"You can do it, my little warrior!"
Lokix braced itself. It steadied its threaded little legs, and swung its arms back. And stood there… And stood there… And stood there…
"SHUU!"
With a sudden burst, Lokix took off running. It reached the first hurdle. And with a mighty leap, it sailed over it, wings aflutter.
And with the same determination, it cleared the second hurdle, the third hurdle, the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth.
"Great run!" Katy encouraged, clicking a button on a stopwatch. "Now look sharp! Here she comes!"
Just as Lokix cleared the field, something large charged in to block its path.
"RAAAAARRRRRRR!"
Ursaring stood there with large sparring mittens on. Lokix met the challenge head-on.
"Lokix! Shih!"
Lokix immediately went for a Lunge attack. Ursaring absorbed the blows with its mitts, but Lokix wasn't deterred. Using the momentum from Ursaring's mitts, Lokix catapulted itself up into the air.
"Rrgh!?" Ursaring looked up to the sky, trying to get a read on where the nimble bug leapt to.
Ursaring was distracted just long enough for Lokix to suddenly come down with a Bounce on Ursaring's mitts, causing Ursaring to lose its balance and spread its arms out.
"SHIIIIIIIH!"
Using this opportunity, Lokix leapt again. And then its foot came down, and Ursaring fell to a powerful Axe Kick.
Its opponent was on the ground, and Lokix was short of breath. Ursaring slowly sat back up, growling menacingly at Lokix.
Lokix just stood there with its stubby arms balled up like fists, and a face that looked like it was saying "Bring it."
Ursaring growled some more… but then her face became a joyous one, and she shook the Lokix's hand, congratulating her teammate.
Katy clapped too, as she ran over to the other end of the field. She wasn't clothed in her baker's uniform today. She had a white-button top on, with a denim jacket over it and brown pants, complemented by casual chocolate brown shoes and dark socks.
"Great hustle, Loki!" she congratulated. Lokix gave a pleased chirp. "You beat your previous record on the hurdles, and you still took down little Teddi in a flash spar even now that she's BIG Teddi! Excellent effort all around, both of you!" She put her shoulder on Ursaring, and Ursaring growled happily.
"Shuu! Shuu!" Lokix cried, in what sounded like noises of excitement.
"Oh-ho! You want to go another round, do you?" Katy chuckled at her little warrior's enthusiasm, but then she had a solemn face. "Mmm, I'm glad you're an eager little junebug, but I think we should call it here for today."
"RHH!? Lokix…" Lokix was disappointed.
Katy sighed. "I'm sorry, my little warrior. We can't go too hard on the training, because then our team might get a little too tough for the challengers. Have to keep my Gym Battles easy on the youngins', after all." She recalled a sad but accepting Lokix into its Poké Ball. "I'm sorry too, sweet Teddi. I know you don't get to see as much action these days either."
Ursaring let its head down with a sad grunt.
"It's not like I wish I could go all out in these battles myself. The Gym Challenges would probably be a lot more fun then," Katy said glumly. "And maybe more people would actually come to Cortondo if I had more of a show to put on, and it wouldn't just be a road stop for Academy students looking to get their first badge right next to Mesagoza…"
She gazed out across the field to the small, sleepy town she and her Gym represented. A calm wind blew through the quiet streets. Now that the festival was over, Cortondo had completely resumed to its usual tiny town vibes.
"Without any real spectacle, the Grand Olive Harvest is the only thing that seems to keep this town from going off the map. And it's already come and gone…" Katy ruminated.
Ursaring, sensing her Trainer's sadness, leaned over to give Katy a big, sweet and warm bear hug.
"Ohhhh! Thanks, Teddi," an appreciative Katy reciprocated. "I don't mean to take all my issues out on you. I really wish you could keep being one of my star Pokéémon forever. But eventually, you'll get too strong, and I'll have to cycle you out completely if we keep going much harder."
