What's your favorite mechanic between Mega-evolution, Z-moves, Dynamax or Terastal Phenomenom? For me, it's clearly Mega-evolution x).
What is a trainer's goal? To help your Pokémon evolve, both mentally and physically. So what's the ultimate goal of a Trainer? To have such a strong bond with your Pokémon that you push the limits of what is possible!
Mega Evolution had this double reading and "merit" aspect that I didn't see in the mechanics that followed. I felt like it was a process that made sense and was consistent with the rest of the universe, much more than making Pokémons bigger or giving them a superpowered attack (I would have been more accepting of the latter if it weren't for the fact that ALL Pokémons could use it from the first second you captured them ^^').
At least red centranthe has sedative properties
Tonight the moon would remain hidden behind the clouds, refusing to guide the trainer. Tonight, the trees would tangle their branches to slow her down, to keep her from moving forward. Tonight, the path would hide in the shadows to lose her, to make her give up. It was useless.
Flannery listened to the stream, letting it guide her, wetting her lips with the fine droplets suspended in the air. Then she stopped. The moon kept its veil, the forest watched the silence, the hill shaded the stars, all begging her to go. Flannery moved forward, her head tilting slightly to finally make out the shape tucked into the rocky hillside. Her gym, the ancient temple of Lavaridge.
She closed her eyes, memory replacing sight as she moved toward the portal. She touched the wood, tracing the fine lines with her finger, wondering why she had come here in the middle of the night. The door yielded to her caresses. A creak, a complaint, what she had discovered this morning. The entrance courtyard, the place where she had fought her battles, the grounds that had to be constantly tended, she ignored. The central building, where she had lived, spoken and regretted, memories of no importance.
Her hand resting on the lumpy granite, the leader crossed the first threshold of the building. As she skirted the wall, feldspar, mica, and quartz clung to her palm, shattering the newly formed blisters. She'd made them this morning, this morning she'd known she had to come back tonight. She felt the sharpness of the angle, of those two intersecting surfaces, and hesitated.
This morning she had swept, washed, and most of all cleaned. She had noticed that the equipment she used to train her pokemons was no longer in its proper place. Under normal circumstances, this would have been nothing more than a detail, the kind of event as innocuous as keys disappearing only to mysteriously reappear somewhere else. At least that's what she thought until she noticed a second element.
Flannery grabbed the ledge and stuck her head out. For a moment, all she saw was a mix of orange, red, and yellow mixed with a thunderous explosion.
This morning, the training equipment was much more worn than when she left it. Tonight, the same equipment was burning under the fiery flames of a winged reptile. The fire monster breathed loudly, smoke escaping from its mouth as the metal targets in front of it slowly cooled. He was training to become stronger.
Flannery had returned to the front of the temple unnoticed. She remained seated on the front steps, amazed that this pokemon had found this place so far from the rest of the city. To be honest, even from the air, the gym wasn't that easy to spot. As a matter of fact... Charizard had lost some weight again.
The leader frowned. The sugar ran out quickly, so the muscles made up for it until the fat broke out of its torpor and released its reserves. Then, when that source was exhausted, it was back to the muscles. Carbohydrates, then proteins, then fats, and finally proteins. Muscle sacrificed for the noble organs. Strength burned for the mind, for the heart, for sustenance.
He didn't eat.
Charizards' body... Unlike humans, their faces didn't emaciate, their ribs didn't protrude, and their well-rounded bellies gave the illusion of an oversized sweater. Proteins without lipids, flames constantly burning, constantly consuming. If you weren't paying attention, it was easy not to notice, because they weren't like humans.
A light laugh that sounded more like teeth grinding. Flannery kept her back turned, refusing to face the empty house. It wasn't like humans... except in that way of deceiving the eye. That was why she hadn't noticed.
Why was Charizard so upset? Why wasn't he eating? The cause... A charizard did not like weakness; a charizard did not hesitate to disobey or reject its trainer if he did not find him worthy. So he had to be like that. And like the others, he would grow increasingly violent, hating this trainer who kept him from reaching his potential, until... He would never hurt her.
That was what his grandfather had said. The reptile's tears, his terror as he embraced his trainer, and his cowardice to protect the one who had made him weak. Flannery had not forgotten. It's your fault, Flannery. The old man hadn't said that. Oh, no, he'd slapped her to shut her up, then apologized, bowed, but he hadn't blamed her. Still, would it be wrong to say that she'd neglected Serena because of her impatience? Was it not true that she had ordered the girl's arm burned because... Her grandfather had never accused her of anything.
