"Go Swablu!"
The pokeball opened in the air and a blue bird with cloudy wings appeared, it's face fierce and determined.
Riven turned to his torchic, "Aine, you want to take this one?" The orange chick nodded its head furiously, obviously excited to battle again. The only thing Aine loved more than food was battling. She jumped in front of him, face growing equally as determined as the swablu's.
Amy looked rather confused. He chose a torchic to battle my swablu? It wasn't a bad matchup per say, but it wasn't a very good one either. Torchic was a pure fire type so she would take normal damage against anything swablu did, and vice versa. Except he forgot one thing. Swablu can fly. That means she has the speed advantage."Swablu, gain some altitude! Get out of its ember range!"
Smart girl, Riven thought. She was going to use her swablu's flight capabilities to avoid Aine's embers and try and get quick hit-and-run hits on her. It was a good strategy but it had one fundamental flaw, her pokemon had to get close to hit. I will wait until she gets close, then use ember on her wings. Moving with a burn hurts like hell, trying to fly with a burned wing should be equally as unbearable, if not worse.
"Swablu, dive and use peck!" Amy commanded. The speed of the descent would add extra power to the attack and hopefully cause lots of damage to his torchic. The strange part was that the orange chick wasn't moving. It just stood there. Waiting.
Watching the swablu dive towards his torchic, Riven simply stood there, thinking. Battle was a lot like moving troops and outmaneuvering the enemy. You had to think not one but three steps down the line. Pokemon battles were a test of tactical wit. Who had the advantage, what you could do to counter their moves, and what kind of genius reversal you could pull out of your ass to win the match. However, his torchic only knew one long ranged move, which also didn't reach very far. Which meant the only thing he could do was wait for an opening.
It sucked, but such was life.
The blue bird was now a blue and white blur as gravity accelerated its tiny body. Spreading its wings, it flew straight at Aine. "Aine, hop to the right. Dodge it!" His torchic obeyed and dodged to the side avoiding the bird's accelerated peck. Having missed, the bird flapped its wings and pulled up, flipping upside down in the air to come back for another swoop.
Ordering Aine to dodge a few more sweeps, he was trying for a rhythm. Rhythm's were important. Everything had a rhythm, even the most static and unmoving of objects. Waves and patterns existed everywhere, it was only a matter of adjusting to them. Getting used to the flow of Amy's swablu, he decided it was time to attack.
"Swablu, fly higher! This time we'll get him for sure!" Amy shouted, as her swablu steadily gained altitude. A tiny blue dot in the sky, she yelled, FULL SPEED PECK! HIT HIM LIKE A SPEAR!" The blue dot shot straight down, wind rushing past its cotton feathers as its beak glowed white, heading straight for Aine.
Riven waited for it to straighten out, his Torchic however, was hesitant about staying still. It was coming very, very fast. She was afraid she couldn't dodge it. Riven reassured her, "Aine, calm down. Strike when the time is right." Her trainer's words calmed her a bit and she glared at the swiftly approaching puff ball.
The Swablu was dangerously close, low to the ground, advancing towards the orange fire type. One, two, and now! "Aine, get on the floor and shoot ember straight up and to the left! Burn its wing!" Amy's eyes widened, realizing Gray's strategy.
Dammit, he's trying to ground her by disabling her wings. That won't work though. She had a trick up her sleeve. She grinned, surprising Gray, who expected to see a more shocked expression.
Aine's ember impacted with Swablu's left wing causing it to wobble in pain. Its wings were red and scorched, revealing a burn. The bird was moving significantly slower, something Riven planned to take advantage of. "Use ember while she is still low. Do not let her breathe!" His Torchic unleashed volleys of embers at the Swablu, who swerved, ducked, and dove to dodge most of them. Several hit her delicate wings, searing her and damaging her ability to fly.
Amy's pokemon was visibly tired, panting heavily and barely staying afloat. Her burn had slowed her just enough for Gray's Torchic to get a few good hits in. Should be activating soon. Need to surprise him."Swablu, fly up in the air again, we're going for another fly by!"
Another pass? With a burned wing? That was going to get her pokemon knocked out, she would be an easy target for Aine. "Alright. Stay still. You know what to do." He continued his previous strategy, this time he would dodge to the left not straight down like before. Doing the same thing twice could leave a person open to random improvisations.
