Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 1
Louise could hardly sleep that night, both from the harrowing events in the forest and in anticipation of the coming battle, her first steps towards 'proving her worth'. She eventually did, only to wake up a few hours later, an hour before her battle with Viola was set to begin. Groggy, and realizing that there was no reason to go back to sleep, she made her way out to the lobby, laid out food for Aile and Brennaraki, made a cup of hot cocoa and opened the internet function on her Pokédex.
"Okay…" Louise yawned and took a sip from her cup. "Let's see here… As I thought, Viola specializes in Bug-types. That's good for us, right girls?" Louise looked down to her two Pokémon, who just now had finished their food and were looking up at her in anticipation, even Aile. Smiling back, Louise continued to read. At this point, she heard the doors open behind her, but she paid them no heed.
"It looks like…the Pokémon she had yesterday was her field team. She has specialized teams that she uses for people depending on the amount of Gym Badges she has, just like the rest of the Gym Leaders, apparently," Bringing her hand to her chin, she began to think before turning her attention to her two Pokémon and smiled. "You know, I think we got this."
"Please tell me that was just the medicine I'm on and I did not just hear you say that," a voice sounded from across the room. Recognizing its owner, Louise sharply turned to see Saito, staring at her with a blank look on his face, a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Well…I should," Louise replied with confidence. "I have all the advantages this time. The team she'll be using is much weaker than what she used yesterday, I won't have to worry about a swarm of Beedrill trying to kill me, and both of my Pokémon are super effective against Bug-types, not to mention I'm more prepared this time. This will be easy. By the way, how's the arm?"
"It's still numb where the stinger hit, but it's getting better. Let's get back to you for a minute," Saito started, setting his cup down on the counter then taking a seat in front of Louise. "Yes, all of that is true, but you are forgetting a few crucial details. For starters, I highly doubt that you or your Pokémon are fully recovered from yesterday. How much sleep did you get last night? I can see bags under your eyes."
"About," Louise yawned again, forcing her to take another sip, only to find her cup empty, "four hours, I think… Don't give me that look, I'm fine!"
"Right… Second, and most importantly, Viola is a Gym Leader. As in, this is her job, she knows what she is doing. She is much more experienced than either of us, especially you. It's alright to be confident but going in right now is a recipe for disaster. You are not ready."
"Oh, so you can do the Gym Challenge, but I can't?" Louise accused, pointedly staring at an exasperated Saito.
"That's not what I'm… Listen, I'm not saying you can't battle her. All I'm saying is that you need more time to prepare. Ask her to reschedule for another day, recover, get some sleep, practice some more, and then challenge her."
"I'll be fine," Louise stubbornly insisted, getting up out of her seat. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a badge to win." With that, Louise threw her disposable cup in the trash, returned Aile and Brennaraki to their Luxury Balls, and left the Pokémon Center, leaving a dumbfounded Saito behind.
"…Don't say I didn't warn you," He sighed before quickly downing his coffee and followed her out the door. He couldn't leave the city, so he might as well watch the 'champion' in action.
"You know, these are actually pretty good," Saito observed, gazing upon a framed photograph of a flock of Starlys in flight. "I mean, I knew Viola was a photographer, but…"
"Didn't expect her to be this good, either," Louise concluded, looking at a separate framed photograph, this one depicting a Butterfree caring for its young. "Any last-minute advice?"
"Besides asking to reschedule?"
"Besides that!"
"Hmm," Saito hummed in mild amusement. "-Don't rely purely on type advantage. Good trainers, like Viola, know how to get around that. You start thinking that Type means everything, and you have already lost."
"But Type advantage does give me a massive advantage here, you can't deny that."
"I'm saying that-" Saito couldn't finish his sentence as the doors to the arena suddenly opened. "… Looks like you're being called up."
"Indeed," Louise started walking forward, her head held high.
"Remember what I said!" Saito called out to her retreating form, only to have her belatedly wave back as the doors closed. He sighed, and as the doors to the spectator section opened, he made his way to the stands, mildly observing the greenhouse that the field was in, filled with a wide variety of Bug Pokémon. It was honestly quite beautiful, but his mind was elsewhere. Mainly on the two people already present on the field, listening to the referee. As he sat down, their voices finally reached him.
"Now, Ms. Valliere," The referee began, "As this is your first Gym Battle, I will go over the rules to follow. These rules are standard across all Kalos League Gyms. This will be a Single Battle, as in both the challenger and the Gym Leader will send out one Pokémon at a time. As you currently possess two Pokémon, Viola will also only use two Pokémon. As the challenger, you reserve the right to switch Pokémon while Viola, as the Gym Leader, cannot. Viola will also send out her Pokémon first. These battles will be decided by knockout. Gym Leaders can enact specialized rules; however, Viola has declined to do so. Should you win, you will also be required to pass a practical test before earning the badge. Any questions?"
