FA/N: If you want to know what the 'more realistic' Pokémon in Truth and Lies look like, a good place to start would be Joshua Dunlop's art. You can find it at "joshuadunlop (d0t) art stat ion (d0t) c0m." ... Ffnet is getting more annoying with their filters. He's done most of the first 151, and a couple extras (Espeon and Umbreon come to mind), plus his art is amazing in general. Worth a look.
Finally, if you like this story or any of my other stories, please consider supporting me on Pa Tree On. You can find it by going to www. Pa tree / KajaWilder (you must have NSFW filter turned off to find my page). I can only continue my current (or faster) pace of updates if I can pay my bills. I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely getting closer. If you think about how much enjoyment you get out of a movie- about two hours worth of fun- for $10-20- you are getting far greater value by supporting a writer like myself. If even one in twenty people that read this supported me on Pa Tree On at any level, I would be able to easily continue focusing on writing more... and you could read more. I'm going to keep writing anyway. But the pace would be and will be a lot faster if you can spare a few dollars monthly. My lowest tier isn't even a small drink at a theater, any more. Is it worth it? Is it worth it to you? If so, then please support me.
Of course, you can ALSO find more of the same stories there. I post everything on this site at least a week after it's posted on , so if you want more and don't want to wait, well... there you go.
Oh, and don't forget you can join my DISCORD at discord . gg / UAJw4CnB !
Finally, sorry this is late- legit just forgot to post it (and on Ao3 as well) on Wednesday, then yesterday I thought about it- and forgot again before I could. lol
On the upside, my birthday is this weekend, so you will all be getting an extra post tomorrow- maybe two!
That's enough out of me, though. Enjoy!
Chapter 12: Fall to Earth
"Maline, can you remind me what Lab 55 is?"
"Sure, boss," the tall, dark-haired woman said as he stepped into her sub-office on the Beta Testing floor, his own eyes on a data-pad, "The short version is that it's Phillips' pet project. The one testing combinant DNA. Top secret, yada yada... you know, our military backers?"
"I know who Phillips is," the Director of R&D muttered, stepping around to lean against the back of her desk next to her chair, glancing down at her own open files, "Working on the same thing? Alright, well... what do you think of the batch?"
"They're promising," Maline said with a shrug, leaning back in her chair and opening a few buttons of her blouse. Obviously, her mentor would know it was a distraction- but that didn't mean it wouldn't work. He never could resist staring at her chest.
He smiled as he looked down, "Weapons, I tell you. Not your greatest, but your most obvious, my dear. Still, not the time. Details. This is your baby, but I want to know how things are going. The other VPs are starting to ask questions."
"Damn," she murmured, leaving the buttons undone and smiling up at the handsome man who'd taught her all she knew about manipulating people, "I was hoping for a romp. Oh well, later. Missus doing okay?"
"She's fine," her superior said with an eye-roll, "Get on with it, and I'll free up some time at least for a quickie on the way home. Stall any more, and you can wait till next week."
Maline snorted, "You can never wait that long. But alright. There's a few candidates in 1-20, mostly in the lower numbers, that don't show up as all that high but have a perfect record in terms of sync rate and knowledge base. One pair in particular that formed up on day one is... interesting. They aren't moving fast, but they're fairly thorough, and taking an 'explore everything' approach."
"Names?"
"Alexander Ward and Elle- Elisabeth- Berkman."
"Ward... I remember him. Son of the shipping magnate? Howard Ward?"
"That's the one. I interviewed Elle. Bright girl- a girl."
"Underage? Why'd you let her in?"
Maline grinned, "Tempting? She was smart- really smart. We can use that. Also, we have leverage over her with the knowledge that she committed a few crimes to get herself in, we can use that too. Ward seems quite taken with her, and the reverse is true, but between the two I'd say she's the brains of the group. He's no slouch, but she cracked the City systems, all of them, to change her legal age in under a day, and she's the one teaching him how things work even though he's played more games. She just...gets the system better, I think."
"You think."
Maline nodded, leaning forward to run a finger past Robert to her Holo-screen controls, "Can't foresee everything. She's been teasing and egging him on. Clearly using him, right? Leading him on? Except every sign I see says she wants to give in, too. Playing hard to get, you could say, but not really using him. She'd be fine on her own, I think, but they're definitely stronger together. They cleaned out the South Field around Viridian in two hours."
He blinked, "All of them?"
Maline's smile widened, "All of them. Elle even shot down the reward fuck offered, and Alex went right along with it. Seemed almost amused."
"Hm. So we aren't getting a lot of Combinant data?"
"No, we are," Maline laughed, "That's the funny thing. The girl seems almost obsessed with sex, and not just for herself- she's still a virgin. Never kissed anyone but a kid in her grade-school, and Ward in the system. Ever, much less had sex. Since then, Ward's Lickitung has gotten a lot off her in one encounter, and him too. But the biggest collector has been Elle's Bellsprout. I forget how many exactly, but he's given several large samples. Enough the team felt fit to upgrade its Prowess ability early."
"That ability was...?"
"Gobbler. Now it's Expert level."
Robert frowned, "Wasn't that... a plant? Grass-type? First-Gen?"
"Yes, and he seemed very reluctant for a while, but lately he seems to be more into it. Of course, we expect his own 'donation' methods to change soon.
"Mm. Alright, so we have a lot of human-Grass and human-Poison from him, and a bit of human-Normal for both of them. What else can you tell me?"
"They're skilled combatants- and they killed someone. Well, Ward did."
"Ward...?"
"Turns out they came across a man raping Rattata. Tight holes, or something. They took offense, as it killed the creatures, and set on him. Lost control, maybe, but he's dead."
Robert sighed, "Any kin I should notify?"
