speechless, reduced to hugging all of them in turn. "Thank you." I whispered, it being all I managed to get out. After that we went to bed, turning in for the night. Before I fell asleep, I accessed my PokeTech, sending out a quick message. I fell asleep easily, excited for the next day and hoping my message made it in time.

It turned out, it had. When I woke up the next morning, the team and I quickly prepared for the day, the day when we finally finish the quest and challenge the Pokemon League. Going downstairs, I entered the lobby of the PokeCenter, which was empty save for one other person.

"Got your message!" Barry cheered when he saw me. "I'm glad you didn't chicken out on our promise. I know I can be pretty intimidating."

"After all you've been through, you're still the overconfident knucklehead that found me on Route 201." I sighed. "Alright, I cleared it with the nurse last night. We can battle outside as long as we don't damage the castle." We walked out casually, as if we weren't headed towards the final battle of our long rivalry.

We took our places on the grass, the cathedral providing a nice backdrop to our side. At once, we both grabbed pokeballs and tossed them into the air. "Mufasa!" I shouted. "William!" Barry called. Two flashes of red light later, the Luxray and Staraptor were poised to battle. I grinned at Barry's choice of pokemon. "Looks like I'm at an advantage." I taunted.

"You'd think that wouldn't you?" Barry grinned. "William, use U-Turn!" He had to have learned from our previous battles, and the move was an excellent choice for the situation. William flew forward, making a sharp turn at the last moment and raking Mufasa with his talons. The cat snapped back at him, but he had already flown away, into the safety of his pokeball. Barry wasted no time in sending out his replacement. "Charles, come on out!" he cried his next pokemon, now a large Snorlax, entered the fray.

Charles had grown quite a lot since the last time I had seen him. No longer the small little Munchlax, he lay on the ground, balloon-like belly taking up a lot of space. I decided that this wasn't the greatest of match-ups, returning Mufasa. "Alright then, if that's how you want it, let's send out Kamina!" I said, releasing the pokemon in question.

"Don't think you're scaring us. Charles, use Body Slam!" Barry commanded. Unfortunately for him, Kamina was much faster than his large Snorlax. "Close Combat!" I shouted and even before I was finished saying it, Kamina was on the move, speeding across the grass and stopping just short of his opponent. Charles looked up in shock before the fists started to fly. Kamina landed blow after blow in the large, cushiony flesh of Snorlax, and it was all to much for him to handle. Charles fell back, fainting from the strain. Berry returned his fallen pokemon, his cheerful demeanor not dampened in the slightest. "Hope you're ready for this one. George!" he called, sending out his Infernape. I instantly recalled Kamina, even though I could tell he wanted to test his strength against the fire monkey. Instead, I sent out Moka, who was all to pleased with her choice of opponent.

"Flamethrower!" Barry ordered. George let loose a large column of fire, but Moka easily flew around it, her skills at flying becoming even sharper after her training. Using her momentum from the dodge, she dove down onto George's head, hitting him with a powerful Fly attack and knocking him out in one shot.

"Darn! You're just as good as I remember, better even!" Barry complimented before sending out Erik, his Floatzel. I chose to send out Rose, and with a Magical Leaf, that battle was over just as fast as the others. William appeared again, and when I sent out Mufasa, he used U-Turn once more, this time sending out Hercules. The large bug pokemon took the Discharge attack meant for William, but before he could mount an offensive, a Spark attack took him down. When William made his third appearance, Mufasa had had enough, unleashing a devastating Discharge attack that threatened the safety of both Barry and I as well as the pokemon. Sensing defeat was near, Barry almost didn't bother sending out Henry the Roserade, and sure enough, Cerberus easily toasted the patriarchal grass-type with a quick Flamethrower.

"That's it. I've lost." Barry admitted, still cheerful, though not as much. "You know, I think I knew going into this that you were going to win. Hell, I've never actually beaten you before, have I? I've never even made one of your pokemon faint!" He smiled. "Though after what Dawn's told me, maybe it's a good thing I didn't."

"What? Dawn told you about the Nuzlocke?" I asked, surprised. "When was that?"

"After Eterna. I met her on the road, and she told me that your starter had died. I asked why, and she explained what was going on. I understand why you didn't tell me. You didn't want me to worry about your pokemons safety when we battled. And I was worried. But I didn't want to stop being your rival. So I made a decision. I was going to test you, whenever I could. I wanted to make sure that your pokemon were strong, strong enough that they would survive. I know just by looking at your team that I wasn't successful. Not always. But I'd like to think that I helped, in some way, to keep them alive." For Barry, it was a pretty impressive speech and at the end, all I could do was reach out with my hand. Without hesitation, he shook it.

"Thanks man." I said. "I mean it. I'm glad that there was someone looking out for me and mine, even if it was in your own way. And you're right. You did help."

Barry grinned. "Alright man, what am I doing keeping you here? You've got some matches scheduled. Get in there and win. I don't want to be the rival of someone who isn't the champion."

I smiled back and walked back inside, waving over my shoulder as I did. Looking back, at all of our battles and everything the two of us had been through, I was actually pretty glad I had met Barry. Whenever I had played the games before, I had always found him annoying. Now, after getting to know him, I was glad to say that he was my rival. And now, I was one step closer to winning.

I flashed my jacket with the eight badges on it to the man in the suit guarding the elevator. He nodded and stepped aside, allowing me access to the lift. Climbing in, I waited patiently as it rose to the top, revealing a large set of doors, the pokeball emblem painted on it with varying shades of green. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. Bring it on.