The leader shook her head; she'd never asked the coordinator to confront Archie. It was Serena who hadn't been paying attention, it was she who, in a fit of courage or suicidal impulse - Flannery would never know - had stepped forward to face the danger. It wasn't that complicated, though, it wasn't that complicated to know when to stop!
Red door. Flannery shivered. Temple empty. Flannery ignored. The little girl should have kept her mouth shut. Flannery forgot.
She walked toward the monster, which still hadn't noticed her. She inspected the neck and tail, where a few scales had whitened, and the base of the wings, where the muscles were shriveling. Soon they would melt away completely, pinning the reptile to the ground. That would be the first obvious sign, unfortunately too late.
Charizard was training, burning energy, not recovering. Flannery watched as he spat out his flames. The leader knew. She had learned. The first target melted, then the second, the third... He stopped, unable to sustain his effort. A grunt, a strange sound like paper being torn.
"Charizard," she called softly.
He turned, Flannery's eyes widening as she saw the severed arms and shreds of scales clinging to his bloody mouth. He would never hurt her. The reverse was not true. As if she were the one who'd been hurt, the one who'd had her skin torn off, she wanted to scream, to cry, to break down. She wouldn't let herself.
He hadn't changed. Her grandfather had always been so bad at understanding the cause. Maybe that was why he got along so well with Serena, because they both invented a reason that fit them, an origin that was enough to keep them from looking for anything else, an answer that scared them. I pushed your father too hard, the old man said. I couldn't defend him, Serena asserted. That's the way he likes it, he reassured himself. Maybe he's just sick, she convinced herself. Flannery listened to them, mirrored them so they wouldn't notice.
That's why she loved her grandfather.
It's all my fault.
That's why she hated Serena.
It's all my fault.
A moonless sky, the stars in shadow, the monster's flame the only source of light. Brave Flannery, even though her mouth went numb and her tongue twitched, at least this time she could see. So, for these torn scales, for these wasted muscles, for this suffering she understood, she may confess:
"It was my fault."
The dragon's teeth appeared, its scales vibrating, its fury boiling the air. Should Flannery be afraid, should she tremble? No, unfortunately, the creature refused to blame her, denied that she could take responsibility, that she could become the cause. As far as he was concerned, there was only one person he couldn't forgive until she apologized, one person who would have to bear her guilt without being able to pass it on to anyone else. He wouldn't allow it, cruel as it was, the fire monster wouldn't allow it.
Flannery breathed in the warm air, understanding that once again there would be no one to blame her. She crossed her arms behind her back, intertwined her fingers. She revelled in that anger, envied that hateful look, fell in love with those vehement flames, she could believe it, couldn't she? At least for a second, dreaming that it was all meant for her.
"You should join me."
The dragon looked down at his arms, at the few surviving scales next to the dirty scabs, at the old pus mixing with the new blood. He refused, and as painful as the growl was, he didn't hesitate.
"Do you think it will get better? You'll continue to suffer, to weaken, and she won't see or understand anything."
He knew that.
"So go away. Leave her, forget her, and then fulfill yourself. It's the only thing to do, the best thing to do."
His voice was a husky refusal. A hopeful fool, an idiot who believed too much in his trainer, it would be thoughtless of Flannery to insult him like that. The monster didn't rely on the future, the creature didn't expect anything from the one who made him suffer, but it was her fault. That's why he couldn't leave her, that's why he couldn't turn away, because it all came from her, because there was no one else but her.
What cruelty. Behind the red door, inside the temple, Flannery shuffled her old drawers, where clothes and stuffed animals and toys lay dormant until she got her hands on the care kit. How cruel. She nursed him, turned the bandages, the dragon would never look away from the culprit.
"How lucky she is."
Sylveon was outside. You couldn't say she'd really left the house, since she was still in the garden, but at least she wasn't surrounded by four walls. Only one, actually, the other three being replaced by white-painted fences. The grounds were manicured, the flower beds skillfully arranged among green grass that competed for sunlight with a large oak whose branches grazed the front of the house.
She might not have noticed it. Well hidden among the colorful petals, the red ears didn't stand out. But when she saw the snout poking out of the mosaic of vegetation, when her eyes met the foul globes moving among the golden corollas, she felt the need to go back inside. Another day she would apologize, another day she would beg his forgiveness for not wanting to stay with him. May he understand her... She was tired, she couldn't bear to be approached, she needed time.
"Sylvia!"
The pokemon stopped, blinking several times, her ears pricked up in surprise.
"My tongue forked," Plusle apologized, hitting his head and sticking out his tongue.
It hadn't just forked, it had twisted, split in two and then stuck back together again to spell her name that way.