Maline shook her head, patting his leg then undoing another button to show a bit of lacy red with pale flesh, "None. Homeless, in fact, which explains his desperation. Also mentally unstable to begin with, he was suffering from at least mild schizoaffective disorder. The family, such as it was, wrote him off a long time ago. Still, it confirmed our suspicions that the system works."
"As it should have. Alright, so dying in the system means dying in real life- can we unplug in time?"
"Of course. In theory. The safeties haven't been put to the test, and of course we turned them off for this instance."
"Next time, let them stay on- just to do a prelim test before the official one. I'm assuming that's what your documentation was for this one?"
"Of course, as we agreed."
Jones frowned, looking down at her chest, then standing up to cross behind her chair and run a hand down both sides of Maline's neck, then onto her chest, which he fondled lightly, "And the next patch?"
"Ready to roll out during the shutdown tonight. It's pretty basic, just fixing the Prowess growth algorithm the way it was supposed to be. Can't believe we didn't catch those earlier. That and some sync updates- mostly for visual upgrades- are the only things, but the next patch will be big. New areas, and so on."
"Good. Now... I've got to be in a meeting in fifteen. But I could use a calming few minutes... for your good work."
"My pleasure," Maline said with a grin up at her boss, as his hands slipped through the gap she'd opened for him at last, then leaned back into the chair with a sigh. "Activate door lock."
Alex's eyes hurt as he stepped from the self-driven car into his father's yard, then made his way up the short walk, satchel over his arm feeling strangely light even two hours after being forced to log out of the game and give a verbal report.
Two weeks ago, he'd headed into Pacific for Game Freak's headquarters and logged into Pokémon: Truth and Lies for the first time. This would be his first time back home since then, and things still felt... surreal.
"I'm home," he called, but as expected, the house was empty. His father's car was gone, which meant he was at work, and likely would be for a while. There were no messages on his phone aside from one from Cora, so there was no emergency, and she'd only asked, given that he had planned to come home for the 'weekend', if he had any requests for dinner.
"I should probably reply," Alex laughed, tapping his own wrist-mounted data pad and opening up the messaging app. "Transcribe. Tacos? Pizza? You- no, erase that. Damn game's got me thinking about sex too much. Pizza sounds good. Send message."
After a quick shower in the early afternoon, he returned to his slightly dusty room, glanced at the various consoles and posters and other remnants of his more care-free youth, and dropped onto his bed. He was out in seconds.
He woke, seemingly no time at all later, to a splash of cold water across his face. "What the-"
A familiar woman's voice, laughing, receded as feet danced across his carpeted floor. "Sending me propositions like that will get you in trouble, Alex."
Sitting up, trying in vain to wipe the water from his eyes, Alex didn't see the towel flying at him until it impacted his face. "Thanks," he muttered, annoyed, and used it to clean up the mess.
Cora, of Latinex descent, a half-foot shorter and hundred pounds lighter than him, could probably kick Alex's ass if she wanted to thanks to years of hard-core martial arts training, her only real hobby aside from reading, but the way she leaned against his door-frame, clad in a brilliant white, front-only halter and white denim shorts, with no shoes and only clean white socks that rose to her ankles, made him think she wasn't thinking of violence.
"W- what do you mean?" he gulped suddenly, as images of that one night, now almost five and a half years ago, when they'd been intimate, just a few days after their mothers had both died in the accident that left her father a parapalegic who'd taken his own life a few years later.
She rolled her eyes, "You said you wanted to eat me for dinner. Don't write checks your body can't cash, my friend. I did get pizza- you look like shit. Come eat."
Again, he had to curse the game for feeding him improper thoughts as the bronzed skin of her back, bare even of a bra strap aside from the over-the-neck and waist-straps of the halter, flexed and the white mounds of denim wrapped tightly around her firm ass grabbed his attention first, causing an immediate reaction.
But the rumble in his belly told Alex he had more pressing needs.
He hadn't had real food, after all, in seven days, having declined most of the snacks provided by the company after he'd come out of the system.
And pizza was always good.
It was piping hot still, thanks to the thermal core insulation that came standard in every box now, and Alex groaned as he watched Cora lift a slice and hand it to him, long strings of cheese dripping from it. The greasy, cheesy goodness was heaven in his mouth, even as he had to hiss at the heat of it.
Cora laughed, shaking her head, "They not feed you at this mystery job?"
"They tried," he muttered, mouth full, "but... sorry, wait."
Cora sat at the small dining room table in the modest house his father kept as part of his insistence in leading a 'normal' life, pulling up a disposable plate and setting two pieces of the pizza on it for herself before taking up one more and a bite.
He ended up devouring all but two slices of the remaining large pie before leaning back in his own comfortable chair with a belch, "Thanks, really needed that."
"I can tell. What's the job, anyway? Something worth taking a year off?"
He shrugged, "Can't say, NDAs and all. Testing a game and system, though."
"Game Freak?"
"Can't say," Alex said with a grin and a nod.
"So Pokémon."
"Can't say."
"NDAs," Cora laughed, rolling her dark eyes, "Whatever. Your dad misses you. Said to tell you hi, but he's in Tokyo for some kind of conference."
"Nippon?"
"Yeah, but specifically the Tokyo area. Won't be back till next month, I think he wants to go on a vacation. Imagine that."
"Dad? Vacation? Huh. Never thought I'd see the day," Alex laughed.
Conversation stayed light, mostly centering on news- Atlantic, to the east, had finally started to see a decrease in violent crimes from a long crime-wave that had rocked the Mega-City from its highest echelons to the lowest trenches of the slimiest gutter-gangs, while Hindi Mega-City, in southern Asia, reported a massive plague sweeping through its most densely-populated areas, resulting in a City-wide quarantine, and another for each of the affected districts within it, before turning to Cora's continuing education.
"Anyway, six more credit-hours and I'll be a Master," she said with a tired-looking smile, "one more year."
"Still can't believe you went for astrophysics, of all things."