She sighed heavily. "Just like with Lizzi…"
"Rrrgh…"
After another sad sigh, Katy returned Ursaring to its Ball. She opened up her bag, and Ursaring's Ball fell in with the rest of Katy's team.
"I'm so sorry, my friends…" Katy tried to assure all of them. She gazed sadly at a particular Premier Ball sitting in with the rest, and wiped off a bit of the dust gathering on it. Wiping a tear from her eye, she closed the clasp.
With her hands on her hips, Katy gazed at the windy Cortondo sky.
"I need to stop moaning to myself, I know it can't be helped. Geeta made too many good points about keeping the first leg of the Challenge fair…"
She closed her eyes and sighed one more time, trying to release all that negative energy into the air.
"There's nothing that can be done about it. So I need to do something to distract myself from these feelings. I should go somewhere I haven't gone before. Somewhere new, and exciting."
She looked up to the clouds yet again, as if searching for answers.
Clouds…
Her eyes widened as an idea crept its way into her noggin. Then, a soft smile upon her lips.
"Hmmm… do I still have that sightseer's hat my sister sent me for Christmas?"
All four Squawkabilly well… squawked as the Flying Taxi cab lowered to the ground at the end of the east end street in Medali. Once the vehicle was just a couple inches floating above the ground, the door opened. And a woman stepped out, dressed quite a bit differently than when she was training in the fields around Cortondo.
She'd traded the denim jacket for a lighter cerulean blue cardigan with a black ascot. A long gray skirt instead of pants, and her finest footwear… which was the just same white work shoes she wore at the Soapberry. A fringed silk white handbag, and atop her head was a black brimmed summer hat to match her ascot.
Not what she would call her usual aesthetic, but then again sightseeing around a city was hardly what she could call her usual behavior.
"Thank you for flying with us ma'am, and have a good day!" the cabbie at the wheel called out.
"Thanks! Same to you!" Katy waved the rising cab goodbye.
Katy took in her immediate surroundings. There were certainly a bevy of skyscrapers sprinkled throughout Medali. Larry wasn't lying about that part. Unlike the taller buildings in Medali, they were all square-shaped and more or less the same height. All the same cold gray color.
Despite all that, Medali seemed to instantly exude a very non-city like vibe. Perhaps it was the brown marble that lined the floors of the city wrapped around the light gray roads. Or the colored flags that lined the streets in front of the yellow domestic buildings, all of which gave Medali an aesthetic reminiscent of Mesagoza.
But it was probably also the main street Katy had found herself on. A park lay at the center of this road, adorned with a flowering installation and lots of benches and picnic tables, where kids were playing and adults gathered to rest.
There were also significantly fewer people than Katy expected to see. Still a substantially bigger population than Cortondo, but… none of that hustle and bustle. It just simply seemed like a bigger town. Granted, a lot of the adults were probably busy inside those office buildings. Like Larry probably was often, she had to imagine.
But with the kids and people laxing around, and the soft brown colors, Medali as a city seemed very… small. And rustic. A lot like what Larry had described.
"Step right up! Come on down!"
Katy was stirred from her tranquil thoughts by the sound of a man loudly clapping and yelling. She looked to her left to see him advertising a large building.
"It's the world-famous Treasure Eatery!" He yelled out into the crowd. "Have a delicious meal! Trainers taking the Gym Challenge are welcome here!"
So that's the Treasure Eatery.
Katy immediately noticed the oriental aesthetic of the big restaurant. It looked like it was made in the style of Johtonian or… possibly Hoennian architecture.
"That might be an interesting place to stop at some point," she said quietly to herself. "But I'm not here just to fill my belly! So where should I begin?"
Just then, a voice called out.
"Shine your shoes, ma'am?"
A man who looked to be in his late twenties/early thirties waved with a rag in his hand, sitting at a small makeshift station in the street by the Eatery.