"It's all right," Sylveon murmured, taking a step back.
"You look tired."
"We all are a little," she replied with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
The electric pokemon wiggled his ears as he crossed his arms. She hadn't really convinced him, and rightly so. It had to be said that lately, a good portion of her energy had been converted into a soothing wave that she sent out through her ribbons. Enough to give her trainer an hour or two of sleep. Sylveon looked down at her antennae, their blue tips faded. The result was certainly pitiful, but reassuring someone when you were in distress... She was tired, so she wanted to end this discussion quickly.
"Sylvia."
Again? No doubt, Plusle did it on purpose. It wasn't something that bothered Sylveon, but she was expecting him to apologize like the first time, so much so that she forgot that she wanted to leave. With a mischievous smile on his lips, Plusle sat down on the grass, making sure to keep a certain distance so as not to make Sylveon uncomfortable.
"I think Minun has already apologized... well, that's what Braixen told me when I was in my pokeball. That's why I wanted to ask you, even though I don't doubt what Braixen says, but I wanted to ask you."
Sylveon had sat down as well, putting another step between them.
"Did my brother apologize?" the electric rabbit finally asked.
She shook her head, it sounded good, but she couldn't assure him, and did it really matter? She didn't think the two brothers owed her anything, or that she deserved any thanks. The tips of her paws plowed the ground, picking up a few blades of grass.
"I don't really know anymore," the fairy pokemon confessed.
"So I'll rephrase my question. My brother... Did he thank you?"
Sylveon couldn't really tell the difference. But perhaps she could answer this question more easily.
"I don't think he did. To tell you the truth, I didn't think much of it. But if I had to give you an answer: I'd say he blamed himself."
"So he apologized," Plusle concluded.
His voice was categorical, a far cry from his usual lightheartedness. She looked at the pokemon's shapeless paws, at the two electric pockets that were not to be touched.
"Minun refuses to come out of his pokeball... I think that's more worrying than whether he thanked me or not," she said without looking at the little monster.
"It's not untrue, in fact, it would be very true," he admitted. "Besides, I suppose I would have reacted the same way if I had been the one who fainted at the top of the volcano..."
Plusle paused, his pupils dilating for a second like a predator that has just sniffed its prey.
"He and I react pretty much the same, we think mostly the same and... I wondered if it was a good idea to follow Serena. Even if contests seemed fun, wasn't it kind of like running away and accepting the fact that I couldn't get any stronger?"
"And would Minun feel the same?" Sylveon pondered, looking up at the sky.
"Yes and no. I told you, at the top of the volcano I was awake when he fainted. And he opened his eyes when I closed them. We probably thought the same thing, but we experienced it differently."
He spoke slowly, as if a sudden melancholy had taken hold of his voice. Sylveon tilted her head, trying to catch the thought but failing. Plusle didn't take offense; on the contrary, he was amused by her perplexity, finding it pleasant to see that charming face tense with concentration. Graceful, gentle, kind, considerate, all words he could easily associate with this creature from a distant region.
"Are you talking about your differences in character?" she asked.
The electric rabbit chuckled, genuinely touched by her efforts.
"Do you think he's that bad-tempered?" he said, looking indignant.
"No! Minun is... He gets a bit carried away sometimes, but he's not necessarily... well..."
He listened to her without paying attention to what she said. Sylveon had protected them, she had shown courage, tenacity, she had even resisted the mighty jaws of the Mega-Evolution. A fine performance, something the two brothers were completely incapable of. They were weak, she was strong... Plusle slapped his cheeks, startling the poor fairy pokemon.
"You're not hurt too badly, are you?" she asked worriedly.
She had moved her ribbons forward, but didn't dare touch her friend.
"Tell me, Sylveon, what were you thinking when you faced that human?" he asked suddenly, his hands still on his cheeks.
She trembled, opened her mouth, closed it, thought. Was an answer that took so long to prepare trustworthy? Was she interested at all? For Plusle, the question was irrelevant, so he preferred to prevent the unnecessary, to destabilize the perfect assembly forming in the monster's mind, even if it meant using what Pancham and Braixen had revealed to him.
"Would you have preferred to run away?"
"I couldn't do that!" she denied immediately.
"But it seems like you did that a lot when you were Eevee. So what stopped you this time?"
He spoke calmly, without raising his voice, but his companion tensed as if he'd insulted her, and she screamed:
"I had to protect you!"
She bit her tongue, realizing the insult she had just uttered. Plusle's ears twitched, his fur puffed up, and his teeth bared. The fairy pokemon looked around in panic, as if waiting for her trainer to come and rescue her from her predicament.
