Track One
Working Man
"Alright guys, I'm feeling hungry, what are we having?" A man asks, slamming his bottle of beer to the apartment's table and fishing into his pocket for his cell phone.
"Sushi?" Another man suggested.
"Nah." A third man shot down, before swallowing a mouthful of beer. "I got takeout for dinner on Tuesday. I'm all sushi'd out."
"Well then what do we get?" The first man sighs.
"I don't know, how about a pizza?"
The man shrugs, "Fine by me. What place do we get? There's more pizza joints than Rattata in this bloody city."
"Oh!" The second man perked up. "You ever hear the rumors about that one place? What was its name… shit…"
"You talking about Perry's?"
"Yes! Perry's!" The second man lit up, "Apparently, if you order and ask for Donnie to deliver, you get the pie at your door so quick that you'll actually have to wait for it to cool down!"
"Pfft, as if." The first man snorted.
"I'm not joking dude!"
"Fine." The first man relented, "We'll get Perry's, but if that pizza comes cold, you're paying me twenty bucks."
"You're on." The second man grinned wickedly.
"Alright then, let's see here…" The first man muttered as he punched the number into his phone and put it to his ear.
Perry sighed in satisfaction as he set the pizza cutter to the side, folding the corners of the cardboard pizza box down to seal the freshly-baked pie.
Wiping the sweat from his oily, hairy brow, the heavyset Unovan turned around and sucked in a breath.
"Oi, Donnie, come on over here, kid!" Perry bellowed in a voice whose grace could only come from a lifetime of chain smoking.
A dark-skinned teenage boy sauntered up to the front counter of the shoebox of a pizza joint. Pale greyish-white hair bursting around his face, falling in thick, fluffy clumps in front of his eyes, all squashed down by a Perry's branded snapback hat.
Clad in a pair of black jeans, as well as an obscure combination of a black compression shirt under a distressed and cut-up crop top decorated with the insignia of some black metal band; the boy looked like he just walked out of the underground goth scene of Virbank City.
"Got a delivery ready to go out?" Donnie asked, his teenage voice peppered with the hints of a slowly-developing deep treble in his voice.
Perry craned his neck to look up at his teenage employee. "Yep. One extra-large for Gregory Montana. Says he lives in the Benjamin Hanes apartment complex off the corner of Moore and Brant."
"Sounds good." Donnie nodded. "Their apartment number?"
"Floor 3, apartment number 341." Perry grunted.
"Alright then." Donnie grabbed the pizza from Perry and secured it to his delivery pack. "I'm heading out."
Donnie hauled the pack over his shoulders and moved towards the pushdoors.
"Oh shit, one more thing Donnie!" Perry called from the counter.
Donnie peeked over his shoulder. "What's up?"
"They said that they wanted to see what all the hype was." Perry grinned, his crooked teeth all too reminiscent of the malicious grin of a Sharpedo. "So go give them a show."
Donnie smirked. "Will do. I'll be back in a sec, Perry."
As Donnie pushed through the doors of the pizza joint, Perry continued to smile to himself.
"I know you will kid." He mused. "I know you will…"
Donnie looked around, trying to see how dense the crowds were around him. Satisfied, he pulled out his earbuds and popped them into his ears.
Closing his eyes, Donnie smiled to himself as the sounds of his favorite songs settled into his ears. Hand falling to his hip, Donnie clasped one of the pokeballs around his waist, tugging it off his belt and tossing it to the floor.
"Gli-Cuh-Cuh-Cuh-Cuh-Cuh!" Donnie's large Gliscor chirped, flexing its wings as it emerged from its confines.
"Time to go to work, buddy." Donnie kneeled down, rubbing his partner's head.
"Gli!" Gliscor grinned devilishly as it reached down, grabbing the straps of Donnie's delivery bag in its claws before flapping its wings, sending the pair skyward in a burst of speed.
The two glided along, zipping in between skyscrapers and office buildings at speeds unrivaled by all but the bullet trains that travel through Castelia City. Donnie reveled in the sensations of the smoggy, slightly foul-smelling metropolitan air pounding into his frame as he flew past the masses below. A brief moment of utter freedom in a city that was otherwise bursting at the seams with populace.