Hmm. I've never gotten my shoes shined before. Guess there's a first time for everything…
"So…! Do you enjoy being a pastry chef?" The shoe shiner asked as he worked.
Katy put her hand to her face in shock. "How did you…?"
"I learn a lot about people's lives and professions just from their footwear. Every shoe tells a story." He finished and dusted off his rag. "There! How's that?"
"Oh my!" Katy gleamed. "They're as spic and span as the day I bought them! You are good!"
"A pleasure to serve!"
Katy tossed a coin his way as a tip and started walking down the street.
"Oh, and by the way, ma'am…?"
"Mm?" Katy turned around.
"You want to be heading down the left avenue up the street there," he said, pointing his rag off in the distance.
"Why's that?"
"Well, that's where the Gym is." He waggled his eyebrows at her and went back to his work.
Katy chuckled back, both impressed and a little unnerved.
Maybe he's a little too good…
Next, Katy found what seemed like the one big clothing store in Medali. It was an independently owned store called Medali Fashions and sat in the middle of a small street plaza beside a sub shop and a video arcade.
And it was here when she found herself wishing she had bought more ready cash with her.
The clothes sold here weren't as fancy as the kind of expensive garbs you'd find in Cascarrafa or Levincia. In fact, being independently manufactured and sold clothes meant they had more of that handmade charm that Katy was used to.
That didn't mean they still didn't cost a pretty penny.
Katy had about a handful of garments laid out at checkout. Two dresses, a plaid skirt that caught Katy's eye, a new sweater, fancy gloves, dress shoes, and a pair of crystal earrings. The cashier put in the whole total of all the items. Even with how frugal Katy thought she'd been, she still found herself emptying a large chunk of her wallet.
"You still owe about 44,120 Poké Dollars, miss," the cashier informed Katy.
"Hmmm. Alright…" Katy held up the earrings. "I'll put these back, and then… go ahead and put the rest of it on my card."
Her next stop was to check out one of the local delicacy places. The food street in Medali had an Artisan Bakery that she could've browsed, but since there's one in Cortondo she wanted to see if there was something unique. The only place that wasn't a chain ended up being a small dessert shop.
Walking into the door caused a bell to ring, much like in Patisserie Soapberry, which immediately made Katy feel at home.
"I'll be just one sec!" shouted a female cashier who was bent down behind the counter rifling with boxes.
"No hurry!" Katy replied cheerfully. "This place is very lovely."
"Thank you! We take pride in—Oh my gosh! You're Katy!" the cashier exclaimed when she stood up.
"Wow! I guess I should've expected someone would recognize me here eventually! Especially being a Gym town at all."
"Huh? Oh that's right, I forgot you're a Gym Leader too!" Katy smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to take that. "But you're really one of my idols in baking! It's such an honor to have you here! You know what? Anything you want today, it's on the house!"
"My! You're too kind!"
She remembered how siphoned her wallet was after that round at Medali Fashions.
And maybe too fortuitous…
Katy left the shop, trying to hold up the cake container and all the bags full of stuff between both her arms.
"Maybe I should've brought along one of my helpers…" Katy joked.
She was about to make a plan on where to go next, however all of a sudden, she spotted a huge commotion in the distance.
"…Woah."
The Treasure Eatery hadn't seemed busy before, but suddenly a larger number of people were gathering outside the restaurant, raving wildly.
"Did they just put out a really hot Special of the Day or something?" Katy wondered.
As she got closer, she noticed some people were hurrying to get inside, and others were looking through the windows and shouting in excitement.
"What's going on?" she asked the man who was advertising earlier.
"Oh-ho, only the most exciting of occasions, miss! There's a Gym Battle happening inside right now!"
Katy was surprised. "A Gym Battle? Inside the restaurant?"
"That's right! The dining hall of the Treasure Eatery also doubles as the Medali Gym's Battle Court!"
"Heh. Of course it does…"
He really wasn't bluffing about all the time he spends in that place, huh?
