Roxanne stood on the left side of the field , deciding which pokemon to choose. I don't know if his Absol is the strongest. It could be the strongest or the weakest. If I send out Geodude, he might use his Absol and sweep him easily. If I use my Nosepass, he can just bring out his strongest and match him. This is going to be tough. Making her decision, she gripped a pokeball and enlarged it.
Riven was on the opposite side, also thinking. What kind of rock pokemon does she have? I know they hit hard and prefer physical attacks. White Queen and Mischief are practically glass, and Aine is still a chick and a fire type. She might not bring out her strongest, in case I use White Queen first. Therefore, I should choose Mischief. Aine would be useless against rock types anyways.
It made him wonder just how bad fire starters had it if the first gym was a rock type gym. Pretty rough, from the looks of things.
Roxanne lifted a brow. So he's not using his Absol?
"Both battlers are ready! Begin!" The referee announced, starting the match.
Roxanne and Riven threw their pokeballs up in the air, releasing their pokemon.
A four armed ball of rock with a face emerged from the sphere, it looked sturdy. Rock types had high physical defense more often than not, so it was good that Mischief had none of those. Small plus.
"GRAV!" It cried, possibly a battle cry of sorts.
Riven's pokeball opened and out of it emerged a Kirlia. Roxanne's brows furrowed. A Kirlia this early? Psychic type? Hmmm. Neutral typings... But psychic types have poor physical defense. I can use that to my advantage.
The Kirlia folded its hands, red eyes focused and ready.
Roxanne was the first to attack, she had to put pressure on the psychic type, or it would just hit her Graveler from afar. "Graveler, use tackle!"
The rock type jumped in the air, crashing onto the rock floor as the Kirlia easily dodged the move. He tried over and over, trying to land a solid hit, but was unable to keep up with such telegraphed attacks
Riven examined the Graveler. Too slow to keep up… No way he can hit a faster opponent with such close range attacks, and Mischief can easily sidestep out of the way of his slams. He looked back at Roxanne, who was biting her lip slightly. She is most likely going to switch to a faster attack that has more range. If Mischief tires out, that might decide the round. Best go on offense if the Graveler is slower than him.
"Confusion as he passes by!" Riven ordered. "Keep him off you!"
The Graveler missed once again and his Kirlia's eyes glowed blue, releasing a pink blast of psychic energy at the rock pokemon. It hit the pokemon head on, causing it to stagger backwards. It recovered quickly however, resuming its relentless tackling. Mischief hit him with confusion twice more, before Roxanne ordered it to back off.
She saw that her pokemon was far too slow. It was time to switch things up. "Graveler, use rock throw!"
While he expected something of the sort, it still kind of made him panic. It would be far harder for his pokemon to dodge flying rocks than it would a Graveler trying to body slam from overhead. The rock type shoved its hands into the ground and started lobbing rocks at Mischief. The Kirlia dodged left and right on thin legs, picking up speed while narrowly avoiding large clumps of earth.
The Graveler was throwing rock after rock after rock. It was getting harder for Mischief to dodge with his body, and he felt himself starting to tire.
Roxanne's Graveler pierced the ground once again, cracking and splintering the floor as it picked up a large piece of earth and crushed it into a rough, circular shape. The boulder flew from its hands and into the air, sailing in the air at the psychic.
Panicking, Mischief's body glowed pink before disappearing just before the boulder made contact with his face. The ball of rock flew harmlessly into the side of the wall, rocking the gym slightly as it dented a hole in the stands.
Roxanne smiled, expecting to see a fainted Kirlia. But she didn't. There was nothing but dust and rock where it was standing. Where did it go? She gasped as it reappeared above her Graveler, placing a glowing palm above her Graveler's face. "Dodge, it's going to-" But it was too late. Confusion hit the Graveler directly, launching him off his feet and into an adjacent wall.
Her pokemon remained motionless before Roxanne snapped her fingers. Upon hearing the snap, it embedded itself into the floor, rumbling the ground beneath. The rock floor opened up beneath the Kirlia and trapped its legs in it.
Riven cursed silently. Bloody rock tomb.
"Good! Now throw a boulder! Finish that Kirlia!"
When it went and plucked another boulder out of the floor, Riven was running out of options fairly quickly, only pretending to act composed while secretly wishing he had chosen the water starter. He had to do something. But what? His Kirlia was unable to teleport with the entire ground holding him down.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Wait.
A memory flashed through his mind. It was during a briefing on the tactics of psychics in enemy clan encampments. His commanding officer had told everyone to watch out for any large boulders or rocks because of a psychic's ability to compress them and turn them into deadly projectiles , making them harder to dodge and easier to kill with. Although psychics and the psychic clan were hardly seen outside their city… it did help to know that.