She shrugged, "We've had this argument. We can't stay on Earth forever."
"I know, and I'm not arguing," Alex said with a roll of his eyes, "but why you?"
"Because," she snapped suddenly, "Maybe I don't want to take care of your father until he wastes away? Maybe I don't want to see the one guy I actually like wasting his life not making something worthwhile? Maybe- Maybe..."
She trailed off, and Alex sat, stunned, as the last piece of pizza, half-eaten, fell from her numb fingers onto her plate. "C- Cora? What do you mean? Did you finally meet a guy? You could've led with that for news."
She snorted, dark eyes looking away, then reached for a napkin to wipe away the moisture before it fell. "Forget it. No, I didn't meet anyone new."
"Okay... then why... that? I mean, you do you. I'm not saying you shouldn't, I just- asked for your motivation."
"Forget it," she repeated, now sending him a glare, but even Alex, poor at judging women as he thought himself, could tell there was no heat behind it. And his father had taught him well, through his mother, that 'forget it' meant anything but that.
That, and one other piece of advice, were the most valuable lessons his father had ever taught Alex, according to his father himself. "Okay, so... if I can't fix it, do you want to talk about it?"
"With you? No," she muttered, folding her arms.
"Why not me? Aren't we friends?"
She said nothing for a long time, until the sky had turned yellow-green, then green-brown, and then black, as it sank behind the cloud of pollution over Pacific Mega-City, then behind the walls of gigantic structures themselves, and the world grew dark. "You remember, when we were kids, you planned on doing things with your family's money? Taking the wealth and... making the world a better place?"
"Y- yeah. Of course I do."
"But you don't," Cora whispered, looking at him for the first time in at least an hour, "because if you did, you'd be racing to take over your dad's business. You wouldn't be... taking a year-long sabbatical to play games. Do you know what that looks like? Your dad says he understands, and maybe he does, but you haven't been here to hear him talk about it. He's bothered by it, a lot. But he won't say anything. You're all he's got left, it's not like he can leave the company to me, and he despises the idea of the Board running it after he dies."
"I... why couldn't he leave the company to you, if not me? You know he thinks of you like family. I do, too. Hell, we could get married if it matters that much- not like I'd keep you from having your own life."
Cora snorted, standing up and sending him a glare down her nose, "And that is the meanest thing you've ever said to me. Good night, Alex. I'm going to bed."
Then she was gone, and her door slammed down the hall a few seconds later.
It was not a 'soft' slam, but one that rattled the old house down to its foundations.
"What the hell did I say...?"
Elle grinned as she slipped the dongle into the port on the top of the line laptop she'd legally purchased with stolen money, and cracked her knuckles in the hotel room across the street from the Game Freak offices. Now for my first real foray into corporate espionage. If it is that. What are you guys hiding...?
The dongle was stolen, as well, from out of the bottom of a laptop that her post-session interviewer had left, and affixed with the Game Freak logo, just like the laptop itself. Likely, the user would have no issues with the building's firewall until or unless they took the device home to work on it outside the building's network area.
The dongle, after all, was a firewall key, the same kind she'd been hacking for years.
This, though, was for a different reason. Because Elle had her own eyes open during her first interview with Maline Greengrass, and her ears, too.
They, despite the many enjoyable (and some terrifying) experiences within the game itself, had been kept open ever since. While her first 'real' larceny had paid for the laptop itself, her hotel room (rather swanky), and the fast-food wrappers that surrounded her on the soft bed, Elle knew it wouldn't last forever. She needed a larger source of income. Something she could live off of if she had to, or better, off the interest. One big score, in other words.
Every thief's dream. Except I've got mine right at my fingertips, and I haven't even gotten started yet. Okay... decrypting...
Her fingers began to fly, almost Hollywood-style, as numbers, then other characters, began to fly across the screen. Her own cracking algorithm did most of the work, of course, but there were still many time-locked numbers, decisions that had to be made, and of course, the ubiquitous 'I am not a robot' scans... despite the dongle, in theory, being hack-proof.
It was only hack-proof if you didn't have the dongle itself, just like people with chips in their credit cards had learned the hard way a century before.
Sure, they were more secure.
But nothing, no system, was foolproof.
And this was Elle Berkman's playground.
"Alright," she whispered, eyes dancing as a smile spread across her youthful face, "Layer one down... standard files. Where's the money going?"
Alex groaned and stretched in the warm bed, pausing only briefly as his hand encountered another warm body, one that jerked, then took hold of his hand by the wrist and raised it up a bit higher to rest on her chest. "Morning, Elle."
"Morning, Alex," she said, smile evident in her tone as she slid a bit closer, then turned to put her own arm over his broad back, "Miss me?"
"Somehow, yes, but I survived," he groaned. "Can I just lay here for a bit? The weekend sucked. Feels nice to be back."
"Sucked? What happened?"
"Nothing," Alex muttered, "don't wanna talk about it. Fought with one of my old friends, that's all."
"Oh. Sorry to hear that. My weekend was pretty damned good. Relaxing, successful even. But I'm glad to be back, too. So... ready for the Gym?"
His eyes flew open, just in time to catch Elle's slender legs as she slipped from the bed and walked out of sight past his feet, then into the bathroom. "I forgot," he grinned himself, pushing off the bed, "We're gonna do it today?"
"That's my plan," she called from the bathroom, the door clearly not shut all the way, "Hurry and shower once I get out. Maybe order breakfast, but don't go pick up our Pokémon yet. May's well save a trip."
"Alright. Any requests?"
"Sausage, eggs, tortillas, and cheese!"
"So... a burrito? Done."
"Two!"
The last was shouted as the water turned on, and Alex smiled. Girl after my own heart, though.