After calling a mini cab to have her purchases transported back to her house in Cortondo, Katy eagerly stepped inside the Treasure Eatery. Being inside the place made her realize it was definitely more Hoennian than Johtonian in design.
Like the rest of the city, it had a vibe that seemed big yet rustic at the same time. And a very curious, but somewhat homely smell. A bit like the streets of Cortondo on festival nights, when everyone's cooking up fried food and steamed vegetable treats.
Surprisingly, there really was a proper Battle Court in here that took up more than a quarter of the whole restaurant. With only a few tables to eat at on the side.
Surely that huge arena would be a better spot for a large dining room?
A lot of the people who rushed in were standing around outside the arena, cheering on. There were a few patrons sat down eating, but they were also caught up in the excitement. It was easy to see why.
A young trainer, a teenage-looking girl with lavender pigtails and glasses, stood her ground with a Medicham, breathing heavily.
On the other end was the Exceptional Everyman himself, having sent out his ace, the large and mighty Staraptor.
"Looks like another crowd has gathered," Larry noted, looking around at all the people. Katy made eye contact with him, but he didn't seem to react to her. "This has been happening a lot lately. I don't know why everyone suddenly considers me a hot ticket now. But I guess I'd better give them a show."
He reached in and pulled out his signature Tera Orb. As the wonderous ball started filling up with Tera Energy, Larry barely flinched and instead coolly straightened his tie.
Katy felt her heart thump.
"Terastallize, Staraptor!" Larry commanded. "And then use Aerial Ace!"
The Tera Orb hovered over Staraptor, and let out a dazzling amount of energy. Staraptor briefly found itself encased in large crystals, before bursting out of them sporting a huge diamond-like crown on its head. Staraptor screeched loudly and confidently.
The young trainer sighed. "This isn't going to work like how I wanted, but… Medicham! Terastallize!"
She tossed her own charged Tera Orb over Medicham, encasing it in crystals. Medicham then popped out, sporting a huge eyeball-shaped crystal crown atop its purple-encased body.
Larry reeled back a bit.
Psychic Tera? Wasn't expecting that one. Staraptor might actually be in trouble, its Aerial Ace won't do as much damage now…
"REEEEEEE!"
Staraptor soared at full force towards Medicham with its incredible speed and slashed in the air with Aerial Ace, doing substantial effort to knock Medicham back, but not enough for it not to get back up again.
"Medicham! Use Force Palm!"
Medicham let loose a Force Palm against Larry's Staraptor that did some damage to the powered-up bird. Staraptor felt its wingspan get erratic, and it closed its eyes as if on the verge of giving up.
The young trainer looked hopeful. But Larry knew better.
"…Staraptor! Facade!"
Staraptor's eyes shot back open, catching Medicham off-guard. Taking advantage of this, Staraptor leaped from the ground and charged at Medicham, slamming into its body and causing Medicham to tumble over violently.
"Oh no!" The trainer cried out.
Sure enough, Medicham's Tera Jewel shattered into pieces, the ultimate crushing indicator that its opponent had won out, and fell over fainted. The trainer quickly called it back to its Poké Ball.
"The victor is Larry!" shouted the waiter up-front, who often saw himself as Larry's unofficial announcer in battles. Everyone in the restaurant clapped for Larry.
Katy clapped louder than everyone else after getting caught up in the intensity. Watching a battle like that was probably the most exciting highlight of her day yet.
Larry looked her way again, and his eyes grew wide. He had seen the woman in the black hat watching him from the corner of his eye, but only when the heat of the battle was over and she was looking straight at him did he realize just who of all people was standing there in his favorite restaurant, watching him battle.
He gave a surprised wave at her, and Katy earnestly waved back, as everyone else started to filter out. Larry was about to say something when he started to hear fretting from the other side of the court.