Riven knew what to do. "Stay there!" His Kirlia glanced at him in desperation, as if asking whether his trainer was serious.
Bib panicked inside. Is he fucking insane? That thing is going to crush me! He tried charging up to teleport but couldn't. The floor was attached to him. Unless he wanted to move the entire floor, he wasn't going anywhere. Then his trainer said something equally as insane.
"Use your psychic! Catch that rock!"
Really?! That's your plan? Bib shook his head. Humans are crazy… Hell with it, here goes. He lifted both hands with as much concentration as he could muster, barely able to suspend the boulder in place. Heavy… Now what do I do with it? He looked back at his crazy trainer, asking the question with his eyes.
Riven held out a hand, then clenched it tightly.
Bib stared before the realization dawned on him. His trainer might be crazy but he definitely wasn't stupid.
Using both hands to direct the flow of psychic energy, he crushed the boulder inward, contorting it into a small tennis ball sized rock. Roxanne looked stunned. The students in the stands gasped, some even muttering faint wows.
The Graveler wasn't expecting that either. Roxanne took a quick glance at Gray, who looked completely confident. He smirked, flashing a sharp canine despite having just pulled that out of his ass.
Totally meant to do that.
He held extended his right arm forward, yelling, "FIRE!"
Bib grinned at the Graveler. "You can have this back." His eyes pulsed blue and the small rock flew like a bullet into the rock type, carrying it off its feet and into the poor walls of the gym. Dust from the pulverized wall covered the stage, prompting some coughing fits. Roxanne looked dumbfounded.
The dust cloud cleared, revealing a Graveler pretty much fused with a crater and completely unconscious. The referee held up a green flag, indicating a knockout. "Graveler is unable to battle! Kirlia wins!"
The students in the stands were amazed at the incredible reversal the challenger's pokemon pulled off. Quite a unique method of winning. Roxanne shook her head and chuckled. "That was amazing, Gray. That's never happened before. Excellent use of mass and compression, I'll have to look out for that the next time I battle a psychic."
"Thank you," he grinned proudly. If a little smug. He hadn't planned it, but he took credit where credit was falsely due to inflate his ego. Someone had to keep his Absol in check.
This time, however, Roxanne smiled. "But your Kirlia's still stuck!" She threw another pokeball into the air before Riven could recompose himself.
It opened and out came a large thing, with what seemed like a huge nose. Atrocious looking thing, really. The nose was red and it looked like a walking face with legs. It had a deep voice and grumbled as it breathed.
"Nosepass, charge up!" Yellow sparks of electrical energy crackled around its nose, causing it to glow yellow. Roxanne was aiming for a one hit knockout.
Riven's mouth fell open.
A rock type using electricity? WHAT? Can psychic deflect electricity? It was possible, but only very advanced psychics could pull it off successfully.
His Kirlia could barely hold that boulder. The psychic turned back to glare at its trainer, making a show of hands as if frantically asking for directions, still well and truly stuck. Riven prayed for the little bastard.
The Nosepass was now entirely covered in electricity, sparking yellow. It leaned forward and the electricity coalesced into its nose. "DISCHARGE NOW!" The rock type grumbled loudly, discharging a massive blast of electricity. The attack bolted outward, striking Mischief before Riven managed to return him. The psychic twitched and yelled, being shocked continuously.
The electricity subsided, and the Kirlia's small body crackled with tiny sparks of electricity. The power of the attack dislodged the pokemon from the floor after blowing the rocks off his feet, but at the cost of frying him too.
The referee held up the yellow flag this time, announcing the victory. "Kirlia is unable to battle! Nosepass wins!"
Roxanne's students whispered to each other, anxious to see what both battlers would do next. The battle had been awesome so far. Both trainers were now left with only two pokemon. Roxanne's strongest was on the field and the challenger's Absol was still on the sidelines. The girls were slightly admiring this Gray. He was pretty good. Judging by his battling, he was really smart too. But he wasn't better than Roxanne of course. She was going to smash him for sure.
Riven cursed under his breath. Aine would last a total of two seconds against this thing. How were beginner trainers supposed to battle this gym if they'd chosen Torchic or some other fire starter? Pinching the bridge of his nose, he begrudgingly had to use White Queen. She was much faster and knew ice beam, which could keep it slowed and could give her a chance to maneuver around for a direct hit. Not that ice moves could do much to rock types anyway, but it was a start. Turning to the Absol, he said, "White Queen, your turn."
She eagerly jumped onto the stage. She had been anxiously waiting her turn, pacing around the sidelines, getting ready. Bringing down the strongest thing on her team would feel amazing. She also wanted to get some revenge for Bib. He had gotten himself stuck again, just like with Amy. Bad luck. At any rate, her ice beam would do well as it was her only known ranged move. Even though rock is really good against ice, type matchups don't decide the match.