It took two hours for them to finish and get on the road, taking a Machoke-pulled tuk-tuk through the increasingly crowded streets toward the center of the city. Cars and pedestrians, bikes, and other tuk-tuks flew by as the energetic Pokémon ran on and on, but neither Alex nor Elle had much to say in the way of conversation.
Nerves, it seemed, affected them both.
"What- what do you think it'll be like?" Elle asked, "The Gym, I mean? More like the old cartoon, or the new cartoon? Or the games?"
Alex shrugged, "Who knows? I don't-"
"Choo!"
The transport ground to a halt as the sturdy Fighting-Type ahead of them skidded to a standstill, its arm outstretched for a tip with a wide, frog-like smile. "Here you go," Elle said with a grin, "Thanks. Uh... where's the Gym?"
The Machoke pointed, "Cho."
"But it's tiny," she protested. The building was smaller than he expected, for certain, but Alex couldn't argue with the signage.
"Look," he pointed out, "Viridian City Gym. Indigo League Gym. This has to be it."
There were a few cars parked near the large shack, but that was all it was, even if the building looked modern and even well-made, but the parking lot had room for thousands, not the dozen or so it currently held.
"Um... can you take us closer?" Elle grumbled.
The Pokémon chortled, "Op-op," then pointed again at the curb. Something his vehicle could well handle, Alex was sure, but that it was trained not to jump. "Chop!"
Then it was gone, dashing away with a glance at its pager, off to another job. "Okay, so that was cool," he told Elle, "But not the kind of ride-sharing I'm used to."
"No," Elle laughed, "come on, we should get a move on. It's already almost noon!"
He trailed just a step behind to watch the girl's legs and rear move in her own white shorts, this tank-top and jacket pink on the bottom and white to match the shorts on the outer layer, while her shoes were the same comfortable running shoes she'd purchased in Pallet town two weeks earlier. But as much as he enjoyed watching the younger girl walk (even if it was hard to admit to himself still), Alex couldn't contain his excitement, either.
"A fucking Gym. I can't believe we're finally in a VR Pokémon game... and about to take on our first Gym!"
"I know," Elle half-squealed, "It's amazing! Come on, hurry!"
Then she was off, running, and Alex had to run himself to keep up with the girl.
Both were out of breath when they skidded to a halt before the doors, and took a moment to collect themselves, still both laughing, before stepping into the air-conditioned interior.
The building was a single room, as far as Alex could tell, aside from the small corner where a unisex bathroom, barely large enough for a toilet and seat, stood. To their right was a short counter, where a tired-looking, overweight man sat in a low swivel-chair, a newspaper held in his hands, though he looked up and wriggled a black, caterpillar-like mustache as they entered.
On the left, a water fountain, a couch, and a table filled with what looked like old magazines filled most of that side, but in the middle, directly ahead, was a stairway, wide and low, well-lit but low, with carpeted stairs and wood paneling moving down, down into the earth.
"Oi, you two up for the Gym Challenge, eh?"
"Er, yes," Alex said, glancing at the man briefly before looking down the stairs once more. They went quite a long way, far enough that the low ceiling seemed to vanish against the stairs themselves in the distance. "How does that work? We're both, uh, new."
"You pay a hundred dollas for da entry fee," the man gestured at the sign to his right in the cluttered, messy area behind the counter, "an' you go down. You gotta beat some otha' Trainers, then, if you do well enough to pass 'em, you go up against da boss-lady. Beat her, you earn a Badge. Simple as dat."
"Okay," Elle said eagerly, handing the man two hundred-dollar bills from the game, "this is for both of us. What kind of Gym is it?"
"Heh, you'll find out," the overweight man said, grinning, even leering, at Elle for a moment, "don' get all scared, now. Welcome... to the Underground."
"So it's a Ground-Type. Fascinating."
"Viridian's always been a Ground-Type," the man shrugged, "since 'afore anyone I know can remember. 'Is Gym's only been up for a few years, though. Newcomers been coming a lot more lately, I t'ink 'cause of the new League Conference comin' up next yea', but I donno for shure. I only been here... six weeks."
"Alright, well, thanks," Alex said, "Any other rules we should know?"
"Nah. You can use whatever you wan' down there, but the fighters- dem Trainers you'll meet- can't substitute, have limited teams based on yer own levels, and can only use one item per Battle, but they get free heals between. You guys can do whatever. The Boss lady... she's got special rules, you'll hafta ask her."
"Alright, thanks," Elle said, practically bouncing as she took hold of Alex's hand and dragged him toward, then down the stairs.
And they walked, for what felt like twenty minutes, passing alternating, massive portraits of various Gym Leaders from Viridian, not all of which were in Viridian.
The first, a man named Giovanni, with dark hair and a curled mustache, wearing an equally dark suit. A younger man with spiked-up brown hair named Gary, and a host of others for the last hundred years and more, until finally, they stepped out into another low, broad hallway that reminded Alex of nothing so much as an old-school movie theater, back when those were still a thing.
The hallway split into a four-way intersection almost immediately, the lighting still dim and yellow but quite adequate, with yellow and brown-striped wallpaper. The left and right both curved away gently, as if they were in an amphitheater, with concession stands, huge ones, against the far wall, and a line of restrooms set into the nearer walls.
Ahead, behind a cordon, stood a single man, tall, balding, wearing a threadbare suit, next to a sign that read, "Challengers only beyond this point."
The stands were shut down, though one drink machine and one popcorn machine still had their lights on, but the man waved them toward him, instead. "Hi, you two are Challengers, right? 'Cause there ain't an event tonight, and you'd be damned early if there was."
"Yes, we're challengers," Alex repeated, "and we paid upstairs- we were supposed to do that, right?"
"Yep," the man nodded, a grin growing on his face as he spun to a cooler Alex hadn't spotted, and pulled out two water bottles with a familiar brand name. "These are for you- either to refresh yourselves, since it can get stuffy, or your Pokémon if they need healing. Enjoy the Underground. You can go through together, but to advance, each person will have to clear their own Challengers. So do you want to go separately, or...?"