"I see," the rabbit said simply.
He crossed his arms, his head dropping to the right and then to the left as if it were a metronome. He stopped.
"It's nothing against you... it's just..." she tried.
"Actually, I can't see at all!" he interrupted, jumping to his feet.
Sylveon stammered, but the rabbit broke the distance and approached her, oblivious to the frightened looks she gave him.
"S... Stop. "
She held her ribbons in front of her face, her slender paws shaking so much they tethered her in place.
"You never went back!" the Hoenn pokemon suddenly exclaimed.
"W-What?"
Fortunately, he hadn't crossed the last meter that separated them. But Sylveon's antennae were so contracted, she feared she was releasing a Fairy Wind.
"That's what Pancham and Braixen said: if you're avoiding us, it's because your old instincts or whatever are back."
Avoid them? Sylveon wouldn't go that far. She saw her behavior more as a slight withdrawal, a way to calm herself without bothering the others. Anyway, if Plusle could withdraw now, she wouldn't say no.
"So... there's something else, there must be something else."
Was it that important? And why was he so stubborn? Plusle came closer, his ears and cheeks blood-red, his eyeballs deep black, his little mouth hiding a few sharp teeth.
"I'm just scared!" she cried.
She dropped to the ground, buried her head in her paws, and lowered her long ears to hide her face.
"Of Archie? Or..."
She lifted her head sharply, and Plusle looked away. Sylveon's face tightened, could he...
"Actually, if you think about it, it's quite clear. The reason you don't want us around anymore. You said it yourself... You had to protect us."
The Kalos monster's tongue went dry. She had wanted to forget, she had buried that feeling, convinced that no one would ever dig it up.
"Serena couldn't move, Pancham couldn't move, Braixen couldn't move, Ash couldn't move, not to mention me and my brother... We were all useless, unable to help you, and it was you that this human was targeting. Well, not just you."
Sylveon kept her head down, gritting her teeth, hoping to find the strength to disagree with him. She couldn't, he was close, too close... it was getting scary.
"You were supposed to protect us then... A weight, a burden, a trap. What were we to you?" the rabbit finally asked.
A bluish wall had appeared. Plusle could still see through it, but he would no longer be able to approach her. If she wanted, Sylveon could leave now, leaving Plusle without any more answers.
"I didn't imagine this from you."
"It's not..."
"I'm disappointed. I thought you were much stronger, Minun thought you were much stronger..."
Yes, in this moment staying was an obligation, a compulsion, that's how she had perceived it, as despicable as it was.
"Please... don't say anything to Serena."
Her trainer, who had sacrificed herself for her friends, who hadn't hesitated for a moment, who... Who would be so disappointed to see that she wasn't capable of doing the same. Sylveon continued to squeak in a weak, plaintive voice, hoping to elicit pity from her torturer.
"This is exactly why my brother's apology was so rude. "
She raised her head. Plusle's ears flapped in the wind, his coat glistening softly in the warmth of the sun.
"Thank you, Sylvia. Thank you for staying."
A slight glint of light brought his black irises to life, and his lips formed a pleasant, harmonious smile. As if this discussion were no longer so trying, as if her need to run away had disappeared, Sylveon chuckled:
"Your tongue has forked."
He pulled the pink muscle to show that everything was working perfectly.
How long had her town been isolated from the rest of the region? Flannery wondered at the videophone that had been ringing for a good three minutes. It had to be said that even with Team Aqua's departure, people still feared that a few thugs would remain on the streets, ready to attack anyone who dared to leave town. Unfortunately, it had taken some time for a small group to muster the courage to travel to one of the neighboring towns to ask for help.
Flannery tapped the screen in case it would speed things up, but Watt didn't deign to answer. Losing patience, she slammed her blistered, wedge-covered hands down hard on the device. She could have left, she could have gone for help sooner, but the people in her town seemed so panicked at the idea of her leaving, even for a few days. Understandably, the bandits had come while she was gone, for one of those damned meetings whose main topic was the two criminal organizations back on the scene. Ah, they'd spent some time talking about them. Meanwhile, Team Aqua could go about its business without worrying. In fact, when she thought about it, these meetings, their dates, times and places, were no secret to anyone. If one of those barbarians decided to pay them a visit... Well, all the leaders would slaughter him, but still.
"Flannery? Flannery, can you hear me?"
The video remained static for a few seconds before Mauville's leader appeared on the screen. Flannery closed her eyes, her shoulders suddenly lighter, she hadn't thought that seeing the screen light up would be enough to bring her such relief.