She growled, trying to intimidate the oversized rock, receiving no response from it or its oversized nose.
Roxanne was nervous. This Absol would either be a pushover or it could potentially destroy her Nosepass. Absols had very flexible movesets and many trainers used them for type coverage and powerful physical attacks. They didn't learn many super-effective moves that could affect rock types, but their attacks were fairly powerful when combined with their speed.
Snapping out of her thoughts she called out to her Nosepass. "Use rock tomb, trap her like the Kirlia!"
Haona smirked. Too slow. I'm much faster than Bib! She dodged and weaved around the rising rock pillars, steadily approaching the Nosepass as it futilely tried to trap her. Roxanne told it to use discharge again. The bolt of electricity hit her, but it was very weak with no charge time behind it. Haona shrugged it off and jumped high into the air. Spinning downwards, she used her momentum to create wind, gathering it into a revolving current around her horn. She twirled forwards once more, sweeping her head downwards, bringing down a furious razor wind. The attack hit the Nosepass directly on the nose, chipping part of the rock type's body and caused it to step back, nearly falling over from the hit.
Rock rumbled and Riven gestured for White Queen to get back.
"Back off. No need to get cocky or you might end up stuck too. Watch for surprise rock tombs." She listened, jumping back towards her side of the ring as rocks did indeed rise again. The Nosepass was fairly intelligent, using rock tomb to get its attacker away to charge up another discharge.
No you don't.
Haona knew she couldn't stop the attack or deflect it, but she could influence its direction. She enlarged the whirlwinds around her as she drew more wind in. The air currents' increased size and rotations caused dust and dirt to collect inside until the entire gym become foggy with dust particles. Roxanne and Riven covered their eyes with their arms, trying to keep dust out.
The rock pokemon was now glowing yellow once again, ready to discharge. Just as Roxanne yelled out the command to fire, Haona flipped in the air and slashed downwards with her horn. A larger and more powerful razor wind blew towards the Nosepass, howling like a tornado. It arced awkwardly and hit it in the foot, causing it to veer to one side as it released the wave of electricity from its nose.
Got you.
The bolt of lightning flew into the ceiling, destroying part of the roof.
Haona broke into a dance, confusing Roxanne for a moment. Then she realized what she was doing as a familiar form made itself apparent. Sword's dance. She turned back towards her Nosepass and saw that it was still recovering energy from that huge attack and couldn't dodge it regardless. She hoped that his rock body could absorb most of the damage, but she doubted that her pokemon could withstand more attacks from the state he was in.
The Absol rocketed forward, using the dust from the explosion to mask her movements. Feeling more strength in her legs, she jumped high into the air, using gravity to add onto her speed and power. She was now directly over the Nosepass, knowing it couldn't dodge. Black energy swirled and coated her horn as she straightened out, releasing a potent slash of darkness with a powerful slash of her horn. Haona's dark type resonated with the move, empowering it. The slash cut into rock from nose to leg, causing Roxanne's Nosepass to tumble over and groan in pain . The slash also sliced through the air, blowing away the dust cloud.
Riven smiled as the dust cleared. White Queen was directly on top of the Nosepass, pinned by her. She opened her mouth and a blue ball of light formed in front of her. She was charging up a point-blank ice beam. It wouldn't do much, but he assumed she was doing it for dramatic effect. Really, that cheeky little queen.
Roxanne bit her lip. Nosepass was going to faint. No doubt about that. The sword's dance boosted night slash had hit him hard, despite his high physical defense. Time for some final measures. With a tiny smirk, the woman said, "explosion."
Riven's face lost color for a moment.
Haona released a bright icy beam onto Nosepass, freezing it in place as ice spread and bloomed along its body and along the floor. It was nearly covered in ice before she vaguely heard Roxanne say something. The Nosepass, however, heard it and bellowed loudly as a white light began to emanate from its body, shining through the ice.
She heard Riven yell, "Get out of there!"
Too late.
The ice and floor exploded in a spray of icicles and debris, launching Haona upwards as dust blanketed the gym once more. Roxanne was nearly blown back by the blast, only managing to stay afoot by holding onto a rock. Haona landed on the rock floor with a crunch before rolling all the way back to her side of the field.
She tried to get on her feet and failed. She fainted, white fur stained black and red from the effects of the explosion and the icicles piercing her skin.
The dust cleared once again and Roxanne's Nosepass was on the floor, bruised and beaten, having used all of his remaining energy to knock out Riven's Absol in a move of desperation. Roxanne returned it and smiled weakly. "I know you hate it when you use that move but at least you took her down with you."
The referee held both flags up, "Both pokemon are unable to battle. Both trainers will now send out their remaining pokemon."