Amy's bird was once again in the sky, ready for another assault. Gaining enough height, it dove down again, straightening out as it neared the floor, peck ready to hit. Patience. Patience… His Torchic seemed to read his mind, breathing in deep, ready for the attack.
The attack was nothing like the rest though. Her Swablu did something unexpected, deliberately flying over his Torchic. Then it banked to the right, using its left wing to turn.
What?
It turned right back around, shooting towards Aine like a falling comet. No time to escape, Riven shouted, "Aine! Ember straight ahead , endure the hit!" How did she recover from the burn?
Swablu's increased velocity hit Aine with the force a small explosion despite taking a burning hot ember to the face. Aine and the Swablu collided with each other, flying towards a nearby tree, slamming into its trunk, leaving a small pokemon sized dent.
Amy grinned devilishly, knowing that Gray was still wondering why her pokemon was able to recover that quick. Holding a scolding finger up she waved it at him, "Tsk, Tsk. I thought you'd know better, Gray. My Swablu's ability is natural cure. It normally cures status effects when switched out, but if she's left in battle, it activates after a minute or two." Looking at the two pokemon, she frowned. Neither of them were getting up. It seems his Torchic got one shot, while her Swablu took too much damage over the course of the battle. Well, at least they were still tied.
"It was a good battle," Gray said to his Torchic as a red beam engulfed her. His face now showed an expression different from his usual blank stare. He was determined. Battling was a good bit of fun.
Amy grimaced, his Torchic had been his weakest pokemon. His Absol and Kirlia looked battle tested and relatively strong compared to her Mareep. Her Treecko was her strongest and fastest pokemon, but he was a grass type. He didn't have any type advantages on either of them. This is bad, she thought. None of my pokemon have any advantages over his. Neither do his but that Absol can know a variety of moves. That horn looks dangerous too. Hesitating, she pulled out another pokeball with a small lightning bolt on it and threw it in the air. "Go Mareep!"
A puffy sheep pokemon materialized and stared at Gray, electricity sparking across its wool. Mareep. It might have plenty of long ranged electric attacks but it is definitely lacking in speed. I can use that to my advantage. Looking at Mischief he said, "Mischief, your turn."
His Kirlia nodded and gracefully tip toed onto the battleground. He looked like a dancer, moving with grace and finesse. He folded his arms, perfectly calm. Amy gulped. Mischief's eyes stared into the Mareep's, unnerving him slightly.
That Kirlia is way too calm. Something is up. I need to approach this carefully.
Which she did, by immediately bellowing, "THUNDER!"
To hell with calm! We need to attack all out, who knows what that Kirlia can do. Lightning flashed around Mareep as he built up electricity, glowing a brilliant yellow. Electricity fully charged, he released it with a fierce "Meeeeeeeep!" His thunder arced and cracked, bolting directly towards the Kirlia.
It simply stood there, smirking. Shit. I made a mistake didn't I?
Mareep's thunder hit the spot where Mischief was standing, causing an explosion of electricity, kicking dirt, dust, and grass up into the air. The battleground was hard to make out, dust blanketed the air, reducing visibility. The dust settled, and Amy's jaw dropped.
Gray was smirking, flashing a bit of teeth. His Kirlia's left palm was right at at the Mareep's head. "Confusion."
A pink psychic blast hit the electric type, throwing him outwards five feet, causing him to roll on the ground, dragging parts of the ground with him. How did his Kirlia get there so quickly? His Kirlia and Absol were much stronger than her pokemon were. She stared in blank disbelief as her Mareep got up, wobbling left and right. Confused. Fantastic.
Panicking, Amy yelled, "Use Thunder Wave!" Mareep struggled a bit before storing up some electricity and firing it at the Kirlia. It hit him head on and static electricity crackled around his slender body. However, that didn't wipe the smirk off its face.
Looking at Gray, he had a smile plastered on his face, "Tsk, Tsk. I thought you knew better, Amy. Mischief's ability is synchronize, that means that your mareep just paralyzed himself." Whipping her head back to her Mareep, she noticed that electricity was also crackling around him.
She frowned, cursing psychic types and their cheating. Electric pokemon weren't supposed to get paralyzed.