"Awww, man. I almost had it," the young girl stressed. "I really wish I knew that secret recipe to change a Pokémon's Tera Type that I heard you can ask for here. If only my Medicham had a Fighting Tera Type instead, I might've turned things around…"
Larry knelt down to the girl.
"Hey. You shouldn't think like that. Pokémon Battles are all about dealing with the situation as it's presented to you. Every loss is a chance to learn. Just like how each victory is proof you're getting stronger. Besides…" He felt awkward for a moment, but put a hand on her shoulder anyway.
"I hate to say this, but you genuinely caught me off-guard when your Medicham Terastallized into Psychic. I had to rethink everything and almost lost because of my gamble."
"Really?"
"Of course." Larry hemmed and hawed for a bit, before taking a slip of paper out of his jacket pocket. "Here. I don't… normally do this for challengers unless they've already defeated me, but… Say those words to the chef over there, and she'll let you in on the secret recipe."
"Wh—REALLY!?" she said again, in complete shock.
"Yup," said Larry, standing up completely. "It's your choice what to do with it. But you know… maybe keeping Medicham's Tera Type as one that people wouldn't suspect isn't a bad strategy to consider. Either way, it was a good battle, and I hope you'll consider everything you've learned from this and challenge me again." For the first time, he gave the trainer a genuine smile.
"Wow!" The girl was taken aback, having not expected this level of sincerity. "Th—thank you so much, Mr. Larry! I will be back again, and my Pokémon will be stronger than ever, and next time we will win!"
"Looking forward to it."
The young trainer confidently ran down the court and out of the building, determined to go train her team up in preparation for a rematch.
As everyone else left and the patrons went back to their meals, Katy was the only one left still gazing at Larry in admiration.
"Hi," said Larry.
"Hi yourself."
Larry started walking towards her, but was then startled by something, or someone, suddenly popping out from underneath one of the dining tables.
"UWAAAAAAA!" Iono screamed. "I knew I should've started hitting record much earlier! LARRY!"
Larry turned his tired eyes to the tiny screeching gremlin. "Don't you have your own Gym to be maintaining?"
"Challengers can wait! The Internet is forever!" Iono declared, banging her sleeved fists on the table. "Now I'm gonna hit record, and I want you to recite that whole speech again for all the adoring Ionites at home!"
"Absolutely not."
"But whyyyyyyyyy?" Iono wailed obnoxiously, spinning her head around as if she was under the world's biggest whirlwind.
"Because everything I said back there was special, entirely meant for just that one trainer. Spread it out to anyone else, and it isn't special anymore. I'm not going to diminish that just for the sake of your 'views' or whatever you're always spouting about. And besides…"
Larry walked over to stand in front of Katy, who smiled at him.
"I want to catch up with my friend Katy, who came all the way here from Cortondo today." Then he leaned in towards Katy and whispered very seriously, "Please help me."
Katy giggled. "It really has been some time since he and I got the chance to talk one on one, so I think it'd be best if we could ask not to be disturbed for today, dear."
Iono grumbled and stomped her foot a couple of times, then crossed her arms with a loud huff.
"Alright, fine… I'll do it for you Katy, since you were really nice to me when you agreed to be on my stream." She tossed her sleeve in Larry's direction. "Unlike YOU! You won't escape me forever, briefcase man! I will get that Larry bump on my stream one way or another!"
With that, Iono ran out of the Eatery and off into the daylight, flailing her arms all the way.
Larry gave a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you for that. I appreciate your cooperation."
"I'm not surprised she wanted to broadcast that. That was a very heartfelt speech you gave. Almost made me want to tear up," Katy joked. They both took seats at the bar.
"Ehh, wasn't that much," Larry shrugged modestly. "I've had enough trainers get sad over losing to me that I've learned what things to say to cheer them up."
"I suppose. But that was still a nice gesture letting her in on that secret recipe."
"I guess I've just been in a good mood lately. Can't imagine why," Larry smiled.