It only took a few moments for the greenish-brown Benjamin Hanes building to come into view, and with a simple tilt of his body, Donnie steered his Gliscor's gliding descent towards the building's rooftop.
Right before the duo collided with the rooftop, Donnie reeled back, causing his Gliscor's wings to catch the drag of the winds. Their momentum suddenly slashed, allowing Donnie to skid to a halt on the concrete rooftop with minimal difficulty.
"Thanks Gliscor." Donnie reached up and patted his partner's head, his other hand falling to its pokeball.
"Gli-Gli!" The fang-scorp pokemon chirped before it returned to its ball in a flash of red light.
Gregory and his two friends sat around his dinner table drinking the same cheap beer that they always drank every early Friday evening. The sounds of some meaningless conversation carrying through the small living space.
"So how many dates have you gone on with this girl?" One of his friends asked the other.
"Just the one for now, but I tell ya man, she's something else." The other friend remarked, before turning to him. "Greg, I'm telling you, online dating actually works, you gotta try it sometime."
"Yeah, whatever." Gregory brushed off, taking another swig of his drink. "When's your superstar pizza boy gett-"
*Ding-Dong*
His friend grinned like a Purrloin. "You were saying..?"
"Son of a bitch…" Gregory grumbled as he stood up from his seat, leaving his bottle on the table as he fished for his wallet.
With a pull, Gregory opened the apartment's door.
"Delivery for Gregory?"
Only to find a literal giant in place of a delivery boy.
"Holy fuck!" Gregory blurted out as he looked up at his delivery boy.
Donnie cocked his head to the side, "It's just a pizza, don't know what's so surprising about that."
"HAH!" One of Greg's friends cackled as he slammed his hand on the table, before coming up to clap Greg on the shoulder.
"He got you there, man!" He turned to Donnie, giving the delivery boy a once-over. "But... god damn, kid, how tall are you?"
"Six-two, last time I checked." Donnie shrugged, pulling the pizza box out of his pack and handing it off to the man.
"Six-two? Damn~" The man let out a low whistle, "You're giving Drayden a run for his money!"
The man walked the Pizza back over the table. "So, how old are you anyway?"
"Turned sixteen 'bout three and a half months ago."
"DAMN!" He remarked, "What are they feeding you kids nowadays, I swear! Wish I had whatever it was when I was your age."
Donnie absentmindedly hummed, pulling out a receipt. "Your total's $26.50, by the way."
"Gotcha." Gregory pulled the cash out of his wallet.
"Hey Greg!" His friend called out from the table, the pizza box already cracked open and wafting steam through the apartment. "I was right, this pizza's hotter than Elesa, so give the kid the twenty you owe me as a tip, alright?"
"Fine, fine…" Greg grumbled as he forked over another bill into Donnie's hands.
"You're doing Arceus's work, kid." The friend called from the table. "Have a good one, aight?"
"Yeah, you too. Enjoy your meal." Donnie nodded, Greg promptly closed the door, leaving Donnie out in the hallway.
"Around forty-five bucks ain't bad for a delivery." Donnie mused to himself as he stuffed the bills into his wallet.
"Factoring in the delivery charge… I make about eight bucks, plus the twenty for tips… Not bad…" Donnie made his way down the stairwell and exited the apartment complex, emerging onto the ground level of Castelia City's busy streets.
Donnie leaned up against the apartment building and pulled out his phone. With practiced ease, he pulled up his text messages and thumbed through his contacts until he found his boss.
You: [Just got done with the delivery. Any other's come in?]
A beat went by before his phone buzzed.
Perry: [Nope, none yet. Why?]
Donnie quickly typed out his answer.
You: [Was just wondering if I could clock out early. Need to stop off at home quickly to change before my exam.]
Perry: [Right, you have the Blueberry Entrance Exam tonight.]
Perry: [Yeah, its fine]
Perry: [We'll close early tonight. You cool to be on till 6?]
Donnie quickly pulled up the email he received from Blueberry Academy the week prior. Then quickly checked the current time. 5:20.
You: [Yeah, I'm good. Exam starts 7:30.]
Perry: [Good. I'll get you a slice to eat when you get back then.]
Perry: [Goes on your tab though.]
Donnie scoffed.
You: [Thanks, dickhead.]