The next moment, the Kirlia was gone. "Paralysis slows a pokemon's physical movement down, but not their brain. Mischief only needs to teleport and he can easily escape, the same cannot be said for your Mareep. We are even now." He flashed a smile that was all teeth. "Finish it." The psychic pokemon appeared above her pokemon, palm directly above the sheep's skull. His hand glowed pink and a psychic force slammed Mareep into the ground, lifting a small cloud of dust.
His Kirlia then humiliated Amy by sitting down on her Mareep. Rather immature, to be honest. Returning him to his pokeball, she snarled. Glaring at Gray's smug green haired pokemon, she brought out her final pokeball.
"HERE WE GO, YOU LITTLE SHIT. GO TREECKO!" Amy looked absolutely furious. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN,YOU BASTARD. THEN WE'LL SEE WHO TEABAGS WHO."
The Treecko flipped onto the ground, sticking a twig in its mouth and holding a hand on its hip. Wasting no time, the Treecko instantly got on all fours, sprinting towards the psychic type.
Gray cursed himself, getting Mischief paralyzed might have worked with a slow opponent like Mareep. However, it was a double-edged sword. This Treecko was fast and obviously not paralyzed, which meant he could run circles around his Kirlia if he wanted to. The paralysis was interfering with his pokemon's ability to turn around quickly and lift his arms. He had to teleport to get into a position to attack. Well, sorry Michief. You tried.
Amy's Treecko relentlessly chased after the psychic type, forcing him to teleport multiple times across the battle ground, evading his tail swipes. Haona noticed that he was beginning to tire mentally, having teleported himself too much. His reactions were getting slower, and the paralysis slowed his physical movements considerably. He was unable to teleport fast enough when Veer's tail slammed into his face, knocking him back a few feet.
Bib's eyes glowed blue and he lifted his arms slightly, levitating the treecko off the ground. Swiping his hand to the right, he psychically threw the gecko at a nearby tree, hoping the impact would knock it out. However, the green pokemon deftly flipped in the air, landing on the tree trunk with his feet. Richocheting off the trunk, he spun in the air and used the momentum of the spin to land a powerful tail strike against Bib's body. The Kirlia was blown back onto a tree, out cold.
The match was tied again. One to one.
Good, Amy grinned. Now for that Absol. She looks the strongest.
Gray's Absol stalked into position, body low and hind legs extended outward, ready to fight. A bit intimidated by the Absol's demanding presence, Amy ordered her Treecko to pull back. "Use bullet seed! Keep away from her!"
Veer opened his mouth and shot a pellet of seeds at Haona, who easily deflected them with her horn. He would need to try better than that. He bested Bib, he wouldn't best her so easily. His long ranged options were limited, so he need to get closer to her to do any real damage. And close is where I do best, she boasted mentally.
Seeing Veer's bullet seed do absolutely nothing to the dark type, Amy changed her strategy. "Treecko, circle around her!" The grass type began running circles around Haona. She eyed him carefully, looking for any hints of an attack. Suddenly his trainer called out to him, ordering him to use quick attack. He charged at her, leaving a trail of after images.
Expecting him to come straight on, she prepared herself but was startled when the treecko zigzagged instead, moving away from her than right back. She didn't move fast enough, taking damage as Veer slammed into her side. Recoiling in pain but not quite done, she looked at Riven, who nodded. Standing up, she prepared herself again.
He did the same thing twice. This time, she knew it was coming. Her trainer saw the treecko zigzag and shouted, " Flip backwards!" She flipped back, now above the treecko. "Mega Horn!"
Her horn extended into a large green blade, Treecko's eyes widened. Amy panicked, as she saw the large green sickle extend ominously. Spinning her body, Haona swung the large blade down, slicing into the Treecko's back. The hit was super effective, instantly knocking Veer out of his quick attack and onto the dirt. He wasn't bleeding too badly, but it was enough to incapacitate.
Haona landed back on her feet gracefully, huffing in victory, a smile forming on her lips.
The blonde trainer looked slightly disappointed but quickly cheered up. Returning her Treecko, she beamed, "That was a great battle! Your pokemon are pretty strong. Gray. Although, they were stronger than normal to begin with, anyway."
"True, but thank you, I guess. You nearly had me though."
"Here. It's prize money." She said, holding out some paper bills.