"No, sir," Louise answered with confidence, her hand reaching down to grab a Luxury Ball, with Viola echoing the movement.
"Ms. Vallière, despite how we met, I wish you the best of luck," Viola spoke up in encouragement. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you now."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Louise replied, brimming with confidence, causing Viola to smirk.
"Well then, let's begin. Go, Surskit!" Viola called out, releasing a round, blue, four-legged spider with a single yellow antenna. Quickly, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and activated the scan function.
"Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon. By secreting oil from its feet, Surskits are capable of skating around on the water. Its antennae secrete a syrup that both acts as a defense mechanism and attracts prey.
'So, a Bug/Water-type…' Louise thought as she planned her next move. 'Bug is weak to Fire, but Water is strong against Fire, so Brennaraki's advantage would get negated. Then again…' Louise quick snapped forward with her mind made.
"Let's go, Brennaraki!" Throwing the ball into the air, it opened to unleash the fire fox held within, who let out a yelp in anticipation.
"Dammit, Louise," Saito, sitting from the stands, whispered, in his eyes seeing her chances diminish by the second. Louise, on the other hand, was full of confidence and immediately began to issue orders.
"Brennaraki, let's start this off with a Psywave!" Louise ordered. A purple glow soon enveloped Brennaraki before launching a wave of psychic energy out towards the blue spider.
"Jump!" Viola yelled out, with Surskit immediately complied as it nimbly jumped over the psychic wave. "Follow up with Bubblebeam!" As Surskit continued its descent, it let out a large stream of bubbles from its mouth, right towards Brennaraki.
"Dodge it!" Brennaraki sharply jumped to the side at Louise's order, with the stream of bubbles going wide. "Ember!" In retaliation, the fire fox lets off a fireball, and as it zoomed towards the spider, it fired another stream of bubbles at the fireball, stopping it dead and creating a small cloud of steam, obscuring Louise's vision.
"Where is it?" Louise's eyes darted around the arena, trying to make out the Surskit, but the steam made that nearly impossible. Finally, the steam began to dissipate, revealing the Surskit once again. Who was currently charging up an attack, which fired as soon as the obscuring steam was gone.
"Move!" Brennaraki barely had time to react before a large beam shot impacted the ground where she previously stood, creating a large sheet of ice that began to quickly spread outward from the point of impact. More beams of ice shot out towards Brennaraki, who desperately hopped about to dodge the streams.
"Wait a second…" Louise squinted her eyes as she noticed a pattern set by the Surskit, before gasping in realization. "It's missing on purpose!" Louise shouted out, causing Brennaraki's eyes to widen as well as she dodged another beam of ice, only to slip on the arena floor, now covered in a solid sheet of ice.
"I was wondering when you were going to catch that," Viola called out. "How well can your starter fight when it can't even stand?"
"Grrh," Louise growled, continuing to watch Brennaraki struggle to remain upright on the ice sheet, before sighing in resignation and pulling out a Luxury Ball. "Brennaraki, return," Louise was quiet as the red beam shot out and absorbed the Fennekin back into her ball. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow, the battle was not going exactly as planned but she wasn't about to give up and readied another Luxury Ball.
"Go, Aile! Start off with Tailwind!" With a shout, Louise threw the ball out onto the arena, releasing Aile, who safely flew above the sheet of ice, flapping her wings to create the much-needed speed boost. "Quick Attack!" Disappearing in a blinding burst of speed, Aile dive-bombed the Surskit.
"Ice Beam!" Viola retaliated, with Surskit launching a beam of ice towards the speeding bird, who narrowly barrel rolled out of its path, swooping upwards to avoid crashing to the ground. The beam struck the ceiling, creating small series of icicles that hung precariously.
"What are you planning…" Louise muttered, eyeing the icicles with apprehension, before shaking it off. "Aile, Peck!" At her order, Aile once again swooped down, aiming to strike at the insect, only for it to skate around to her back and fired another Ice Beam, forcing the bird to once again roll out of the way, only this time the tip of her wing was grazed. Aile cried out in slight pain and spiraled downward but managed to reorient herself before she crashed into the ground, although she was noticeably lower to the ground this time.
"Damn it," Louise grunted, only to fall silent as she gazed back up to the ceiling. Now, it was completely covered in icicles, and when she looked back down at Viola, confused, the Gym Leader smirked, causing the rosette to go wide-eyed. "Aile, look-!"
"Signal Beam on the ceiling!" As soon as Viola made the order, a purple beam shot out, striking the ceiling dead center. The icicles forebodingly shook, freezing Louise and Aile in place, before a loud crack appeared at the point of impact. The crack quickly spread outward, each movement sending a screeching noise that filled the air.