"We'll go together," Elle grinned, grabbing Alex's hand and letting Loki out of his Pokéball for the first time since logging back into the game. For a moment, Alex debated letting Cock out, too, but thought better of it. Poison, he knew, would not be great here. In fact, he'd be better off with Sappy. Or even Lingus. It'll get them some more training, at least.
"Alright, well, good luck. Enjoy."
Beyond the wide, oak doors, the air was cool and dry, and there was no sound of air conditioning or hum of electricity, though occasional dim lights still moved, wires hanging in arcs from either side of the ceiling, down the rough-hewn cavern.
A soft beep caught his attention, and Alex looked up to find a camera staring at him from inches away. He waved a hand at it to shoo it off, "What the-"
"Cease!" a voice, tinny and metallic, rang out, "This Magnemite is programmed to film and record your progress for spectators! Any interference will result in defensive mode activation!"
His hand, having already taken one swing that the camera had narrowly avoided, lowered from where it had been raised to take another. "A Magnemite, huh? I always thought you had... eyes."
"Magnemite is a Steel-Electric Type," Elle reminded him, "So its camera is its eye. I wouldn't have pegged them as floating cameras myself, but it makes sense. Specific training would do it. Come on, let's get going."
As they moved, another pair, three total, of the floating creatures flew down from the dark heights of the entry cave to follow behind and slightly above them. At first, Alex couldn't help but be hyper-aware of them watching he and Elle, but as his fingers twisted on the Pokéball holding his Oddish, and they walked slowly further down still, their silent passage fell away from his attention as another sound came into his awareness.
Water, lots of it, rushing and pounding on rock.
The reason why became clear when the hallway opened up into a cavern, some fifty feet high and twice that wide, with a wide bank of windows the only artificial-looking part about it, aside from two tiki-style torches that flanked either end of a long, narrow stone bridge. To their left, a waterfall poured out from high overhead, out of sight in the darkness, rushing downward to smash into a jumble of rocks fifty feet or so below the bridge, then flow beneath it and out the far end of the cavern beneath the massive bank of windows, most of which were dark.
There were a few faces he could just make out, watching from the lower reaches, though, one of which waved at them before putting their hand down.
"We have watchers," he pointed out with a grin.
"Let 'em," Elle chuckled, head on a swivel as she walked past him out into the room. The moment she stepped out onto the bridge, a figure stepped out from behind a rock on the far side, one they couldn't possibly have seen from this side until they moved out. It was another girl, a few years older and heavy-set but in a more muscular, bulky way than fat, with short brown hair cut in a pixie style, spiked upward. She had three Pokéballs on her belt, one of which she withdrew as she stepped out onto the bridge herself, walking to the middle to meet Elle half-way.
He couldn't hear what they said, but Elle was smiling as she turned and walked a dozen paces back toward him, gave a little wave, then gestured at the faint shimmer he knew to be her still unknown Pokémon.
The girl across the way opened a ball of her own without dropping it- likely it would be lost in the river below if she had- and released a hedgehog-like Pokémon, only without spikes, and with plates of what looked like hardened sand along its back. Something that was familiar from ancient books and cartoons, but one whose name escaped Alex.
Loki began by trying to put the opposing creature to sleep with Hypnosis, but it powered through the beam, dashing forward pell-mell across the bridge, to leap in the air and deliver a wild slash through the misty form, which seemed to dance and waver but suffer no ill effects.
The heavy girl frowned, and said something, a word he couldn't quite make out, but that was followed with a few he could, "-Type, huh? Well... makes sense, but it won't be easy! Sandshrew, use..."
He lost the name of the attack as, from its back, sand began to spray upward, enveloping the area around Loki.
He expected the sand, too, to fall onto the bridge, and most did, but he heard, to the depths of his soul, Loki's shriek of pain, the first sound he'd ever really heard it make.
Elle's cry told him she was just as shocked as he was, but again, she cried, "Use Hypnosis!"
This time, the Sandshrew, if that's what it was, staggered, then fell face-first onto the bridge, one short arm hanging off the side over the river, snoring. Alex forced his hands to relax and himself to stand up straight, his jaw to unclench, as Elle exhaled in relief, loud enough he heard it over the waterfall. "Okay, use Nightshade! Keep using Nightshade, Loki, until it wakes up- then Hypnotize it again!"
He kept expecting the Sandshrew to wake up.
Another blast, he suspected, would be enough, judging by the red of the health bar his status window showed once he thought to open it, but the Sandshrew continued to sleep on despite the nightmares it was clearly having, until finally, it was withdrawn after nearly a minute of sleepy suffering.
The next Pokémon was one that Elle was glad to see, for it was one she recognized, and one she'd even planned for.
Alex was a bit more confused. Sure, there were enough memes, even still, going on about what was 'beneath the surface' of the Mole Pokémon, in the current day and age, but... why was Elle so happy? Even he knew what a Diglett was. Sure, they weren't hardy, especially for Ground types, but they were fast and packed a punch.
That was when he saw Loki disappear in a purple flash, and Gobbler step out onto the bridge.
"Oh. Okay, so she's gonna do it the easy way. Alright, that's fine."
His quick check revealed that the Bellsprout he'd found such pleasure in even had a couple of levels in power over the Diglett, not to mention the partial Type advantage (and disadvantage in return), but Gobbler was pretty quick in its own right.
If it got off the first hit, likely that's all there would be, but the Diglett was unlikely to know a move strong enough to knock it out in turn, given the Grass Type it had, even if the Poison made it vulnerable as well.
Again, he couldn't hear the words, but Alex could have predicted what would happen nine times out of ten. The Diglett charged forward, at breakneck speed across the bridge, burrowing in the rock itself, to pop up and deliver a single long-clawed swipe across Gobbler's mouth.