Perry: [No problem :)]
Donnie pocketed his phone, determined to begin to make his way back to Perry's as slowly as possible, if for no other reason than to piss off his boss as much as possible.
The bright orange glow of the setting sun gleamed across the Castelia waters, blanketing Donnie's form as he walked towards an apartment complex tucked closer to the industrial and marine district of Castelia city.
Punching in the master code to enter the foyer, Donnie walked past the borderline-catatonic receptionist, some old women who may well have been both older and in equal or worse condition than the building itself.
Climbing up the stairs, Donnie made his way to the fourth floor, and a little further down the drab, beige and brown speckled walls until he reached a hardwood door, the copper room number plaque, while once luxurious, had long since gone green with negligence.
Pulling out his keys, Donnie unlocked the door and swung it open with one swift movement.
"Hey Pops, I'm home." Donnie called out as he stepped inside, taking his earbuds out of his ears before pulling off his black and white hi-tops.
"Oh, there's my boy. How was your day, Donovan?" A hoarse croak came from the armchair in the microscopic living-slash-dining room.
"It's pretty good so far, pops." Donnie pulled up a chair from the kitchen table to sit across from his old man.
Said old man was Reggie Klein, once a proud, powerful and thrill-seeking adventurer and masterful pokemon battler. Now, he was only one of those things.
Age had caught up to Donnie's father. As did everything that comes with the territory. His complexion in a perpetual sickly shade, wrinkles deeply set into his skin as it clung to a frame growing more and more gaunt by the month. The wild mane of flowing white hair featured in the family photographs that scattered the apartment's walls no longer reflected the man before Donnie.
It didn't mean that Donnie loved the man no less.
"You take the meds I left out for you?" Donnie asked.
His father managed a weak nod. "Of course."
"And how's the chemo? You feeling super tired?"
"Just the regular amount of tiredness." Reggie chuckled, before the chuckle quickly slipped into a raspy cough.
"Pops!" Instantly, Donnie was at his father's side.
His father raised a hand, "I'm… I'm alright. Just choked on some spit, don't worry."
"But enough about me, I know it's a big day for you, kiddo." Reggie smiled with cracked lips.
"Yep, I got the entrance exams for Blueberry Academy in about an hour and a half." Donnie explained. "But… Are you sure that I should be going? I mean, if I'm over there, then I'm not working, and -"
"Hush now." Reggie cut his son off. "Listen kiddo, there's enough money in my retirement penchant for me to live off of. If you get in, then we'll move me out to a retirement home. Costs a little less than this dump, not to mention I'd have someone to watch me in your stead."
"But what about the tuition money? We don't have-"
"Well isn't that why you're applying for that scholarship?"
Reggie reached over and put a bony hand on his son's head, lifting his bangs out the way so he could look directly into his son's piercing blue eyes.
"Look at you, kiddo. Following your dreams, and in your old man's footsteps no less." Reggie's sunken-in eyes gained a foggy, reminiscent look. "You're going to do wonderfully out there, boy. You have talent, you have potential; and just looking at the man you're becoming makes me so proud."
Reggie pulled his son into a hug.
"You got this, son." Reggie patted his back. "You go out there and you show them why Donovan Klein is truly special. And just remember; no matter if you decide to become a gym leader, or an office worker; I have always, and will always be proud of you, okay?"
"Yeah… Thanks Dad." Donnie sniffed.
"I love you, Donovan." Reggie smiled as they broke their hug. "Now, with that said, go get your ass changed! You won't have a hope in hell of getting accepted and scoring that scholarship looking like some rave punk!"
"I got it, I got it!" Donnie darted into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
As soon as the door shut, he shed his old clothing, and tossed open his closet. Reaching inside, Donnie pulled on a nice collared white dress shirt, followed by a set of nice black dress pants to go along with it.
Opening up a small cupboard, he fished around his socks until he pulled out a red tie, loosely tying the thing around to the point where it looked acceptable. Finally, he tugged out his pair of dress shoes from the bottom of his closet, quickly lacing them up before turning to look in the mirror.
"Well, how about this?" Donnie asked his father as he walked out of his room.
"Straighten your tie, do up one more button on that shirt, and then…" Reggie stood up on shaky legs, and forced his son's bangs out of his face. "Fix your hair. You got your old man's looks, so make sure people can see them!"