"Aile, move!" Louise ordered, hoping to avoid what was soon to occur, but before Aile had a chance to move, the icicles, cracked loose from their roots, began to cascade downward in a makeshift hail, slamming into Aile repeatedly. The tiny bird cried out in pain and attempted to maneuver herself out of the sudden hail, only to be intercepted by a sticky glob of webbing, binding her to the ground. Unable to defend herself properly or move out the way, Louise and Aile could only watch as the Surskit launched a heavy stream of bubbles at the helpless bird, the intensity high enough to create a small screen that once again obscured her vision. As it dissipated, Louise only saw the prone form of Aile, clearly out of action.
"Aile is unable to battle! Surskit is the winner!" The referee ruled. Silent, Louise returned Aile to her Luxury Ball and threw Brennaraki back out onto the field, who immediately slipped on a patch of ice.
"Alright, Brennaraki, it's all up to you!" Louise cheered, attempting to reassure both her starter and herself that they could still win. "Use Ember!" With the order given, Brennaraki once again fired off a small fireball, the recoil sending her slightly backward on the ice. The Surskit, much more used to this environment, was able to easily bypass it, and as the fireball impacted harmlessly against the back wall, the Surskit fired off another stream of bubbles. Brennaraki jumped over the stream, only to once again fall straight down upon landing.
"No, no, no!" Louise began to panic at the sight of her starter's predicament. Brennaraki continued to try and stand, only to get blasted by a stream of bubbles for her trouble, knocking her back. Rather than stay down, Brennaraki again tried to stand upright before another blast of bubbles sent her reeling. This time, the Surskit did not let up, and fired off stream after stream of bubbles, refusing to let up and creating a large smokescreen that dwarfed the previous one. Finally, the stream of bubbles ceased, and silence descended over the arena.
"… Brennaraki?" Louise whispered, unable to see the outcome of the bubble barrage. With bated breath, she waited as the smoke began to dissipate, only to gasp as she spotted the prone and unmoving form of her starter. Louise was tempted to run out onto the field, but was unable to bring herself to do only, only capable of silently returning Brennaraki into her ball before tightly clutching it to her chest.
"Oh no…" Saito whispered to himself, unable to take his eyes away from the sight.
"Brennaraki is unable to battle! Gym Leader Viola has won the battle!" With that, it was official. Louise's first Gym battle, the first chance to prove herself, and she had failed miserably.
As Louise sulked in the Pokémon center waiting for news regarding her Pokémon, she could only dwell on how the battle had turned out. Viola, after the battle was over, had immediately set off for the forest again. Apparently, she had to check in on the nest to make sure they weren't on a rampage without there queen. But, Louise couldn't bring herself to focus on just how awful her performance was. It was a complete disaster, from start to finish, and she only had herself to blame. Only now, her Pokémon paid the price.
"Founder, I'm an idiot," she told herself.
"No, you're not, just inexperienced," a voice corrected her, making her jump upward and look towards the source. Not unexpectantly, it was Saito, carrying two cups of a steaming liquid, one offered to her. "I know how much you like hot cocoa, so…here." Taking the offered cup, Louise began to gulp it down, letting it soothe her.
"That…was disastrous."
"That's one way to put it," Saito agreed, sitting down next to her. Seeing how that only seemed to make things worse, Saito sighed. "Can I tell you something?"
"…Sure, go right ahead."
"It took me two tries to get my first badge," Seeing her confused expression, Saito continued. "I know you may think that I'm some super experienced trainer, but the truth is my first attempt at a gym badge was even worse than the showing that you just had. Heh, I went in with literally just Ronin, thinking that "Oh, the Gym is just Normal-Type, this will be easy". I lasted thirty seconds, if that. The only reason why I won the second time is that Tanuki was just that good… Which now that I think about it goes against my previous advice…"
"…Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I wanted to let you know that losing is to be expected, especially at this stage. That's how we learn, become better. You lost now, horribly in fact. But next time, if you take this loss to heart and learn from it, you'll get stronger, get better, everything," Saito, finishing up his spiel, placed his hand on Louise's shoulder to comfort her. Louise looked at him before smiling in agreement and, finishing up her cup, stood up in defiance.
"You're right. I will get better. Viola may have beaten me this time, but next will be different. I know what to expect now, and next time, I'll be ready for whatever tricks she throws at me."
"That's the spirit," Saito smiled at Louise before standing up as well. "Well, it's been…interesting, but it's been nice meeting you, Louise. Good luck in your- "
"Wait," Louise interrupted Saito, halting him in his tracks. Curiously, she looked almost…embarrassed, shifting her eyes around and poking her fingers together. "Can I…ask you something?"
"Um, yeah. Sure," Saito was unsure of what Louise was about to ask, but it was obviously something that she was slow to admit.
"…I want you to help me…" Saito could barely hear her whisper.
"I'm sorry?"