Gray took them, holding them out in wonder. "What is this? Paper?" This puzzled Amy.
"No, it's money, you fool. You use it to buy stuff like medicine, food, and equipment." She explained. She couldn't believe she even had to explain to him what money was. Everyone knew what money was.
"Ah. I understand but why are you giving it to me?" He questioned, unable to connect the gesture with anything sensible.
"It's a rule. Whenever a trainer loses, he or she needs to give half of their money to the person who beat them. That way, you're encouraged not to lose." Amy said, matter-of-factly.
"Huh… I guess it makes sense?" This world was already weird. So this was how trainers made a living? Getting paid for violence? Sounded rather easy. Changing the subject, he proposed, "Now that the battle is done, we should get moving."
"Yeah, you're right."
The two trainers gathered their bearings and started back on the road to Petalburg city. They completely ignored the fact that their skirmish destroyed a good portion of trees around the route, and left large gaping craters scattered about the main road.
Blocked by the tall trees overhead, Amy knew that Petalburg was close. She'd been through here many times, and knew that they were almost there. It had taken a few hours but it was now mid-day and she just passed a yellow flower that marked the end of the route to Petalburg.
Turning around a corner of trees, she saw the entrance to the city of flowers. Beautifully trimmed hedges marked the entrance to the city, with a grand metal sign that had flower decorations on it.
Welcome to Petalburg. The City of Flowers.
Relieved that they didn't have to walk much further, she turned to Riven, who looked absolutely dumb founded. He looked like he'd just won a lottery, his jaw probably could have fallen off from how open his mouth was. Had he not seen a city before?
Recalling his words in the forest while he was tracking the Furret, she figured that he must have lived his whole life in the wild or in small towns. Naturally, a city would be overwhelming. And this isn't even the biggest one! Lilycove, Slateport, and Larousse were much bigger and even more impressive than little 'ol Petalburg.
Waving a pale hand in front of his face, she smiled, her bright green eyes staring at him with amused glee. Snapping out of his stupefied trance and picking up his jaw, he stammered," Uhhh…Yes…. Wow. All the metal buildings are so huge."
His parent's place was bigger than most of the buildings but the fact remained that there was buildings as far as the eye can see, varying in size while looking sleek and geometric at the same time. They definitely looked futuristic. The buildings in his time were made of stone, brick or wood, giving them an ugly, dirty look. He had the inkling that he'd been a prince, but compared to this he was a prince of mud and dirt.
Twirling back towards the city, Amy teased, "It's called a city for a reason!" Grabbing his hand, she pulled him forward. "Come on! Let's go to the pokemon center and get our pokemon healed!"
Following the blonde girl's lead, Riven clambered along, staring at all the buildings, at all the people. He had never seen so much people in one place not trying to murder each other. Trainers and regular citizens walked down the streets and out of buildings, conversing and laughing with their pokemon.
It seemed almost surreal. No one was getting their throat torn out.
He came back to reality when Amy stopped in front of a building with a red roof and its trademark pokeball symbol. They walked through the sliding doors, which still amazed him; and into the surprisingly spacious interior of the pokemon center.
A pink haired woman who looked identical to the one in Oldale, smiled and asked kindly, "Oh, new trainers? Do you want me to heal your pokemon?"
Both trainers handed over their injured pokemon's pokeballs over to Nurse Joy, who placed them on a tray with spherical grooves. A click was heard each time she put one of the pokeballs in the grooves. Once she placed all of them into the grooves, she turned on a contraption that made a strange whirring noise, enveloping the pokeballs in a beautiful white light. A few minutes later, she came over to the two young trainers, handing them back their pokeballs. "Here are your pokemon. Will you be staying at Petalburg for some time?"
Riven responded, "Uh, yes. I will be staying for a few days and make some money, before moving on to Rustboro." He was told by the clerk in Oldale to seek employment in Petalburg to gather some money for supplies. Riven did not mind, after all, he did want to eat some quality food. Wild pokemon was nice but was rather tasteless. It was more out of necessity than to satisfy. Sometimes, one needed to indulge, or else how would anybody stay sane?
Nurse Joy was glad. She could rent out a spare room for both of them to sleep in. "That's great! I have a spare room for both of you. The first week is free, then it's a two hundred fee per day. Here is the key to your room. Have a wonderful time in Petalburg!" With that, she left the trainers and went back to the front desk, now attending a youngster who had just walked in.