The Rock gym leader took out another pokeball, her last.
Riven returned White Queen to her pokeball as well. "Good job. You handled yourself well. Now for… ugh." He brought out his last pokeball dismally. Aine had a weakness to rock and her moveset consisted of nothing but normal physical moves and one weak fire attack. He held back the urge to slam his palm against his forehead with how badly the matchup was going to be.
Both trainers released their final pokemon.
Roxanne's rock type was a small floating rock with two arms. "Geodude!" It exclaimed.
Oh. So that is what a Geodude is. Why does everyone keep saying I lived under one of those? Under something that small? Ridiculous.
Gray's final pokemon sent relief down Roxanne's shoulders. She knew why he was hesitant to bring it out. It was a Torchic. A fire type with most likely no strong fire attacks. It wouldn't be able to make a dent in Geodude. She almost felt like laughing, but she was a professional and a gym leader. No making fun of trainers.
Both pokemon eyed each other before her Geodude used a focus punch to try and get close to his Torchic. The little chick scurried away, avoiding punches as it ran around the arena. It's fast. I'll give it that. "Geodude, keep using focus punch! Tire it out!"
Riven had no bright or clever ideas. Aine's peck would no more make a dent than he could fly. Her ember would probably just annoy it. Sighing, he told her to use ember in a futile attempt to do something. She blasted embers at its face but it simply shrugged them off and continued throwing punches at her.
Riven felt like raking his face with his hands.
Roxanne's Geodude chased Aine until she was cornered. The rock then hammered her with two strong focus punches. Still, she managed to get on her feet and scurry away again.
Aine was panting hard at this point. Her attacks weren't doing a damn thing. She was getting frustrated. She didn't want to disappoint her trainer. But what could she do? The chick thought about her fight against the Ariados, the way her inner fire flared and relaxed with her breathing. She closed her eyes, trying to feel her fire. It was faint and small. She focused, making it move with every breath that filled her lungs.
She imagined it growing into a large powerful fire, consuming entire forests. It flared and she opened her eyes, facing the Geodude, who was closing in with a white fist. She opened her beak and a blazing hot jet of flame released from inside her lungs. The flames stopped the rock type in its tracks as fire assaulted its eyes. It put up its hands to shield itself from the flames.
Aine kept blasting it with fire, screaming with spirit. Riven wondered how long she could keep it up, needless to say, he was a bit shocked to see her enthusiasm. The Geodude's hands were glowing red hot, the fire was heating up its body. It waved its hands to try and swipe at Aine, but the flames kept it blind.
Aine then stopped. Her body began to glow a dazzling white, drawing awes and ooo's from the stands. Roxanne's jaw dropped.
The light subsided and an orange pokemon stood in Aine's place, taller and stronger than the tiny Torchic it'd been previously.
It gave a loud battlecry, "COMBUSKEN!" It shot fire up into the air and danced around, demonstrating the power of its new legs. It seemed Aine paid attention to that dance routine a week ago.
Riven grinned as his pokedex showed the entry of Combusken, catching Roxanne's look. "Aine, let him have it."
She nodded in understanding and kicked off the ground, using her strong legs to propel herself forward. Aine landed a powerful kick to the Geodude's face, sending it rolling a few feet back. The Geodude tried to lift itself off the ground but Aine jumped up, grounding it with a blast of fire before it came down. She smashed a foot into the rock type—the force of the impact crushing it against the floor. Roxanne's Geodude desperately tried to fight back, but Aine's power dominated it, keeping it pinned.
She picked up the geodude and launched it upward with her right foot. Then spun around and landed a spinning momentum packed kick to the Geodude's face. The rock pokemon sailed to the other end of the gym, smashing into the wall like a soccer ball. It remained plastered there, unconscious in total defeat.
Roxanne only gaped, speechless. The gym was dead silent. Even Riven was astounded. One moment the Torchic was getting trampled, and the next, she was playing around with Geodude like a bad joke.
The referee recovered from his shock and lifted a green flag. "G-g-g-geodude is unable to battle! Combusken is the winner! Roxanne's pokemon are all knocked out, the winner of this gym battle is Challenger Gray!"
Aine yelled in victory, breathing fire into the air. The students and Roxanne applauded the young trainer and his pokemon. The gym leader walked over to him, holding out a small metal object. "That was an amazing battle, Gray. I haven't had a battle like that in a long time. That was a wonderful usage of wit and power by all three of your pokemon. I hope I can use this video to teach my students that type advantage and power aren't the only things that can decide matches, but a trainer and their pokemon's wit and ability. Congratulations. You have earned the Stone Badge and this TM." She handed him the badge and a box with the label, TM 39: Rock Tomb.