"I want you to help me!" Louise almost shouted now, drawing everyone's attention in the Pokémon center and sending Saito into a state of silence.
"…why?" Saito could only bring himself to ask that question.
"Because, compared to me, you know what you are doing. If I'm going to get back home, I need to get stronger, and with your help…" Louise trailed off, evidently embarrassed by the request. Saito almost moved to say that this wasn't his problem, but one look at her face and the desperation that filled it, only made him sigh in resignation.
"Fine, I'll help," he agreed, rubbing his hair with his hand.
"Really!" Louise's face lit up at Saito's acceptance only to be quickly suppressed with a cough. Regaining her composure, Louise returned to a prim and proper stance. "Well, of course. Now, I suggest we- "
"Uh-uh," Saito interrupted, catching Louise off guard. "We do this, we do it my way, got it? None of this bossing each other around, we are going to train together as equals. Agreed?"
"…okay," Louise relented, knowing that she needed his help and not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Good. Now, where to train… Ah, I know. Route 22, it's just outside the city limits. There's a lot of good wild Pokémon for us to train against and it's closer than Santalune Forest. Besides, I think Viola would rather not bail our asses out two times in one week," Saito chuckled to himself, bringing a slight smile to Louise's face.
"No argument here," Louise nodded in agreement, wishing to avoid that forest like the plague.
"Okay, so we'll set off tomorrow," Louise moved to protest such a late departure, but Saito quickly cut her off. "You and your Pokémon need to recover, both from yesterday and today. I am not yet cleared to leave the city, but I will be tomorrow. We'll go early in the morning, train all day, and the day after tomorrow you can battle Viola again. Deal?" At this, Saito extended his hand out to Louise, who was contemplating his terms, before nodding in acceptance and grasping his hand with her own.
Hey, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Sorry for not posting yesterday, 4th of July and all that.
Louise has had her very first Gym battle, and she got destroyed by what we all called the Hellskit. But she's not one to let that bring her down! She's going to rise above this or die trying! Hyperbole in that last case. Now, onto the Q & A:
MAJORMATT1234: That was the entire point of that exchange. In this story, the relationship between Saito and Louise is not defined by Master and Familiar, but equals. He will not take any abuse from her nor anyone else. His tirade, while extreme, was also meant to be in the right. But, as you can see, their relationship is improving and, as with Pokémon as a whole, evolution is a key part of it.
Hellifrit: The OS Ash and Misty dynamic was indeed an inspiration for their dynamic, at least at first. In essence, we took the canon FoZ relationship between Saito and Louise and cut away the parts of it that did not fit the story we were telling. Such as the more abusive elements from both sides, the Louise exploding Saito for things out of his control, his blatant perving on other people. In fact, let me say this right now: Although ZnT was a harem story, this story will not have that. We all felt that the harem elements of FoZ really brought down the story, and as such will be removing it.
Sakura Linsel: We do have plans for that, rest assured.
PokemonFan93: Part of Louise's problem is that she falls under the mindset of Noblese Obligue, that it is the responsibility of Nobility to protect those under you. As a noble, she views most people as below her, and thus it is her responsibility to help protect them. Sometimes, it gets her in over her head.
As for the Beedrill removing the wand, we included that to show that her magic will not be a Get Out of Jail Free card. The story is about her becoming a Pokémon trainer as of now, not learning how to control her magic. That comes later.
I wouldn't expect you to know what her Japanese name was, don't worry. Simply put, when it comes to the major characters like the Gym Leaders, we wanted them to have a last name. Since neither the dub nor original Japanese gave them last names, we went with the closest we could get, and that was taking the French (due to the Kalos = France inspiration) or Japanese (Pokémon is a Japanese franchise) names of the characters to use as a last name.
We will be showing some anime exclusive locations, as well as areas only seen in the games. Its a mixture.
DPSS: That is what we thought as well. Kanto is the original Pokémon region, Alola had just come out, and Hoenn is my personal favorite, but we had to choose a region that best fit Louise. We all decided early on that Kalos was the best fit for Louise, and that has influenced the story as a whole.
Also, Tristain is actually based more off of Belgium than France. The Halkegenian version of France is Gallia, which also presumably includes the Halkegenian Spain. Germania is of course the Germanic countries, Albion is England, and Romalia is Italy. But Gallia is the most powerful country in Halkegenia, and as such their language, Gallian, has become the Lingua Franca of Halkegenia's nobility. All the different countries have essentially three languages. You have the native language for the commoners, Gallian for the nobility, and Halkegenian Latin equivalent for the Church. Tristain is a unique case in that most of the populace speaks Gallian, but Albion has Albionese, which is basically English, Germania has Germanian, which is German, and Romalia has Romalian, which is Italian.
Anyway, that concludes the Q & A. We hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and we should be back to our regularly scheduled release schedule tomorrow!