Twisting the key in the lock, Riven opened the door to the rental room, sighing in relief as if he had just seen paradise. Beds. Real beds! I get to sleep in a real bed! Launching himself onto the bed, his face sank into the pillow, which made the weariness of the walk to Petalburg slide off his shoulders like water on wax. He had slept in bedrolls and on the ground for nearly five years, he had not so much as seen a glimpse of a bed in a very long time. Needless to say, he was as giddy as a ten year old getting his first pokemon.
Then his stomach rumbled. Amy stifled a laugh. She shook her head, " Come on, I said I'd buy you some food in return for that Furret remember?"
Oh, right. Forgot about that. Fortunately she remembered.
Amy led him to the dining area, where many trainers go to refill their empty stomachs. Young boys and girls were all over the pokemon dining area, exchanging battle tips and accessing the wireless internet to use the GTS global link. Riven looked astonished, as usual. She went and ordered their food, which she brought back on pink trays. Setting it down on their table, Riven's eyes widened and his mouth started to water.
He picked up a spoon and took a bite out of it. Closing his eyes, it looked like he was really savoring it. All that wild pokemon gets dull after a while I guess. Couldn't blame him for his reaction, if she had to eat wild Furret every single day, she would be like that too.
"Mmmmff…what is in this?" He asked between spoonfuls of food.
Amy giggled. "It's curry with some fried rice and potato salad."
"I have no idea what half of that is but it is certainly delicious." He confirmed, devouring his meal like a beast. He did kind of look like a savage right now. Finishing his meal, he rested his head on the seat's headrest, groaning. "That was amazing. Best food in over five years."
"It's just standard pokemon center foo-"Five years? What the fuck? How long was he stuck in the wilderness for? "What have you been eating for the past five damn years, Gray?" Amy was astonished this time. Either he was a survivalist freak or he had a terrible sense of direction and was otherwise incapable of finding civilization.
"Stale bread and wild pokemon. Some Corphish and roasted Magikarp on occasion. Lots of berries," he replied simply, eyeing a group of trainers discussing something about gym leaders. "Not the best of existences but-" He let it go, shrugging. He wanted to give her the truth, but he knew she would just ridicule him. What sane person would believe in something so absurd? Oh, I traveled through time, killed people in a war, and now I pursue my dreams of being a pokemon trainer. I also would like to fly and travel to the sun. Nice joke.
"Oh." The blonde responded, feeling a little dejected by his simplistic response. Gray was a very no nonsense type of guy and very straight forward when it came to things on his mind. He had a no nonsense type of attitude, like the guys in the movies. He was also peculiar in the sense that he never used any contractions. Like ever. His speech was rigid and felt off, like trying to speak a second language. She couldn't shake the feeling that there existed much more about him that he wasn't letting on. Eh, she would only be with him for two days, so she figured that she shouldn't worry about it all that much.
Yawning, Amy informed Gray that she was sleepy, which prompted him to follow her to their rental room. Getting ready for bed, she changed into her pajamas, while he simply removed his leather clothing and laid down in his bed, nearly falling asleep instantly.
Shifting position, he turned towards Amy's bunk. She was already asleep, snoring lightly. He looked at her face. Peaceful.
Forgetting about it, he looked up at the ceiling, which had dancing Clefairies painted on it. Closing his eyes, he exhaled.
Where do I get a job in a place like this?
Amy awoke in the middle of the night to what sounded like whimpers. Curious as to where the sound was coming from, she looked over to her roommate, Gray. He was sweating profusely and his face was contorted rather painfully. He was having a nightmare of sorts. Staying perfectly still, she watched him squirm and breathe rapidly, until his eyes shot open.
She caught his right eye, which instead of the usual blue, was now a blackish red color.
His gaze made every single hair on the back of her neck stand up. His breath was guttural and raspy, like an animal. She was afraid, afraid of him. That glare wasn't menacing, it felt… evil. In that single instant she felt inhumane hate that didn't belong to her.
Was this really Gray? Or something else?
Suddenly, he turned away and ran off to the bathroom. She stayed in her bed, mortified at what she had just seen and felt. He switched on the faucet, rubbing his face with liberal amounts of ice cold water, shaking off what he had experienced in his sleep.
