Julius let out a sigh of satisfaction as he finished setting up his campsite underneath a tree. The trip to Cortondo was about three days on foot, of which he was on his second. Overhead, Corviknights soared through the air, quickly ferrying travelers to their destination. On the roads separated by thick concrete barriers and fences were Copperajahs ferrying goods towards and away from Mesagoza.
Since the Treasure Hunt was well known in Paldea, there were outdoor rest stops for trainers setup along the way, maintained throughout the year. Also, some trainers traveled in groups and frequently documented their travels on social media, naturally giving rise to more touristic focused rest stops.
Julius had eschewed either one, preferring to be on his lonesome as he moved faster. His athleticism as well as the fact Miraidon had happily trodded along beside him, a cooler and travel pack strapped to the purple Pokemon rather than being carried by Julius himself.
"Giya…"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm working on it."
Miraidon nudged him as soon as Julius took the cooler off of Miraidon, setting it down. At the very least, Miraidon seemed more than happy to leave the individual ingredients alone. It would (im)patiently wait for him to make sandwiches, so at least he didn't have to discipline Miraidon that much.
With spring leading into summer, he didn't feel a need for a campfire. That, and he feared if Miraidon were to experience toasted sandwiches on the road, it would become the new norm.
After his dinner, he packed his things and laid down, Miraidon curling up next to him. Fuecoco and Pawmi also released themselves, taking shelter around them. It doubled as a good night watch, as Fuecoco's fire and smoke would rouse him and Pawmi was… loud, when she got into a fight.
The following day, he passed by another rest stop. Having seen the money from Cassiopeia flooding in, he took the time to buy some held items for Pokemon. Nothing major, as their selection hadn't been amazing, and the Pokemon Centers proper in Cortondo would have a bigger catalog he could order from.
He was making good time, he thought, passed only by those riding on Cyclizars.
Eventually the rolling brown grasses turned into fertile, fenced off fields full of life. Vineyards as far as he could see, with rustic wooden signs pointing him towards the town of Cortondo. The vineyards gave way to more developed areas, but not like the paved roads of Mesagoza. He stuck to the sidewalks that bordered the dirt roads where small trucks or larger Pokemon helped heave the ongoing harvest and bikers on old pedaling bikes rode in from the residential areas he could spy in the distance. Some simple waist-high stone walls separated a few battle courts and public gathering areas. It only served to make the sleek, white modern walls and floor to ceiling glass panes of the gym building all the more uncanny.
At least it wasn't hard to find. He thought, but the building looked more like an office rather than a gym like in Kanto. And based on its size, there was no way they could have a battle inside of it. But with plenty of other travelers coming in behind him, he decided to get organizing the Gym Battle out of the way first.
The inside was just as modernized as the outside, where he found out there was a "gym trial" of sorts. Nemona hadn't told him about it, probably for a good reason, but they told him to come back the following day as he might need the rest. Since he was already tired from the three days of travel, he retired to the Pokemon Center. There, the nurses asked if he was going to be staying in Cortondo for some time and if he was here as part of his Treasure Hunt, and after he told them he was as well as providing his student ID, checked him into one of the hostels in the area. The League had it down to a science, offering subsidies and incentives for locals to take in students, preventing the need for massive hoteling structures to go up that wouldn't be filled up to capacity a majority of the time.
Utilizing his time wisely, he used even more of Cassiopeia's funds to buy a handful of TMs. While they had warned him not to spend all of it at once, he had barely spent forty thousand over two days. That didn't qualify as 'all at once', he thought.
Either way, the moves he taught his Pokemon would help close the gap. While traveling alone got him there faster, since he didn't run into many others along the way, he hadn't had the chance to train aside from the wild Pokemon that would venture too close. And most of them had been scared off by the mere appearance of Miraidon, so he wasn't getting in as much training as he should. Plus, he had his own reasons for not expanding his team.
The next morning, as instructed, he reported to the gym office.
The trial had been… strange, as it was explained to him. Take an olive—a single olive, at that—up the mountain slope, towards the historical district of Cortondo.
An olive? Seriously? Just one olive? They come in jars, don't they? Julius thought as he was led outside. Just how hard could transporting an olive be?
"HaaaAAAAH!"
Julius let out a long groan after confirming the olive would no longer roll down the slope.
The olive he had to push easily stood at five meters tall, towering over him. In the Paldean heat, he was drenched in sweat, having taken off his school uniform's shirt. At the moment, he was rocking just his white undershirt.
Having to fend off the bug Pokemon that seemingly were attracted to the olive's scent didn't help either. Fuecoco was getting plenty of work setting them all ablaze, becoming better at tracking moving targets. At the same time, it had put Pawmi's endurance to the test as well as Nymble's as they dealt with the crowds. On the other hand, Wooper had an easier time, as he was testing out his secret weapon from a TM he stumbled on in the shops.