"Alright, alright, I got it!" Donnie backpedaled and returned to his room.
Quickly, Donnie grabbed a pair of bobby pins from his bedside table and walked up to the mirror. Grabbing a handful of his fluffy bangs and pulling them back, before pinning them in place. With a few more pins, he managed to secure the rest of his unruly bangs to fall back behind his ears in something that resembled a nice hairdo. With a quick tug, Donnie rearranged his tie, and then he looked at the clock.
7:05 p.m.
Oh shit.
Donnie's eyes practically popped out of their head as he cursed, racing out of his room and nearly slamming into the wall. "Shit! I gotta go Pops!"
"Knock 'em dead, Donnie!" His dad cheered from his armchair.
"That's the plan!" Donnie exclaimed before he deftly left the apartment, barely remembering to lock the door behind him as he went.
The closed-off street surrounding the Castelia City Gym was positively bustling with whole groups of families, young trainers and the like.
The gym, although closed for the day, was graciously provided as the venue for Blueberry Academy to host their entrance exams, and from the sheer turnout alone, one could easily tell just how desirable of a school the Blueberry Academy was as an option for up and coming pokemon trainers to onboard into during the sophomore years of their high school education.
"Sorry, s'cuse me! Coming in hot!" Donnie bellowed as he practically swooped in on his Gliscor's wings. More than a few gasps and ire-filled glares were directed towards Donnie as he skidded to a halt in the mingling outskirts of the crowd.
"Thanks a bunch, Gliscor." Donnie dusted and straightened his shirt and hair as his partner dropped down from his back.
"Scor! Scor!" His partner gleamed.
"Alrighty bud, back in your ball." Donnie muttered, tugging at his tie as he started to sweat. "We're starting to get looks."
Although it seemed like the scorpion-bat was all too happy to be the center of attention, Donnie still forced it to return to its ball in a flash of red light, before offering people an awkward apology for his sudden landing.
Soon enough, several staff members dressed in Blueberry-colored suits emerged from the Castelia Gym, accompanied by another woman carrying a megaphone.
Said woman was dressed rather warm for the late summer night. A black sweater underneath a purple and gold blazer. It was a cool look, Donnie had to admit, if only not really seasonally-appropriate.
The woman raised the megaphone to her lips. "Hello everybody, may I have your attention please."
The crowd's chatter quickly fell to a quiet murmur, causing the woman to smile. "Thank you. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Ms. Briar, a third-year professor at the Blueberry Academy, and I'm here to help explain your entrance examinations that you'll be conducting tonight."
"The exams will be divided into two parts: a theoretical written exam that you will complete. This portion of the exam will test your academic knowledge of various aspects of being a Pokemon trainer, pre existing academic skills such as literacy and numeracy, and then finally, a subjective portion meant for us to gain insight into your personality. You will have ninety minutes to write this exam, and we have provided writing supplies and test papers to you inside."
"Once those ninety minutes have concluded, you will all be escorted to the battle arena's waiting room within the gym, where we have divided the court into various smaller sections. As you enter the waiting room, you will be given a ticket with a number as well as a letter. When a staff member calls out your number, you will enter the battle court and proceed to the court labeled clearly with the letter we gave you on your ticket. From there, you will conduct a Pokemon battle with another applicant."
"The format for these battles will be one-on-one battles, where you may not bring more than one Pokemon. The battles will last until one Pokémon is unable to battle, or the twenty-minute timer has concluded."
Hearing the worried murmurs beginning to spread throughout the crowd, Ms. Briar raised her hand and continued to explain. "Additionally, to quell any worries you may have, winning or losing said battle has no bearing on the selection process. The purpose of these battles is to allow our academy to have some evidence of your capabilities as a Pokemon trainer."
"When you finish your practical exam, you will be asked to quietly leave the battle arena following a route designated by our staff members, and then make your way home. In the next 8-10 business days following this exam, you will receive an email from the academy detailing the results of their examination. If there are any further questions regarding the entrance examinations, please consult one of our staff members once we get seated in the theoretical exam room."