He took both of them and shook her hand. "Thank you, Roxanne. I appreciate your praise. I honestly thought I was going to lose, fire being disadvantaged against rock. It was a good battle on both sides. If this is what the first gym is like, whoa. Harsh on the fire starters there. How difficult is the eighth?"
Roxanne laughed, "Much harder, I assure you. Juan is as relentless as he is graceful. Wallace could tell you that also. Anyway, where are you headed now?"
Riven held his chin, unsure. "I guess I am going back to the pokemon center to give my pokemon some rest. Then tomorrow I will head to Devon. By the way, do you know where Devon is?"
"Sure. It's in downtown Rustboro. It's a huge building with orange sides, you can't miss it. It has a beautiful garden in the middle."
"Ah. Thanks. And good battle." He nodded, turning back towards the exit. He waved a hand behind him, saying good bye.
Roxanne and her students waved back, watching him walk away. The gym leader called out to him. "Gray! Come back and rematch me sometime!"
He yelled back. "Will do! I promise!"
His image disappeared as the gym doors closed shut. Roxanne stood in the middle of the gym with hands on her hips. "Wow." She looked at the wreckage from the battle and sighed. "Alright kids! Time to clean up!"
Everyone groaned.
Riven stepped out of the gym into Rustboro square. Light from the sunset covered the square. The beige tiles that made up the floor were now colored a sunset orange. He walked back to the pokemon center, staring at the badge in his hand. I feel…proud. It feels good. He never received any sort of recognition when in the army because frankly, they didn't have anything to give. It was a battle of survival, not honor. It still felt oddly satisfying to be holding the badge, despite everything.
Placing the badge into his badge case, the trainer walked through the center's doors. Nurse Joy spotted him and brightened. "Hello, Gray. How was your match?"
"Hello, Nurse Joy. The match went well, my Torchic became a Combusken and won the match. Her fighting type really turned the tide of the battle. I need them healed though, can you do that for me?" He handed her three pokeballs.
"Of course! They should be tired, after fighting Roxanne. She's really tough for trainers who choose fire starters. And there are lots of them, trust me. Most of the pokemon in the area aren't suited to battle rock types very well." Nurse joy stated, placing Riven's pokemon in the tray. She flipped a switch on and a light covered the pokeballs. The trainer sat down on a bench, waiting for his pokemon to be done healing.
A smaller trainer came up to him, noticing his shiny new badge. "Wow. That's a stone badge."
"Yes," Riven confirmed.
"Did you just beat Roxanne?" He asked curiously.
"Yes. Just now. It was an incredible battle."
"Man, she beat me two weeks in a row already. I don't know how to beat her. My friend says to go all out offensive but that never works." He took off his hat, scratching his head. "Any tips? My starter is a Torkoal…"
Riven's left lip rose upward, a slight smile. He pointed to the kid's bicep muscle. "Sometimes, brawn is good." Then he took off his hat and poked him gently in the forehead. "But sometimes, you need to use your head. You would be surprised at what you can achieve when you use it." He put the hat back on the boy's head, giving it a tight tug. "Keep trying." The boy's widened and he grinned from ear to ear. He ran outside, eager to face her again.
Riven snickered. Nurse Joy looked confused. "What's so funny?"
"I forgot to tell him the gym is closed." He started laughing, unable to hold back. It felt good to laugh.
Joy rolled her eyes, laughing slightly. Boys. They never change.
Riven was back in his room, staring at the ceiling. He took out his pokeballs and released White Queen and Mischief. They stared back at him, heads low to the ground in what appeared to be shame.
"No, no. None of that. You both were fantastic in battle. Besides." He pulled out his badge case and flipped it open, displaying the stone badge. Both his pokemon's jaws dropped.
"Kirl?"
"Sol?"
Riven chuckled, "Wondering how I won? Here, let me show you how." He took out another pokeball and rolled it on the ground behind them. Aine came out, surprising them both.
Bib's eyes widened. "You evolved!"
"Yup! I can jump even higher now! And I can kick things!"
Haona and Bib felt happy for her, but at the same time realized that if she hadn't evolved in the nick of time, they probably would have lost the match.
Riven noticed his pokemons' moods fall. He tapped them on the back of the head, grabbing their attention. "Listen. Stop blaming yourselves. If both of you had not knocked out her Graveler and Nosepass, Aine would not have been able to secure the win. This victory belongs to you as much as it does to her. This is a team. Now cheer up. Morale! Got it?" Bib felt his positive emotions and his pride, lifting his mood significantly. His words also cheered up Haona, even though she couldn't quite feel emotions like Bib. The Kirlia snorted, "Hey Haona, he sounds like you right now."
She couldn't agree more, she was awesome. "I'll let it slide this time."
Aine hugged them both, celebrating over a victory well fought.