"Giya!"
Miraidon walked over, cooler on its back. Opening it, Julius downed yet another water bottle, bringing him to four left. Based on his estimation when he got to the bottom of the winding mountain slope, he was about sixty percent of the way there. However, it seemed to only get steeper from here on out.
Unfortunately, with his team being as small as they were, they couldn't help much in pushing the olive up. Miraidon probably could, but in his head, it felt like cheating to use Miraidon as he was only watching over him rather than properly being his trainer. At the very least, Miraidon did alert him about potholes and bumps in the road.
"...still, it's a gorgeous view."
He looked down from the mountains, seeing the vineyards of Cortondo sprawling out, an oasis of green in the otherwise brown landscape. He could see farmers in the field, toiling away under the sun and the heat. Kids running in the pathways between vineyards, too. And while lots of kids in Mesagoza had Cyclizars, there were plenty of children out and about in Cortondo using physical bikes, pedaling up and down the hills. A bit of him was mildly jealous, since physical bikes were something of a luxury item in Kanto with how expensive they were.
There was also some standalone building that had a crowd or some kind of line outside of it. He hadn't quite gotten the chance to explore the city, but he did hear about a popular restaurant, so that might be what the locals were talking about. If that was the restaurant, it was surprisingly packed for noon on a weekday.
Looking further, he saw in the battle pitches that three Pokemon battles were going on. Each one had a handful of observers, likely locals intermingling with the travelers of the Academy. It was an idyllic farming life, the kind one might want to retire to, or for the kid who grew up in it, would look to escape as they dreamed of the big city. With Mesagoza being close enough to easily visit, but far enough away where you couldn't do so on a whim, there had to be kids out here who longed for the hustle and bustle of the city.
He wasn't sure if mom had ever been here, but if he caught some time, he'd charter a Flying Taxi to fly them here. He was sure she'd like it.
"Man though, I'm going to be so tanned by the time this is all over…"
Speaking of tan, he thought about Nemona, who certainly would have gone through this trial, too. What was the weather like that day? Maybe it was cloudy for her. But even so, if she had to push an olive this big, even with her surprising strength it would have been quite the ordeal and she surely would have been sweating as much as he was right now.
Come to think of it, she does always wear a white shirt…
His thoughts strayed to Nemona pushing the olive up, covered in sweat, with her white shirt clinging to her skin, obviously transpa—
"Miii!?"
Pawmi shouted as the sound of Julius slapping himself echoed out.
"I'm fine."
Steady now. Don't… think those thoughts.
Mentally chiding himself, he decided the easiest way to banish such… impure thoughts was to sweat them away.
Still, what an ordeal this ended up being. Nemona owed him a milkshake for convincing him to take on the League Challenge. If this was the trial for the first one, what were the others going to be?
Regardless, he pushed on. Occasionally he had to check behind him as Miraidon seemed to be zoning out, watching Julius from behind. It seemed transfixed by his effort, as he held up the olive while commanding Fuecoco and his other team members when they were engaged by swarms of Bug types.
"Haa…"
"Giyayo."
"Hm?"
Julius paused, seeing Miraidon push up on the olive. It wasn't pushing upward, but it was helping keep it steady. Moving onward would still be up to him.
"Oh… thanks, Miraidon."
He wondered where the sudden gesture had come from, but maybe Miraidon could see he was starting to feel like he was at the end of his rope. It did make him wonder why Clavell asked him to keep an eye on Miraidon's aggression. He seemed like such a caring and gentle soul. Here Miraidon was, cooperating and helping. Even if he had just been watching from behind for the past hour or so.
Eventually, he reached another flat area. He walked the rest of the path, finding it to be the last slope. However, that didn't mean it was any easier. A solid ten minute brisk walk at about a fifteen degree slope.
"Wish I had brought some preworkout." Julius complained before taking a few breaths to mentally center himself.
"Giya?"
"Fue?"
"I got this. I guess man's gotta do things himself sometimes."
His team watched from the side, giving emotional cheers as he began the odyssey.
The part of him that questioned why the hell he was doing this only grew louder as his arms burned, his core ached, and the soreness of his legs grew. Every step begged the question about why he was going so far. After all, this wasn't him. Julius Merida was fine coasting in life. He'd stick his neck out on occasion if it personally dealt with him, maybe. But even if he recently had a few changes in his life, was it worth this? Did he need to clear the League Challenge for Nemona? It wasn't like he couldn't train and get stronger to keep fighting her. Besides, wasn't it getting stale lately, too? The same old four against the same old two, the same strategies, and the same outcomes.
"Giya!"
"Miii!"