In turn, Gobbler's leaf-tipped arms shout outward, wrapping around the soft fur and flesh of the mole-like monster, lifting it completely from the hole with a yank.
Huh. Turns out it's a mole. Shock!
The creature kicked and pawed, tried to bite, but it was well and truly Wrapped. Elle grinned, and asked something to her opponent, who scowled, then withdrew, turning her back on Elle, who cheered, ordered her Pokémon to set the other down, then knelt to give it a leafy high-five before skipping past the bridge. On the far side, the girl waved to him, and stood next to the larger girl as he stepped out, too.
His opponent was the same girl, who scowled as she stepped out to meet him. "You with Bubbly back there?"
He nodded, "Yeah, why?"
"Not cool to threaten to toss a Pokémon over the side. Especially a Ground-Type. They don't swim, you know? Had to concede."
"I donno, I can say it's sneaky but it works. Why have the waterfall in the Gym if you don't wanna use it?"
The girl's frown deepened, "Whatever. Ask the Boss, I just work here. You ready to go? I get one item, if I have a chance, but all I'm allowed is a Potion. You are unrestricted for this fight."
"It's cool," Alex grinned, "I'll start with Lingus, here."
The girl grinned, showing several clean teeth as she spotted the white Normal-type, "Alright. Not one I've seen before, this should be fun. I'll start with... my other Diglett!"
"Lingus, use Supersonic!"
The Lickitung's tongue shot out just a few feet, as he'd seen it do before, and begin to vibrate powerful, fast enough to create sound in the range he'd just ordered. Both he and the trainer grimaced, but the Diglet immediately veered off-course, and took a hard left.
That sent it down, off the bridge.
"Shit- Wrap! Wrap! Catch it!"
With beady round eyes shining, Lingus' tongue stopped vibrating, and flew downward, extending supernaturally fast, it seemed.
Because by the time he got the third word out, the Diglet was already surrounded by froth-covered tongue, being lifted upright.
"No threats," Alex said with a grin, "But I think you owe me that win."
"Yeah, yeah," the girl muttered, "Fine, you beat my Diglett. I still have one more before I need to let you pass. Get ready for a real threat- Phanpy!"
There was a flash of blue and brown, and suddenly, Alex wanted to match Elle's squeal.
It was truly adorable. A baby elephant, by all appearances, only a foot or so tall with a stubby snout of a nose maybe five inches long.
"Lingus, Lick."
The tongue slathered across the Pokémon at once, and it seemed to shudder and coo with delight, even giving a short, hooting blast of its nose, before the girl, scowling once again, ordered, "Phanpy, use Rollout!"
Alex was a bit impressed, as the creature curled into a round-ish shape and hurled itself bodily at Lingus, who took the blow like a champ, leaving it to recoil off the Normal-type's soft belly.
"Rollout!"
"Lick-"
The second hit sent Lingus staggering back, and Alex's eyes widened as he watched her health bar turn from high green to yellow, just past half. Shit!
"U- use Supersonic!"
Again, the tongue vibrated, and it seemed to have some effect, but the girl's commanding voice was hard, cold. "Rollout."
The third hit left Lingus reeling, almost teetering from the bridge herself, if Alex hadn't thrown himself forward into a skid on his knees and caught her, hauling the Pokémon up by one arm, then spraying her down with the Potion he already had in hand. "Shit... one more like that..."
"Rollout!"
He hadn't noticed the Phanpy gathering speed and momentum as it went, but he saw it now as it hurtled toward him and Lingus both.
Shit, the Potion's not enough, Lingus is... is gonna pass out, or get fucked up! Shit!
Then, somehow, miraculously, the Phanpy stumbled, and it spun out of control, skidding along the bridge to stop at Lingus' feet.
"Lingus," he said quietly, looking from the Phanpy up to the girl, "Use Wrap."
Almost casually, still wincing in pain and below yellow in health, the Lickitung pushed off of Alex's lap and stood upright, forcing herself to stand as tall as possible, and gently picked up the baby Pokémon, before slamming it down, once, twice, against the bridge.
It let out a pained cry each time, the second louder, and Alex heard something snap.
"Alright, alright!" the girl across the bridge called, "You win! Leave him alone!"
"Drop him- gently," Alex ordered, pushing himself to his feet with a grimace. He'd shredded the knees on his jeans, and no doubt, was bloody at the knee too, on at least his left leg.
In fact... Yeah, I can feel blood running down. Great.
"Go on," the girl muttered, gesturing for the hallway behind her, as he reached the far side of the bridge, Lingus still limping behind him, "You've both got two more challenges before the Boss."
Their next challenge wasn't far off. In a simple, dome-shaped room maybe thirty feet beyond, an older gentleman with a cane and a middle-aged woman each had a single Pokéball in hand. "Challenge two," the dark-skinned woman said with a kind smile, "Whichever one of you wishes to go first can choose your opponent between me and my partner. Both of us use Rock-Ground Pokémon primarily, and we are roughly equivalent in skill. The other will face the remaining opponent, whether the first is victorious or not."
"I'll take the guy," Elle said quickly, "And I wanna go first. Give you a chance to rest, Alex."
"Appreciate it," he grimaced, leaning against the wall next to the door and reaching for another two cans of spray medicine, one for him and one for Lingus. He'd already watched Elle treat the 'wounds' of her mysterious Starter, and Gobbler hadn't received more than a tiny scratch, easily remedied when it needed to be.
The older man stepped forward, "You'll find you might have made a mistake, young lady. You see, I'm fairly certain I'm the third strongest Trainer in the Gym, even though I only have one favored Pokémon. Geodude, come out and play."
Alex watched, again, as Elle started with Loki, who tried twice to Hypnotize the Rock-Ground type, unsuccessfully, before she was forced to pull him back. But she didn't send out Bellsprout. Instead, he watched with surprise as a tiny sea-horse, just eight inches or so long appeared, falling to land on a very springy, arcing tail before her. "Squirt, use Bubble!"