The chef came and took both of their orders for a meal, with Larry deciding to get them both Darjeeling tea to start with. As they settled in, Larry took a fond look at Katy and her outfit.
"You look very different today. I didn't recognize you at first."
Katy flashed her clothes in mock vanity. "Not used to seeing me outside of my toiling clothes, are you?"
"I don't think I have ever you seen you wearing anything else before today. I'm also very surprised you decided to take my recommendation on visiting Medali so quickly."
"What can I say? I suddenly had a whim to go out somewhere new today, and it was fresh on my mind."
"And how's my fair city been treating you?"
Katy gave a pleased smile. "You were totally right about my liking it here. It has some of that big city charm that made me feel excited to browse around, but it's still small and quaint enough that it's not as huge a leap from Cortondo as I thought it would be. And everyone's so nice here. This might sound like a bit of an echo, but… today made me wish I'd have visited this town much sooner."
"How poetic," Larry mused. "We both ventured so far out of our comfort zones, only to find that new things weren't as far from the comforts of home as they seemed after all."
"Okay… do you write sonnets or something?" asked an impressed Katy. "Because if not, this place should really hire you to write some up and pin them on the walls."
"Heh heh! First time I've ever gotten that one." Their teas arrived, and Larry raised his cup up in a toast. "To new horizons, I guess."
They toasted their cups and took a nice, soothing drink from them. Katy felt really warm inside. Darjeeling is always a nice, refreshing tea, and the Treasure Eatery made it absolutely superb.
She gazed lovingly into her cup, and then up at Larry, for whom her feelings of warmness and pleasure didn't seem to dissipate any when she looked at him.
"So… are we really friends now?"
Larry, blushing, jerked his head away. "I just said that to get the kid off my back." He noticed Katy's look of disappointment and said, "I'm kidding. I think we're past the point now of just calling ourselves acquaintances. So sure. We're friends." Katy smiled warmly. "That being said…"
"Hmm?"
"Back there, you also said that we hadn't talked in some time. Did it really feel that long to you? I could've reached out sooner, if—"
Katy chuckled. "I only said that to get the kid off your back. … And to get you to call me your friend," she said with a sly smile.
Larry laughed softly. "Touché."
On the cab ride home to Cortondo that evening, Katy ruminated on the day. Getting a small taste of city life in Medali was a lot more fun than she'd anticipated. She had some new clothes waiting at home, even met a fan, and got to spend an afternoon with Larry, in his natural habitat.
More than that! She got to watch him battle. Katy is usually so busy with her own Gym Leader and Soapberry duties that she's rarely gotten to watch her fellow Leaders in battle.
Larry's battle was on a whole other level than what she normally experienced at the Cortondo Gym. Larry had to think fast on his feet to anticipate the trainer's moves, and the trainer herself almost won thanks to an unintentional curveball strategy.
It was the kind of spontaneity that reminded Katy of battling in her youth, especially as a young trainer herself facing the Gym Challenge. With her beloved partner. In times that increasingly seemed… so, so long ago.
It's been so long since I really felt that kind of energy myself. Battles at my Gym fly by so fast, and oftentimes I just gracefully accept defeat after putting up a Caterpie-sized fight…
As exciting as watching a battle at another Gym was, it also forced Katy to reflect back on her training earlier that day. How she had to go soft on her poor little partners in order to keep her Gym fair and easy. She can never risk going all-out.
Not like Larry.
Another emotion started to well up in Katy's heart. A feeling… of jealousy. She was jealous of that battle.
She tried to wash over these negative feelings by focusing on the positives of her day. One again, she thought, she got to see Larry.
Just like as a customer, socially he was nothing but nice, thoughtful, and a gentleman. Bringing light to her afternoon. Saying some sweet, poetic things that inspired her.
…And best of all, he acknowledged her as a friend today.
Katy grasped onto her heart stewing over how good it felt to have someone like Larry as a friend, and realized something.
I'm really looking forward to the next time I get to see him.