The next morning was pleasant. He woke up next to his Absol, who was curled up on the bed next to him, with Mischief sound asleep in between her fur. Aine was sprawled on the other bed, snoring with a faintly. Gently lifting himself away from the bed, he went into the bathroom and cleaned up.
Feeling refreshed, he quietly served them food and headed off to go get something to eat. His breakfast was pancakes and eggs. They were served with delicious pecha berry jam and slices of beef. Finishing his breakfast, Riven fetched his pokemon and headed out. Today, he wanted to go visit Devon and pick up his pokeNav and his holo caster. They were apparently very useful, and integral to a trainer's journey.
After asking Nurse Joy for directions, he found himself riding a green 256 bus to downtown Rustboro. The buildings there were the tallest in the city, comprising most of the business buildings in the city. Riven stared in awe at their massive size as the sun illuminated the towering structures and their sleek, glassy designs.
Walking for nearly thirty minutes after he got off the bus, he finally stood in front of a large building with characteristic orange sides. It had large orange letters at the top that said: Devon Corporation. Riven entered the garden, nearing the entrance to the enormous building. A sign next to the door read : Devon Corporation. For all of your living needs, we make it all.
Entering the building, a receptionist asked him what he was here for.
"Pokenav and holo caster."
"Who sent you?"
"Professor Birch."
"Ah! Go right in."
The trainer walked inside the lobby, seeing men in suits come and go. He even saw pokemon trainers walking in and out of the rooms, probably picking up their own Navs and accessories. Guess everyone comes here to pick up their pokenavs or get repairs. The building had a wonderful interior as well—very modern, much future.
The receptionist phoned the stand-in CEO, Steven Stone, son of Mr. Stone, the CEO who was on business in the Sinnoh region. "Steven," she sang. "Someone's here for you."
"Barbara. I told you if it isn't important to send them to Minal. He deals with the pokenavs.
"Really? Because he says Birch sent him. And he looks like a lost Skitty in a forest."
Steven dropped what he was doing. "What does he look like?" Could be the guy Birch was talking about.
"Ummm….normal?"
"Is he wearing anything strange looking?"
"Nope. Except for a black cloth around his right eye. Must have it injured or something. He's wearing casual clothes. Carrying a large case."
"Oh. Not my guy then."
"And he has an Absol and a Kirlia."
Steven was about to hang up when he thought twice. Birch said that he had an Absol and a Ralts. Kirlia is the evolved form of Ralts. So that means…it might be him. "I'll go get him."
"Huh, that's rare. You never come down from there. Is he special? Ohhh, he is?"
"This one is of certain…..importance," he ground out uneasily, cringing at how wrong that sounded.
"Boyfriend? He is certainly not bad looking but I didn't think you were into men, Steve. I'll have to spread the rumors with the juicy gossip. How scandalous, the women will freak!"
Steven choked, gripping the phone harder. "HEAVENS NO, BARBARA. I'm coming down. I do not like men, and don't spread any rumors while I'm gone."
"Mhmmm. Go get him, Pyroar." Barbara hung up, laughing to herself.
Steven huffed. That woman would never let this go. Walking inside the elevator, he pushed the L button and headed down to the lobby. The former champion wondered how this 'Riven' was like. Birch described him as overly paranoid and odd, even a bit quirky. One thing was certain, he was an odd ball through and through. Black cloth around his eye… heterochromic…
The doors of the elevator opened and Steven stepped out into the lobby, drawing stares from many trainers. They stopped in their tracks, in awe at the sight of the former champion. This is exactly why I don't step out. He ignored the stares and looked among the crowd for a trainer with the appropriate pokemon. He was about to step away when a black haired young man with a white spot of hair and a large case walked past him, examining everything with vested interest. An Absol and a Kirlia accompanied him. Steven grabbed his arm.
The young man looked at Steven. "Can I help you?"
"Birch sent you right? For your equipment?"
"Uh, yes. How did you know that?"
"Receptionist. Come with me. I have your equipment."
Riven eyed the blue haired man with a suspicious eye. Had Birch been in contact with him?
Steven dragged him towards the elevator before any fans could swarm the champion for autographs. He sighed. The trainer was silent. He didn't look any different from other pokemon trainers and certainly didn't have any damaged clothing on him. Steven also didn't see any blades or black stone. That large case probably had something to do with it.
The elevator doors opened to a grand collection of differently colored stones displayed in cases around Steven's office. Water, Fire, Thunder, Leaf, Dusk, Sun, Moon, and Dawn as well as various other specimens were present. He glanced at the trainer. No change in expression. It was a good attempt. Just then, the trainer's Kirlia ran up to the case with a dawn stone in it and shouted loudly, tapping on the glass.