He also wouldn't have expected the small stream of liquid projectiles- literally miniature bullets of water- to have such an effect, but as the six or seven droplets burst, the boulder-like Geodude gave a roar of pain, slamming both rocky fists into the ground. And the ground beneath it shook, sending tremors and ripples that Alex felt in his feet.
The Gentleman only grinned, "Magnitude is sometimes powerful, sometimes not. This time, it seems your Water-Type got lucky. Next time..."
Indeed, despite that it was balancing on its stubby blue tail, the bucking ground juggled the Horsea into the air, causing it to land on its face and side, while several stones had fallen from the ceiling above, crashing down around them. One had battered it... but even though it was just above the red, it was still 'standing'.
"Use Bubble again, Squirt!"
The Geodude groaned, but the older man reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a can of his own. "Potion for me, this is my one use."
"B- no," Elle shook her head wildly, looking almost panicked, "No, it's too much. Come back, Squirt. Uh... u-"
"Calm down," Alex urged her, "You've got this. Keep your cool. Sure, it's tough, and that hit hurt, but you had it on the ropes, too. Double Type weakness."
"Th- that's right," Elle grinned, "in fact, I can do one better. I'll use... Athena!"
The round owl Pokémon appeared, seeming confused by the cave at first, though it shot a red-eyed glare at the Geodude before it all the same.
"A Flying-Type? Strong against Ground, of course... but did you forget the Rock Type that we both use?"
Elle smirked at the old man's question, though it faltered a bit as he ordered, "Rock Throw."
The round, apparently fat, bird was a bit more agile than it appeared, however, and the Hoothoot threw itself to the side at the last moment, the rock missing it by inches. "No... just praying for a bit of luck like that. Hypnosis!"
This time, the move worked, and the Geodude's dark eyes fluttered, then ground closed as its fists sank to the earth at their feet, lowering the body to the ground with a thud.
"Now, Confusion! Use Confusion again! Confusion!"
Alex watched in shock as the Geodude grimaced, then literally, still asleep, punched itself in the head again and again.
Finally, the older gentleman withdrew the Pokémon, "Alright, lass, you've won. Well done. Now, my young friend, you get to fight against dear Lizzy."
"Hah... and I'll enjoy it, I'm sure, Alphonse," the middle-aged woman said, eyeing Alex calmly as she sent Elle a wink, "Your Pokémon are well-trained, young lady, though I can tell you're just starting out. How about you though, kiddo? Are yours as good? Let's find out... as you fight my Larvitar!"
Alex, mid-throw, paused, then slowly withdrew his hand. Her Larvitar was a deeper gray than green, like his, but... "Spike," he called out, as his own appeared from another ball than he'd been intending.
The woman smiled, "Ah... and a fitting nickname. Well, I'll give you the first move, as you're the challenger."
"Your mistake," Alex chuckled, "Screech- shatter that armor!"
The woman scowled, then repeated his command.
Both did the same twice more, and after just a few more seconds, the rocky shells of both Larvitar were flaking and cracking, falling away in pieces.
But Alex had the faster Pokémon, and knew his plan better, even if the woman seemed to have figured it out from move one. "Now, Spike, Bite her ass!"
The jaws widened.
But they closed on nothing.
The woman had withdrawn her Pokémon early with a grimace, "I have to confess, I was hoping for a more cinematic match-up, but you clearly know your Pokémon's strengths well, and I would rather not have to train a new Larvitar for my place at the Gym. You'd likely have killed her. You win, kiddo."
"Thanks, uh... Lizzy?"
"Eliza, but you may call me Lizzy," the dark-skinned woman said with a mournful little smile, "One more challenge for each of you remains, then the Boss. Good luck."
They had just turned the corner, leaving the older pair of Trainers just out of sight, when Elle turned quickly, throwing her arms around Alex's neck, and leaned up on her toes to kiss him again. He froze for a moment, before his hands instinctively found her waist and he began to kiss back. For a moment, their tongues danced, but she pulled away a half-inch, taking his tongue's tip between her lips for a moment, then let it go with a soft pop, "Damn... watching you take that lady out was hot. I mean... sure, you didn't have to fight, but your confidence... you knew what you were doing the whole time, right? It didn't throw you off at all having the same Pokémon?"
"No," Alex admitted, giving the younger girl a daring squeeze on both ass-cheeks, then pulling her a bit into him just so she could feel- he both hoped and feared- the reaction she'd caused in that brief, heated kiss. "I mean, I knew she'd have a Rock-Ground, not a straight Ground-Type, so I was planning on removing its biggest advantage early. Or at least, weakening it. Once I saw it was the same thing, I just figured it'd work better if I had the initiative, and she gave it to me willingly. The whole ten-second round thing in Trainer battles is... well, it can be abused, but since my Larvitar was a level higher, I thought it'd be reliably faster when it came down to it, too."
"And you were right. Damn... I can't believe I actually got turned on by watching you Battle. Come on, let's get the last round out of the way... I wanna see the Boss people keep talking about! I'm so excited!"
He let her tug him along for another half-dozen paces as the cave turned further to the left, another forty-or so degree turn to match the last, then began a gentle curve as it dropped more steeply downward, about the grade of a wheelchair ramp, and a set of mine-cart tracks began appearing intermittently through the rock and gravel they walked down.
Then the last chamber opened up, and they stopped, surrounded by darkness, as the last few dim light-bulbs overhead stretched far to the left and right both, high enough Elle might not have been able to reach with outstretched fingers on her toes, another six bulbs, then stopped, revealing only a wide open space.
A space that echoed slowly, faintly, giving a hint as to its true size.
Then a firm, ringing, strangely familiar female voice rang out, "Spectators, visitors, fellow Trainers... your Boss has a present for you!"