"Yes, I think I've got it this time," she replied.
"Perfect!"
The leader's mouth twisted. Perfect? Cut off from the world without anyone noticing, he thought it was perfect! She put her arm around his belly, as if she could feel the sour juice burning her stomach. She wanted to scream, she wanted to smash the stupid videophone to the ground, she wanted to...
"I need an explanation, Watt. I need it now."
She'd never thought she'd be able to keep that kind of calm. Even if her voice had risen to a high pitch with the last word, it was already quite a feat. Watt scratched his beard, glancing left and right as if waiting for the answer to be whispered. And then the old man smiled, a nervous laugh escaping him as he explained:
"A breakdown."
Even he must have realized the stupidity of his answer when he heard it.
"A breakdown? You call that a breakdown?" she hissed.
She tried in vain to maintain a modicum of composure. Not easy after everything that had happened.
"I know, I know, but try to understand. We were pretty upset and..."
"Oh, excuse me! It's true, it's nothing to have a whole city taken hostage. Nothing to get upset about, is it?"
"I didn't say that. I apologize for what happened, I apologize for you having to deal with it all alone, but I'm not psychic. If my computers can't detect the problem, then..."
He paused, perfectly guessing what Flannery would say in reply and what he himself could not explain. The leader took her time to regain her composure and not explode in front of the dean of leaders.
"The city's public phone line may have been rigged to avoid being noticed while I was away, I can accept that. You see, I can even accept that this network isn't very secure, because after all, it's just a line that civilians use to call their families or place orders."
Watt could feel the sweat dripping down his back. He remembered the words of the little greenhorn who had called to tell him that some strange things were happening on the Lavaridge lines. Just as he vividly remembered the "it worked itself out". Flannery looked into the old man's eyes and the knell fell:
"The private line didn't work, Watt. The one for emergencies, the one that should never be down. The private line, I called the private line and..."
The old man didn't know what to say. He didn't understand, he didn't understand anything anymore. The line should have worked, the computers should have warned him that there was more than 'minor interference'. But it hadn't, for some reason he didn't know, it hadn't gone as planned.
"Please answer. I need answers. At least tell me it was just coincidence, bad luck, I don't know."
"We should have another meeting," Watt said, his voice shaking.
Flannery ran a nervous hand over her face.
"What's going to change? All we do is talk and talk and talk. Meanwhile, Team Aqua and Magma are acting, taking the lead, and... Honestly, if we keep this up, they won't have much to worry about."
"I understand... But you must have gathered some information about their intentions, if we can anticipate their next move even a little..."
Flannery bit her lip, arms crossed, head turned toward the wall. Team Aqua had come to the volcano to create an orb... That was what Serena had told her. The Kalosian had been able to repeat everything Archie had said to her word for word, as if it'd been sunk into her as deeply as the shark's fangs. Painful, too, considering the way she trembled, begging Flannery to stop with each sentence. But the leader was convinced that Serena wasn't telling her everything about her encounter with Archie, and it showed. The woman sniffed and, without taking her eyes off the wall, replied:
"Will this really help?"
"I promise we'll stop them."
"Will I have to move? You see, they've already taken advantage of it and..."
"No, Flannery, you won't have to go anywhere," Watt reassured. "We'll use the secure line to exchange information, and I'll suggest the others do the same."
"If it works."
"It will, I'm on it. And given the situation, I'll also make sure all the leaders get a Xtransceiver."
A small smile from Flannery, so quick that Watt might have missed it if he'd blinked. This technology might have been attractive at first glance, but when you saw the old man interrupted every five minutes by a possibly urgent call, and the rest making no progress...
"Can I still count on you when we find them? We'll have to give it a few licks, and I'm getting old."
"Ah, you can even send me to the other end of the region for that," she said.
It was a vindictive smile that stretched the woman's lips, but it was something. Watt was just about to leave her when a little bunny burst into the room and hopped onto the videophone. The red cheek with the '+' sign in it, rubbing against the screen... A plusle, it was a plusle, and not just any plusle.
Serena entered in complete panic, reaching out with her right arm to catch the rascal and pull him back to her. The left arm came later, as if it had missed a beat, and the fingers also seemed to take longer to clench. This was an asymmetry, not the natural one that everyone had and that had become the norm. No, this was the visible asymmetry, the one that made you say 'there's a problem' at a glance.
"Serena?"
She wasn't listening, or rather hadn't noticed. Good for her, it would spare her the old man's shocked face as he stared at the large white bandage protruding from her collarbone. Plusle struggled between his arms, she could barely hold him, and Flannery looked at her, her features tense.