Ms. Briar looked down the watch on her wrist, giving a curt nod to the staff on either side of her. "The time is now 7:28 p.m., so we shall begin to escort you into the building. When we reach the theoretical examination room, please head towards the back of the room and find an available seat the furthest from the entrance. Additionally, please have a piece of legal photographic identification with you such as a driver's license, trainer card or health card so that our staff may sign you in for our attendance. Thank you so much, and best of luck to all of you."
With a murmur, the crowd slowly began to shift towards the entrance of the building. Donnie could feel a lump of nerves bubbling up in his throat, but with a big gulp, he swallowed it down, and began to make his way to the head.
He could do this. He prepared for this.
He was, in fact, not as prepared for this as he thought.
Donnie's eyes scanned over the test paper again as he attempted to tune out the sounds of hundreds of other applicants already diligently writing their answers.
Most of the questions were simple. The mathematics, and literacy questions basically came right out of his previous year's exams. But there were some of the Pokemon-based questions that were just a little obtuse.
For instance, one question asked him:
Various species of Pokemon display secondary biological differences based on their biological sex, while other species of Pokemon are sexually-dimorphic. Please explain the difference between Pokemon biological-sex differences and sexually-dimorphic Pokemon species while providing examples for each.
Like, how was he supposed to know this stuff! This was something he expected out of college-level biology, or at the very least, on the exams for a Pokemon breeder exam, not a battler's exam.
Donnie chewed his bottom lip as he mulled the question over in his head. So sex-differences in Pokemon, that part wasn't too hard. There were plenty of Pokemon that could count for that. But Donnie decided simply to refer to the example that was showcased endlessly on children's programming over the years.
He brought pen to paper, and began writing:
Secondary biological sex-differences are the visual traits that separate the male and females of the same species. An example of this would be Pikachu, where the females of the species have a rounded, heart-shaped tail end, while the males have a straighter, edged tail end.
Okay, that was the easy part done. Now onto the harder portion.
An example of a sexually-dimorphic Pokemon species…
What the hell did sexually-dimorphic even mean?! No one ever taught this in school! Trainer's school was about stuff like using items, how to approach Pokemon, how to tell if a Pokemon is going to attack, not this technical stuff!
Okay, there had to be some sort of way to tell… He was certain that the 'secondary sex-characteristics' referred to the visual differences. So that meant that sexually-dimorphic had to be something different than that.
But also, the question asked to explain the difference. Which meant they had to be similar to one another as well…
Okay, what weird Pokemon were there that had to do with being male or female…
Oh. My. Goodness.
Like a bolt of thunder striking from an otherwise quiet sky, realization hit Donnie suddenly.
It meant huge differences based on sex, like how they would evolve into different Pokemon entirely! Donnie practically pounced onto his test paper.
Sexually-Dimorphic species means a Pokemon that can evolve into different pokemon depending on their sex. An example is how only male Kirlia can evolve into Gallade.
That was close enough, right? Sure, Gardevoir could be male or female, but surely they'd give him the marks because Gallades could only be male.
For the sake of his mental health, Donnie decided that yes, it was probably enough, and moved on.
Flipping the page over to the next side, he was greeted with the beginnings of the personality section. Donnie sweated and looked up at the clock at the front of the room; he had only a bit over thirty minutes to finish.
Alright then, thirty-minutes to try and express who he was as a person to people he never met before… Totally not a challenge… Totally…
Donnie slumped down into the waiting room, well-and-thoroughly exhausted. That theoretical test was something else entirely.
But hey, it was over! That's good! Now all he had to do was perform well in a little mock battle; shouldn't be too bad. Around him, Donnie watched applicants working through their nerves, petting and combing their pokemon, and muttering assurances to each other.
Over in the far corner of the room, one girl was rubbing down her Heatmor with a towel, a few chairs away a pudgier-boy hugged his Darumaka like a plushie.
Donnie looked at his ticket. Court C, number 34. If he had to intuit, it probably meant that he was going to be going sooner rather than later, which meant that he had to come to some sort of decision soon.
Donnie unhooked the two pokeballs from his belt, holding them in his lap. He could rely on either of them, but he had to choose one…
Eyes darting left and right, Donnie tried his best to scope out the competition as best as he could. Seemed like there were a few fire types, lots of normal types, honestly, a fair amount of bugs too. But nothing that he could really nail down as an overall theme.