The black haired boy walked over to the case and stared at the stone. "What is it?" The psychic tapped the glass further, with increased emphasis. "Yes, I can see that it is a stone. Stop tapping on the glass."
"KIRL! KIRLIA!" It pointed at the shiny green gem a third time. His trainer still looked confused.
"It wants the dawn stone," Steven stated. "Must be a male Kirlia then."
"Why?"
Birch did say he was clueless. "He wants to evolve." Steven said, nonchalantly.
"Oh. That stone is needed for him to do that?"
"Yes. It's male right?"
The trainer nodded.
"I guessed as much."
"I did not know some pokemon needed stones to evolve. I just thought they evolved on their own."
"Well, very few pokemon do need stones to evolve. Kirlias can evolve into two things. A Gardevoir and a Gallade. Gardevoirs are the natural evolution of both male and female Kirlias. Gallades only evolve from males when exposed to a dawn stone. I guess he wants to be a Gallade. Rather badly too."
The Kirlia nodded furiously.
"And what if I cannot afford one of those. Looks pretty. That means expensive." Riven was eyeing the stone with deep scrutiny and was tempted to check his funds again.
"They are, unfortunately. However, I heard that they are abundant in the Forinan caves near Mt Chimney. If you want to look for dawn stones, there would be your best bet. But make sure you get something that can fly, those caves might be a bit hard to get to by hand. Unless you enjoy rock climbing."
Rock climbing didn't deter Riven. He had climbed near vertical slopes as a scout before. "Hmm… next stop then. After Mauville. Then this gem will be mine. For free."
"That's a good goal, Gallade are very strong pokemon. Please, sit."
Steven motioned for the trainer to sit down on one of the couches. The young man returned his pokemon to their pokeballs and sat down.
"Wait here. I'll bring your things." Steven said as he went into the other room.
Riven looked around the office. It was spacious and looked expensive. The rocks in the cases must be worth a hefty sum. So he wants to evolve…
Riven wondered what a Gallade looked like. He wasn't going to ask Charles, he'd rather it be a pleasant surprise. Steven returned, holding a pokeNav and a flatter blue device, the holo caster.
"This here is your pokeNav and your holo caster. Usually trainers start out with them but Birch didn't have any spares in the lab warehouse. Sorry you had to travel here."
"It was no trouble. I had to come here to battle Roxanne anyway."
"Did you beat her?" Steven wondered if the boy had any decent battling skills. He definitely had the skilled trainer look to him.
He showed him the badge.
"Nice." So he does have some innate skill. Looks promising.
Riven took the holo caster and pokeNav and put them in his bag. Not the big one either. The smaller, more….trainer sized one. The bigger one looked odd. Now isn't the time, it would make him suspicious.
"Do you know how to use them?" Steven asked. Birch did mention the kid was a technophobe. What would be the point of handing him perfectly functional equipment if he couldn't operate it to save his life?
"The pokeNav just a little. The holo caster is entirely new."
Understandable. The holo caster had only recently come to Hoenn. Even some of the older trainers had a hard time adjusting.
"Ah, well. You just type in eight digits you wish to call and it should connect you with another person's holo caster with the same number. Everyone has a specific number. If someone calls you, you push the talk button to pick up or the end button to end a call or reject a call. It projects the user's image so it beats the videophones in the pokemon centers."
"I see. So that is what those eight numbers were for…."
"Which eight numbers?"
"A girl gave them to me. I had no idea what they were used for so I ripped the paper to shreds. Then I ran for the woods. She was getting a bit too close for comfort."
Steven laughed. "You can use it to contact others in case you need it. Some people exchange numbers for different reasons. Some business, some friendly, others personal… it really depends. Anyway, I wanted to ask you some questions. Birch told me about you."
Great, leave it to that clumsy man to tell his friends about me. Riven's suspicion increased, and he began to tense. "What kind of questions?"
"Just basic information."
"Basic?"
"Yeah. Where were you born, your name, favorite color, favorite hometown. Etc."
At this point, Riven felt like he was getting examined and assessed, and not in a good way. He bristled, but let Steven continue. "Alright, ask." If push came to shove, he'd slash his throat open and bolt.
Steven asked the most basic of questions. "What's your name?"
"Did Birch not tell you that already? I assume you know it. So, tell me yours."
Birch was definitely right. This kid was paranoid. Solidly paranoid, and probably thought the world was out to get him. What kind of messed up hole did he crawl out of? "Steven Stone."
"Hello, Steven."
He doesn't trust me, Steven observed. He knew Birch had informed of him of his name, yet still called him out on it. He also asked him for his own. The trainer wanted to know who he was dealing with in case things went south. Did he think he was some sort of spy?
Try again. "Okay…Next question. Where were you born?" Steven hoped to get an origin from this guy. That way he could pinpoint an approximate area and determine why there weren't any reported birthplaces.