"Sorry, Flannery! I don't know what got into him, but... Please, Plusle, calm down!"
"Serena!" shouted Watt.
The girl gasped as she finally noticed the old man. She shivered and turned slightly to hide her shoulder. But it wasn't enough to hide her tired face or her hair, which she usually cared for, now as brittle as straw. Besides, Watt thought she'd lost weight, or maybe it was her oversized shirt that gave that impression. An old shirt, in the middle of the day, an old shirt.
"Watt? You..."
She looked alternately at the screen and at Flannery, unsure whether to leave or stay.
"What are you doing here? Your contest... you'll never make it in time..." the old man stammered.
Plusle finally escaped from his trainer's arms. Serena watched him go, her hand outstretched, but the pokemon was already out of the room.
"I... We're going to the one in Fallarbor Town, so if we hurry, we should be there in time."
"Serena..."
"Plusle and... Minun too. They'll make their debut there, and you'll be proud of them."
Watt could only watch as the trembling increased and tears welled in her eyes. Flannery just watched, not saying a word, not trying to comfort the poor coordinator.
"You'll see, it'll get better. Once we resume the contests, everyone... even him..."
"Calm down, Serena," the old man said gently. "I'm not going to scold you or anything, so just take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."
She rubbed her eyes, her lip quivering, and she brought her hand forward as if to hide it. But what really worried the old man was the left arm, just hanging there, not even twitching in an unconscious gesture.
"Forgive me," she breathed. "You entrusted them to me and... and..."
"What happened, Serena? Don't tell me you..."
Watt felt pain well up in his heart as the girl lowered her head and remained silent. Serena had to go on with her life, participate in contests and let the leaders deal with the threat. He had to keep them out of danger to make amends, to atone for his failure at the power plant. The leader rubbed his face with both hands, but it wasn't enough to erase the stunned expression on his face.
A man who still couldn't believe it, who was slowly taking in the full measure of what was already beginning to be called 'The Lavaridge Incident'. An incident he hadn't been able to foresee, an incident whose significance he had previously overlooked, an accident that had left its mark. How many others? How many other trainers had been injured because of his negligence?
"Flannery," he groaned. "How could you let this happen?"
The leader's teeth clenched as the image of the bloodied body and the smell of burning flesh returned to assault her. She wanted to help Charmeleon. He wanted to get stronger, he lacked training, she hoped to remedy that. Charizard's fiery eyes came back to her, excuses were useless. She shuddered, gripped by an imperious need not to be abandoned, that finally... finally her mistake would be recognized.
"Serena went to confront Archie and... I wasn't there."
The young trainer rubbed her wounded member. She had only heard the first part of the speech and hadn't cared about the last words the leader had said. Watt had not.
"And what were you doing? What were you doing while... Damn it, Flannery, I can't believe... What about you, Serena? What possessed you to fight them? Wasn't Magnet enough for you?"
Serena cowered, fleeing the old man's gaze, cringing at the reproachful words. Flannery arched her chest, almost ready to open her arms in anger and rage, holding back a smile, or even a laugh. A hysterical laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
"I'm the one who asked for help," the leader explained.
At that moment, Watt thought he felt the back of his ear vibrate, electrifying his auditory nerve, which in turn discharged into his brain. He jumped out of his seat and grabbed the set with both hands, as if he could pull Flannery out of that pile of pixels. His face flushed, he spoke slowly:
"I hope you're joking, Flannery. Because if you knowingly sent Serena to fight them... The shorter the joke, the better."
"She was the only help I had at the moment."
Watt's face exploded red, even crimson. He'd never thought himself capable of so much yelling, insulting, and threatening. Spittle smeared the screen, oozed onto the glass. All that anger directed at the Lavaridge leader... It was comforting for Serena to be spared, even if she'd never show it, especially next to Flannery. Still... Charizard didn't want to see her anymore, Sylveon couldn't sleep, Minun remained prostrate in his pokeball, Pancham couldn't run, all that... all that... ...
"If I had been a better trainer, they wouldn't have..."
"No, Serena! Although I'm not going to congratulate you for accepting... It's not your fault, it's not your fault at all!" the old man shouted.
If Watt had continued to accuse Flannery, if he hadn't spoken to calm Serena down, to relieve her, to allow her to regain a little color, the leader might have stopped talking here and accepted all the accusations that had been leveled at her. But "It's not your fault" didn't go down well with the torn scales. At least for him, she couldn't allow it, she couldn't let Serena get away with it.
"Tell that to Charizard."
Watt fell silent, the coordinator's face disintegrating.
"Charizard?" he repeated, stunned.