Plus, it could be an incredible manipulation tactic from some of these guys. Care for one of your Pokemon out in the open to make your opponent think that you're using them, only to trip them up by picking a different Pokemon at the last second. It's a classic strategy.
He chewed his lip as he gently rocked the pokeballs in his hands. Sweat forming on his brow. The feelings of pressure only confounded when Donnie realized that there were more than just a few sets of eyes on him, likely because he was literally the tallest person in the room; including the staff.
Speaking of which, a staff member perked up, looking down at his clipboard, before calling out to the room. "Number 34. Please come with me please. Number 34."
Donnie stood up somewhat awkwardly. Putting his pokeballs back on his belt before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking over to the staff member, pretending like he didn't watch at least six or seven people's eyes go wide as they realized just how tall he was.
"Are you number 34, sir?"
Donnie nodded. "Yes, sir."
The staff member raised an eyebrow, "How old are you, kid."
"Sixteen." Donnie sighed, holding up his I.D.
The staff member at least had the decency to look ashamed. "O-Oh… My apologies… This way please…"
As they travelled out the waiting room and through the hallway heading out to the arena, an idea rattled in Donnie's head.
"Um, excuse me, sir." The staff member stopped in their tracks, "Can I ask you a quick question about something…"
Donnie wrung his hand together and bounced on his heels as he stood on the taped off section of the arena labeled 'Court C'.
To say that nerves were starting to get to him would be an understatement. Not to mention, not having his opponent in front of him just yet was starting to bug him more than he'd like to admit.
Some twenty feet away, a Herdier wrestled around with a Sandile. Beyond them, a foreign-looking girl used a strange teacup pokemon he'd never seen before to pepper a Sawk with thick globs of scalding liquid that looked and smelled suspiciously like green tea.
Finally, a staff member entered the battle arena, another applicant in tow. Said applicant was a kid with a soft, boyish face and a head of neatly trimmed blonde hair.
"Hey, my name's Chris, it's nice to meetcha big guy!" Chris walked up and extended his hand.
"Name's Donnie." Donnie reciprocated the gesture. "Let's have a good match."
"Yeah! Best of luck though, because you're going to need it!" Chris playfully boasted as he got into position. "I've been training nonstop for this, and there's no way I'm walking out of here without an
acceptance letter and a scholarship!"
The scholarship. That's right. Donnie hadn't given it much thought up until now, but this was when staff for the Pokemon League would be scouting for those scholarships. That was important to remember. He had to show them what he was really capable of…
"Are the two of you ready?" The staff member asked, to which both boys nodded; a bright grin on Chris' face, and an unsteady mix of a measured expression and a grimace on Donnie's.
"Alright. The rules are simple: one Pokemon, no switches. First to a knockout or until the twenty minutes are up. You are being recorded for examination purposes, is that okay?" The staff member hummed to himself as both boys nodded again. "Very well then, you may begin!"
"Go, Hawlucha! I choose you! Chris cocked back and threw his Pokeball to the floor with the graceful form of a professional athlete.
"CHA! CHA-CHA!"
As the ball collided with the ground, the orange, red and green luchador Pokemon burst onto the court, chirping proudly as it flexed and stretched itself.
Donnie looked the bird up and down, before snatching a pokeball off his belt. Holding the ball behind his back, Donnie bounced on his feet, turned sideways.
"Gliscor!"
Before suddenly snapping his feet to the floor, twisting his body, causing his arm to lash out, sending the pokeball spinning at astonishing speeds.
The scorpion-bat Pokemon burst from its ball already in mid-flight. It's smile as devilish as ever, yet there was something distinctly… off about the Pokemon. It smelled of something sulphurous and acidic, and its skin a degree paler than it normally is.
Chris cocked an eyebrow. "Are you taking this seriously? Bringing an obviously injur-"
"He's fine." Donnie snapped; the once-nervous tone in his voice had completely vanished.
"R-Right." Chris stammered, before regaining his composure. "Well then, let's start this off right, Hawlucha! Now, go for-!"
"Facade."
In one swift moment, Gliscor swooped down to his opponent's level in a split-second, before pulling back into a backflip, a fulcrum that caused its barbed tail to come crashing into the fighting-type like a vicious uppercut.
"-CHAAAA!"