Still shivering, Riven looked at his reflection. He looked unruly with facial hair growing outward, no longer stubble. Taking out his knife, he shaved, looking a bit more presentable. He stood at the sink for a while. He had no idea what he had been doing moments after waking up. All he knew was that his right eye burned and Amy looked frightened. No, she was bone deep terrified. What had he done?
Heading out of the bathroom, he started putting on his clothes and weapons. He looked at Amy who was shriveled up in the corner of her bed, green eyes staring at him in terror. His heart sank. Looking away in shame, he left the room and sat on a bench in the lobby. Gripping his head with his hands, he laid down and tried to go to sleep.
Is something wrong with me?
The next two days were painfully awkward. Amy wouldn't look at him in the eyes and whenever he tried to speak to her she replied in very short sentences, often keeping her distance from him. She bought him food but they ate in silence. She did not bring up the subject, and would refuse to go to sleep around him. He slept in the lobby on the bench, which worried Nurse joy. He also was unable to find any form of employment around the plaza.
Bib felt his trainer's mood, attempting to comfort him, but to no avail. He was ashamed and thoroughly depressed. Aine and Haona also tried to cheer him up failed miserably as well. This was starting to piss them off. Less than a week after a meeting a girl and their trainer was already a broken mess. Err, more broken mess.
Just then, Amy and Riven walked out of the trainer resident area. The blonde girl stopped in front of the doors, staring at her feet. "Gray, I need to go now." Trying to walk out of the doors, she was stopped by him, who told her to look him in the eyes. She locked eyes with Gray, quivering in fear after looking at his right eye.
"I am sorry. For whatever it is I did two nights ago. I have no memory of it."
She relaxed a bit, breaking free from his grasp. "You didn't do anything Gray. You just scared me a bit. That's all." She looked away, catching Haona's disapproving scowl. "I don't hate you or anything. In fact, I'm glad we met. You're a pretty cool guy. Just…learn to control that, whatever it is you have. It scares people." A pause," It's already been two days." Amy smiled sadly, "I guess this is goodbye."
Riven stared into her eyes one last time, before looking down at the floor. Nodding his head, he concluded, "I guess so."
"Good bye, Amy."
"We'll still be friends. I think."
He watched her walk briskly out the doors, out into the plaza, and further out until all he could see was a yellow dot. Her goodbye had been bittersweet. He stopped blaming himself for what happened two nights ago but now felt a pit in his core. She'd walked away so quickly it was almost as if she didn't want to be around him. He had now lost his first friend here. If that was what she was. She wasn't a soldier, and had a pretty upbeat attitude. That was the difference, he figured. People made friends here with strangers; that was odd and he found himself confused that he felt that way.
Feeling a strange emptiness in him, he headed to the Petalburg Park, where trainers were still gathering under the setting sun. Plopping down onto a bench overlooking the sunset, he regressed into deep thought, reevaluating his situation.
A voice in his head scolded him.
Silly boy. You know you will never keep what you want the most.
He sighed deeply, taking in the foreign scenery. "My new reality…"
Kicking a pebble down the hill, he watched as it rolled down, hitting a boy on the head, who turned around, red in the face.
"WHOEVER DID THAT IS GONNA PAY! BATTLE RIGHT NOW!"He stormed, swiveling his around to find the culprit.
Standing up, Riven met the impulsive youngster. A battle might ease his mood a little. And earn him some funds for meals now that Amy wasn't paying for them all.
"Hey, kid. I did that. You want to battle? Get up here, I need to let out some frustrations."
In a worn down building, a man in an expensive business suit received a call. Opening his holo caster, another man in a hood appeared as a holographic image.
"I take it you know where it is?"
"Yes, sir. I have located its whereabouts. I have dispatched three men to go retrieve it."
"And where exactly is it?"
"In Petalburg. It's going to be the prize for the contest that is scheduled to be held there next week."
"Good. Don't fail." The hooded man's voice was commanding, stern, and ominous. "You know what happens to people who do."
The holo caster shut off, leaving the man alone in the dark run down building. Flipping a knife in his hand, the suited man flashed a twisted grin. "Oh, that won't be necessary. After all, it's all for the cause right?"