Had he heard right? To the old man, it was impossible for the young Charmeleon to have evolved so quickly. Where was he, anyway? The leader of Mauville frowned, noticing the absence of the reptile that usually clung to his trainer. It worried him.
"Serena, how's Charmeleon?" he finally asked.
The girl tensed, making the leader fear the worst.
"Charizard," Flannery corrected. "He's recovering from his injuries, but..."
She gave the coordinator a look full of innuendo.
"It's not Serena's fault," the elder quickly interrupted.
Flannery started to retort, but Plusle was back, rolling a pokeball in front of him. Serena's eyes widened at the sight.
"Minun?" Watt realized.
"I tried, I really tried, but he won't come out..." she said, her mouth dry.
Watt did his best not to be overcome by doubt. He believed in Serena, he believed in this young trainer who had thrown herself into the path of Magnet's lightning to protect his beloved Charmander. He wasn't finished with the Lavaridge leader, but that would be a matter he would settle privately and he wouldn't involve the coordinator any further.
"Serena, I just want to make sure: Minun lost a fight and has been sulking in his pokeball ever since."
Serena lowered her head, it wasn't just a fight, it wasn't just a defeat, it was...
"There was nothing I could do," she said finally.
Watt sighed, Minun was sometimes... often in a bad mood. He would have preferred to leave Serena alone, but given her condition, she clearly needed some help.
"Would you mind giving me a few minutes with him?"
Serena looked at the pokeball that still hadn't opened. She'd reached that point anyway. Shoulders slumped, she walked back to the living room without looking back, followed by Plusle. At least Watt suspected that the little creature wouldn't stay far from the door, keeping his ears pricked to listen in.
"Wait a minute, Flannery!" called Watt as she turned to leave.
"You want us to leave you, don't you?"
"I still have some time to devote to you," the old man hissed. "What you've done is serious, Flannery, and you don't seem to understand it. For God's sake, if it were up to me..."
"If you want to strip me of my title, be my guest," she challenged him.
Watt grimaced. There was what Flannery had done, and there was the current situation. None of the other leaders would accept seeing their ranks reduced at the whim of an old man.
"Blaming Serena... Do you think that's worthy of a gym leader?"
She shrugged before answering:
"To each his own, Watt. And contrary to what you seem to think... I just caught you making a mistake, again."
"My mistakes are my mistakes, so don't take it out on the kid."
"I won't. In the meantime, she's staying with me and... I'll take my role as leader all the way."
The old man closed his eyes, trying to calm the new wave of anger rising inside him.
"Tell Serena that if she needs to talk, I'll..."
"It's up to her, but as for Charizard... you'd better not encourage her."
Watt raised an eyebrow, wondering what his colleague was up to.
"Are you acting for Serena?" he asked carefully.
"No, I'm not."
"For Charizard, then?"
"Perhaps, yes."
"Or is it just for you, to protect your ego?"
With one foot out the door and the rest of her body still in the room, Flannery thought back.
"If only..." she sighed.
There was no time for questions. With the leader gone, all that remained was the stubbornly closed pokeball on the floor.
"Minun, will you stop this circus?"
A light emanated from the capsule, and the blue-cheeked pokemon stepped out. He watched Watt cautiously, making sure the image he saw on the screen was indeed that of the leader.
"You're hurting Serena's feelings by behaving like this. But I think you already know that."
"Nun," the pokemon growled.
There was nothing he could do. Totally crushed, pitiful to the end. And to think he'd followed Serena because he thought it was the right thing to do. But what exactly was the point of contests? Why had he followed her? Because no one wanted them, after all... a coordinator didn't need pokemon that could fight. As long as they were cute, as long as they made nice sparks, that was enough.
"Are you mad at Serena?"
Maybe he was. Maybe he was also angry at the shapeshifter for cowardly running away while he... He was lucky to be able to evolve, not to collapse at the first attack that was a little too strong.
"It's always the same. Whether it's you or your brother, every time you lose, you react the same way. And then you wonder why I refuse to take you on my team... Don't you get tired of it?"
He was weak, and he knew it. So there was no need to remind him. No need to rub it in.
"You don't like to fight, I can tell."
Wrong! If he were stronger, if he won like the others, he'd enjoy fighting and winning!
"Minun, have you ever fought without comparing yourself to the others?"
The pokemon's ears dropped. He looked left and right, then concentrated on his feet.
"I had hoped that contests would teach you that, that you would distance yourself from fighting. But even today, when your trainer needs you, you still shut yourself off, thinking about your failures, always your failures, when..."
"Min, Minun!" the pokemon protested.