There was a faint scattering sound of distant applause from the left and right, which died out quickly before the same voice, probably broadcast over a speaker system, called out again, "Two Challengers, here for the final trial before facing your Boss! Should we watch 'em squirm?"
The cheering was still sparse, but louder still.
A moment later, the lights came on, bright and from high overhead, revealing an underground cavern hundreds and hundreds of feet across, dome-shaped, and equally high, with a ring of bright spotlights that lit the entire space and kept shadows to a minimum.
But that wasn't all the pair saw.
On the far end, a raised battle dais, just visible because it was slightly below their own platform, where a ring of benches surrounded a clear League-standard ring ten times the size of the practice rings they had seen in the park south of Viridian City, covered in sand and littered with hard stones. A foot rested on one of those stones, where a shadowed figure, in the single unlit spot in the entire cavern, seemed to hold an old-fashioned microphone. Out of the shadows in the pillar, a hand gestured out over the lower floor between the dais she- he guessed it was the speaker- stood upon, and where they were.
"Pick your route, Challengers- you can double up if you wish, but you have to use one of the three to reach me. It's your choice which you use, and each has their own perils. After you reach me, you'll have five minutes to rest if you need it, and then our Battle will begin- the Battle that could earn you the Underneath Badge!"
Again, there was cheering, more and louder, pulling Alex's attention upward, where a few rows of stadium-style seating were arrayed, flanking the 'Challenge' portion of the room. Only the bottom few benches had anyone on them at all, fewer than two dozen total, but he was glad to see someone watching, and the clothing on at least a few indicated they were from Earth, too, not the game. "Actual Trainers," he pointed out to Elle, who was staring down at the bowl instead, "Players. Not a lot, maybe six I can see, but people are actually watching this. And of course, it's being recorded."
There were, now that he looked, another two dozen Magnemite floating in lazy circles around the outside of the ring, and a few more going back and forth in small circuits above it.
"Fun," she smiled, giving the crowd a jaunty wave and hopping on her feet a bit. "Which one are you gonna do?"
"I don't know," he said quietly, only then turning his attention to the trials ahead.
At the far end, a single staircase, wide and easy, was carved of stone that lead from the 'finish area' up to the raised Battle dais, and each of the routes lead to that same area. But there were three stairs on their side leading down, two on either side of the walkway they stood on, which moved across about a third of the large space before ending, and a third staircase, narrower, was in the middle.
It was that Challenge that first caught Alex's eye, both because it was straightforward, and probably the most dangerous.
Three paths, moving in mostly a zig-zag, moved almost to the far side, then back, and to the far end again before exiting, framed by high walls at least ten feet up, mostly straight but with irregular holes or offshoots that gave a Challenger space to get out of the way.
That was important, because in each of the longer sections, Pokémon rolled at high speeds from one end to the other, moving up half-pipe style ramps, then turning back to go the other direction. "Graveller," Elle exhaled, looking down at her Pokédex Screen, "Evolved from Geodude, they're probably much more dangerous. They weigh... damn, an average of two hundred and thirty pounds or more. There's two in the first passage, three in the second, and three in the third, but there's also a Donphan in the third, and it's even heavier- I think maybe the evolved form of Phanpy."
"That sounds tough, then," Alex muttered, "but also straightforward. I assume you don't have to fight the Pokémon if they run into you- they probably just squish you flat."
"That's right, Challengers," the female voice rang out, proving they were listening to everything they said, her tone sing-song and clearly delighted by their discussion, "Our Graveller and Donphan don't take kindly to trespassers in the route, but they only know one move- Rollout! And they've been rolling for a long time, if you get my drift. Good luck if you go that way- don't die! Our Gym is not responsible for your foolish decisions or lack of speed!"
"Can they get away with that?" Alex muttered, "That'd likely kill someone."
"That's the point," Elle reminded him, "It's a Challenge, and the game is supposed to be realistic. Besides... it's her Gym, I think she can do whatever the fuck she wants."
"Both true," the voice laughed over the P.A. "Anytime you wanna pick a route..."
Alex shook his head. The left side seemed a bit easier, if more convoluted, a maze of bricks, ten feet or so on a side, stacked in various columns with hand- and foot-holds carved into or sticking out of them. "I'd say the rock-climbing maze would be easier," he said, "but look, there's Pokémon jumping and climbing around in there, too, and I'm sure you'd have to fight those if you meet one- and they look like Graveler, too."
Elle grinned, "Yeah, but the right one... that's all sand, look at it. Just a straight run past the rocks."
"Except the Pokémon hiding beneath the sand," Alex pointed out, "it's a Ground Gym. There's lots of burrowers, I'm sure.
"Will you look at that," the Gym Leader's voice called, "two Challengers who can think before they act! Wonders never cease- some of you Challengers who tried to get through in the last few days and are stuck on the benches now could learn a thing or two! But what's it going to be, huh? We haven't got all day... well, we do, but this is booorrring! Pick one and go! Oh... and don't die!"
"I'm gonna take the sand," Elle muttered.
The moment she said it, a loud thump of drums rang out, followed by a swell of a heavy beat, and a softer tune, mostly drowned by the thumping, that seemed to be formed by, not instruments, but the ring of hammers and picks against stone, blasted through the arena.
Elle squared her shoulders, grinning again, and moved to the right.
"Good luck," Alex called, stepping forward to the edge to get a better view as she moved off.
He lost sight of the girl for a few seconds as her blonde hair dipped below the platform, but she came into view a moment later, striding cautiously across the sand on a straight line toward the far stairs, where only the small pond of an oasis stood between her and victory.
Then the sand began to blur beneath her feet, "Elle, look out!"
She froze mid-step, and the sand erupted around her, blasting upward in a column thirty or more feet high. He heard a high-pitched scream, and started running.