The boy gave him a glare."The wilderness."
"I don't believe that. You speak too rigidly to be born in the wild."
"Oh, right. I fell from the sky in a basket carried by Pidgey."
Steven frowned.
"If you weren't born in the wild then where were you born? Fortree, Slateport, Lavaridge, Fallarbor, Pacifidlog?" Steven was just spitting out towns and cities at this point, hoping to get one right.
"None of those."
If not in Hoenn, then some other region perhaps. "Sinnoh, Kalos, Johto, Unova, or Kanto?" One of those had to ring a bell.
"None."
The man was perplexed. This guy couldn't possibly be from anywhere else. Unless there was a far off region nobody knew about. "Then where are you from?"
Riven scoffed, "You would call me insane if I told you."
"No, I wouldn't." Steven was certain that whatever he was going to say was completely reasonable. The kid didn't look crazy. At first glance anyway.
"I came from the past. I was born in a place called Altea, there were clans of people that really disliked us, everything was shit, there was a war, everyone I knew died in a fire in one night because the fire clan was composed of complete cunts, and then I fought them for ten years in a hopelessly outnumbered army in a hopeless struggle in a hopelessly shit world until suddenly I jumped through time, ended up here, and now I am on a journey to be a pokemon master."
Throughout the entirety of this, the young man's face hadn't so much as twitched. He adjusted himself on the couch, peered around, and sighed in content. "Apparently."
"Apparently?"
"Yeah. I have no idea what I am doing, and everything is confusing as shit."
Steven didn't quite know what to make of that, furrowing his brows in confusion. "Okay…"
"Told you would doubt me."
"So you don't want to admit where you were born. Okay then, don't answer that. Riven, what's in that case?"
He suddenly grew very defensive. "Are you sure you are not a detective? You sound like one. And I am not particularly fond of them."
"Why? Are you a criminal?" Steven was getting a little worried at this point. Paranoid, insane, armed and dangerous? Criminal was starting to sound awfully accurate.
"No. Although, if you put me on trial…"
Steven cut right to the chase, ignoring that remark."What is in the case?"
"None of your business," the black haired boy hissed, now fully alert.
"Birch told me to watch you, so technically, you are my business." Steven matched him, looking at his arms for any hints or sudden movements.
"Know what? I really do not care about being your business. I already got my things, so now I leave." He gathered his things and left for the door. "I have somewhere to be right now, thanks."
Now or never. Steven launched himself, tackling Riven down to the floor with a thud. He was fortunate that the trainer returned his pokemon to their balls before their little 'talk'. His case was thrown to the side, landing with a loud thud as Steven tried to reach his Cradily's pokeball. The former champion thought that a teenager would be fairly defenseless without his pokemon and thus, could easily use his Cradily to subdue him.
He was wrong.
The trainer recovered quickly, breaking Steven's hold easily and throwing him off. A quick chop to the throat and a table counter to the face later, the rock collector was on his ass, gasping for breath and holding an aching head. He might've been an ex champion and an excellent pokemon trainer, but a very good fighter he wasn't. In fact, the whole ordeal had happened so quickly that he hadn't the time to fully realize what had just occurred until after his face got shoved into a table.
The older man stood up slowly, holding a hand up, wheezing. "Gah….wait. I'm …not…your…enemy…"
Riven rolled his eyes. He took out a blade from the case and unsheathed it, placing the edge near Steven's neck. "You wanted to see what was in the case? Here you go." Any more attacks and I will slash your throat open. "Not a criminal, but attacking me was fairly stupid. Do you want to die?"
The blade was exactly as Birch described it. His breathing slowed and he gently pushed the blade away, careful not to make any sudden moves. The movement knicked his fingers, drawing blood. The professor was right, the young man did have real, authentic swords. Very usable ones at that and different in shape from the katanas and wakizashis found in Kanto, resembling longswords in appearance rather than sabers.
Steven held up both his hands in surrender.
"I believe you now… Just, I think we got off on the wrong foot, Riven. I'm sorry for tackling you, I didn't know what else to do. Peace?" He held out a hand slowly, hoping the trainer would accept the handshake. Riven seemed to think about it, leaving Steven there for a few moments to draw his breath again. He sighed in relief as the blade came down and a firm grip shook his hand. A sole brown eye remained skeptical, and Riven's expression matched it.
"Likewise. Sorry about the head, might take a few days for that to reduce in size." He said, pointing at the red mark on Steven's forehead.
"Seems so." Interesting young man. They both sat down again, now on arguably "friendlier" terms. "If you don't mind... Let's start again. I'm Steven Stone."
"And my name is Riven Cerul," the trainer replied flatly. "I was born in a magical fucking tree in Littleroot."