Minun gritted his teeth. He didn't want to hear all that nonsense about him having real strength hidden inside him and all that bullshit. The others couldn't live, couldn't understand what he felt because they were strong, because they were... normal.
"Stop making excuses," the old man grumbled.
He wasn't. He knew he was weak, but he was willing to fight to become stronger, to catch up with the others. Looking for a solution through contests or anything else was just a way to get around the problem without solving it, an excuse to spare him useless effort. It wasn't what he wanted.
"Ordinary pokemon can't understand you?" the old man thundered.
Minun took a step back.
"That's what you think when you see others, when you compare yourself to them, except that... Normality is just the best excuse to consider the others around you as uninteresting".
The little monster's snout twitched and his ears pricked up.
"I'm different. Good or bad, it's still a way to feel special, to stand out from the crowd, and we tend to believe that those around us are... less crazy, more in the norm, less depressed, more integrated, less weak. Less interesting than ourselves, in the end. Fighting is about learning from your opponents. Being part of a team means looking for ways in which others are like you, and accepting that you're not so special after all. That's why, Minun... that's why every time you and your brother asked me to take you on... I had to refuse, even if it hurt you, even if it hurt me, because you summed up the others as they're stronger than us too much for me to accept you."
Little sparks flew across the pokemon's cheeks, ready to silence the device and the old man inside.
"So now it's up to you. You can come back to New Mauville, you can keep fighting and reveling in your weakness, I won't stop you, I won't even blame you. But I hope you'll never ask again why no trainer wants you".
Minun hadn't moved, hadn't spoken, as lethargic as if pressed into his capsule.
"Minun?" he heard behind him.
He didn't answer, his eyes burned and his head hurt.
"Since you didn't go out, I..."
She noticed the black screen and the sparks coming from the device. It didn't take long for Serena to understand.
"You've got to be kidding me! If Flannery sees this, she'll..."
Poor Serena tried desperately to turn the videophone back on, but she couldn't touch it without getting a good electrostatic discharge. She cradled her head in her hands, her confused thoughts searching for a solution. Apologies wouldn't do and... The fear of what Flannery would say subsided when she saw the dazed, almost elated expression on her pokemon's face.
"Minun? Minun, can you hear me? Say something! This isn't funny, it's really not funny!" she panicked, shaking the little creature's shoulder.
He prostrated himself in silence, his handsome blue pale, collapsed, his extremities cold. What had Watt done? He was supposed to help him and... The Pokemon Center! Mr. Moore had just told her that it was fixed. Even if Charizard wasn't there right now, she could at least take the others with her.
She got dressed in record time and returned the rabbit and her other friends to their pokeballs. She probably would have jumped out to put on her shoes if she'd had the strength, but by default she just slipped them on, resting her injured shoulder against one of the corridor walls while her hand, the one whose fingers always responded perfectly to her commands, tugged on the boot to steady the heel.
Serena froze. There he was, not a foot away from her.
Doesn't it hurt? Ash would have asked. But he guessed that if he really asked, she'd get twice as excited.
"You're back... so early..." she stammered, then remembered the reason for her excitement: "The Center has reopened and Minun is... well... Minun...".
"What's wrong Serena?"
She gasped, her mouth gaping, the art of speech forgotten. Serena trembled, fleeing from the monster's gaze, as if he'd uttered the worst threat against her. The shapeshifter had gotten used to it by now.
"Please come with me to the Center. Then we can leave for Fallarbor City tomorrow."
Heal others, fine. Heal him, maybe, why not, even if he didn't really want the nurse to ask him about the wounds on his arms. On the other hand... why had Serena felt compelled to add... Leave, always leave, when she wasn't healed! He hated the idea and thought he'd made that clear enough. So much so that the old doctor had almost run away screaming. But no matter what he said, it seemed to have the opposite effect and...
He was tired. Tired of waiting for her to apologize, tired of watching her neglect herself, and most of all... Tired of her lying to him so he'd let her get hurt.
Notes : This was a chapter that focused more on Serena's other Pokemons. I know it can be boring because we want to see the interactions between Ash and Serena, but since the other Pokemons exist, I have to give them some semblance of personalities. It's also very useful for me: it helps me define their character better and know how to use them later.
I also tried to give Flannery some sort of backstory. Of course, the goal is more to justify her behavior and create parallels to the situation Ash and Serena are going through, but I still tried to give her some life.
I know how risky it is to focus on secondary characters: they may offer new possibilities, but they tend to dilute the story and can quickly bore the reader. But since Ash and Serena can't interact anyway, others serves to see what's going on on both sides.