*KRAKOOM!*
The Hawlucha was blasted back like a cannonball, its launched body rocketing right past its trainer and colliding with the padded walls that made up the far edges of the arena.
The battles from courts B and D suddenly paused as everyone gaped at the sight before them. It took direct calls from staff on either side to snap both trainer and Pokemon out of their shock.
Donnie simply looked on, cold, calculating, as if pondering the possibility that the poor luchador Pokemon needed another blow.
Meanwhile, Chris slowly turned to face his downed Pokemon.
"...H-Hawlucha?"
"...chaaaaa…"
Their respective staff member finally stepped in: "Hawlucha is unable to battle, therefore we will conclude the practical examination."
"Y-You cheated!" Chris explained. "You didn't let me attack!"
"And why would I have?" Donnie asked, more in genuine curiosity than anything else. "It's a battle. We were told we could begin fighting, so I did."
"I-I… Um… Oh… Eh…" Chris fumbled over his words, before electing to simply return his fainted Pokemon to its ball.
Donnie aimed to do the same, until the staff member stepped forward. "I'm sorry, but may I ask you to keep your Gliscor out of its ball for a moment. I'd like to check something."
"Sure, be my guest." Donnie relented as the staff member approached the Pokemon.
"Can I ask you to open your claws for me, buddy?" The staff member asked.
"Gli?" Gliscor looked over to its trainer.
"Do what he asks, Gliscor."
Slowly, Gliscor extended its twin claws and opened them up, revealing a glowing purple orb full of a sloshing chemical. Clasped inside Gliscor's right claw.
"Is that a…"
"It's a Toxic Orb." Donnie confirmed. "I already ran it past the staff member who escorted me out here. So long as the item is sanctioned for use under the official Pokemon League rule set and it's given to the Pokemon before the practical begins, they claimed that it was alright."
"Hmmm…" The staff member stroked his chin.
"Look, if it's not cool, and Chris has another Pokemon, I can go for round two and use someone other than Gliscor." Donnie relented.
"No, no, it's fine." The staff member interjected. "If you ran it past a staff member prior, then it's alright. Besides, Toxic Orb is a legally sanctioned item under the League. But if I may ask, why use it?"
"Powers up Facade." Donnie answered simply. "Plus, the potential harm that it could deal to Gliscor in battle is negligible considering that Gliscor has Poison Heal."
"Gli!"
"I see…" The staff member took out a pen and proceeded to jot down something on his clipboard.
"Alright then, you may return your Gliscor to its pokeball." The staff member smiled as Donnie quickly withdrew his partner. "Great, now if you two follow me, I'll escort you back to the entrance.
"Twenty-two seconds…" Director Cyrano marveled as he rewound the video, "I honestly believe that might be a new record."
"But what do you think?" Director Cyrano turned to face his guest. "Champion Iris?"
The Unova Champion hummed as she watched the footage play out on the big screen at the end of Directo Cyrano's office.
"How many slots do we have for scholarships this year?"
"Twenty, I believe. At least for complete funding."
Iris let loose on her trademark feral grins.
"Make that nineteen…"
Donnie's Team
Gliscor
Ability: Poison Heal
Item: Toxic Orb
Facade
U-Turn
High Horsepower
Aerial Ace
?
Ability: ?
Item: ?
?
?
?
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Hey guys, Jojo here.
Yeah, if you recognize my username from FFN, then it's probably because of my other fanfic, High School DxD: Alternate. Which, by the way, is still coming out. I'm not dropping it, and as a matter of fact, I've been working away on the next chapter pretty often as of the posting of this fic.
I just finished the whole Scarlet and Violet DLC, and honestly felt really inspired to sit down and write some stuff for it.
Mainly because I like Carmine.
Carmine is very funny.
But yeah, expect this to get updated every so often. I have no clue how consistently it'll get chapters, but I'll be chipping away at this when I feel inspired. Which is pretty often at the moment since I really am feeling the vibe of this one.
Expect Carmine in chapter two. I can't wait to write her.
Anyway, if you enjoy this, please drop a follow, or a bookmark, or a kudos or whatever Ao3 uses, and please consider leaving a comment to let me know what you think and what you like! I love to get comments and interact with the people who read my stuff.
Anyway, have a happy holidays, and don't forget to rock on!