Miraidon and Pawmi let out a yell as Julius' footing slipped. The olive rolled to the side ever so slightly, but Julius moved in time and pushed back, grinding its movement to a halt.
"...I'm fine."
That's right, it sure as hell is stale.
But so was training. Pumping iron on the free weights, doing exercises like walking lunges, not doing his favorite exercise every day to avoid straining the muscle, and practicing single strikes like a jab or a cross, was plenty tedious. There were always days it wasn't fun or days it was outright mindnumbingly boring.
But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop.
Besides, who the hell gave up just because things were boring or hard? He would've failed school with that mindset.
Or, more doubtfully so, did what lay ahead of the boring and tedious part excite him?
Maybe I… haven't given up on that kind of life just yet.
"Ahhh, geez!"
Forced to make that mental concession, Julius let out a cry of frustration even as he kept pushing.
"That girl has gotten me in so much damn trouble!"
Giving up was a choice he could make, but when he thought about that day she took his hand, somehow he felt like it really wasn't a choice. But even if he complained…
…he was still walking forward, wasn't he?
With a loud war cry, he found his resolve to push onwards. The green olive turned and turned and turned, slowly being rolled up the hill. One step at a time.
At the very top, dirt paths gave way to flat paved roads. Confirming it wouldn't roll down, Julius slowly collapsed onto his knees, adrenaline flushing from his system. His entire team came to check on him, but he slowly waved them off as he forced himself to stand. "It took everything we had, but we came out on top", was the kind of smile he had on.
A low whistle caught his attention and when he looked over for the source, an older man in his sixties dressed in a short-sleeved plaid shirt and cargo pants was giving the olive an up and down look.
"That's an impressive olive, sonny. I haven't seen someone tasked to roll one up this big since two years ago!"
Guess that was Nemona.
"So, is this a pass?"
The older man laughed. "Of course. But are you… alone?"
"Yeah?"
He chuckled. "Well, it isn't against the rules, but usually for this size you could get help."
The older man tossed out two Pokeballs, sending out a Breloom and an Ursaring that began to push the olive.
"Follow me for a little while, lad."
Julius nodded, walking with the older man through the town. It was a smaller version of Cortondo, with only a handful of families compared to the hustle and bustle of down below. There were larger houses, almost like mansions, even, but he could tell some of these buildings were for processing something.
"How was the climb?"
"Painful."
"Hoh! I bet it was. But the burden can be lightened with many hands and Pokemon, like a swarm. You must've gone past them without seeing them or perhaps they were fine letting you try by yourself, but Miss Katy has trainers there that if you defeat them, they'll help push the olive with you, just as we used to do."
"Used to, sir?"
"Oh, sir, that's quite formal, hohhoh. In Cortondo's founding, the fertile land and the processing of olives were done in two separate places to make use of as much of its limited fertile land. The mountain area here was deemed better as a site for construction as its goods natively flow outbound to the ports of Porto Marinada through Cascarrafa for export and the pollution would be less likely to affect the fields below due to the lack of proximity. Granted, with many advances in technology, this old olive run isn't necessary anymore. Not unless you want traditional, family made Cristal Olive Oil."
The old man continued to walk him through the area, where an old stone building that looked like a factory stood. It was clearly well maintained, as despite the apparent age and rustic appearance, there was no sign of decay. Told to wait outside, Julius looked around, thinking about how even a simple town had such a complex history to it. With Mesagoza as sprawling as it was, with its own historical district, he couldn't help but wonder how it fit into Paldea's history.
Huh. I kind of regret skipping the history elective.
"Here, lad." The old man said, returning. "This should be presented to Miss Katy as proof of your conquering the gym trial."
Julius looked down, though he didn't need to as he recognized the pale green bottle as being signature of the Cristal Olive Oil brand. Though this one in particular had a light green ribbon wrapped around it in a bow, likely used as a differentiator.
"...do I get to keep it after I show it to her?"
"Haha, it's all yours, yes."
"Hm. Do you guys take orders from here? I'd give it to my mom afterwards, but it's a long way back unless I get a Flying Taxi."
The old man chuckled. "Haha, I see. Well, with the olive you rolled up, I don't see why not. A full crate, free of charge, lad."
"Oh. A single bottle's just fine."
"Don't worry about it!"
"Thank you, sir."
After exchanging information, Julius tucked the bottle into his cooler and prepared for the walk down.
"Giya!"
"Hm?"
Miraidon closed its eyes, seemingly thinking hard on something. After nodding to itself, it visibly shut it eyes to the point Julius could tell it was forcing them shut before—
What the hell?
He couldn't admit he was all that surprised as Miraidon did look like a Cyclizar. However, the fact Miraidon only transformed, but his horns were like handlebars and the wheels were made of purple and yellow energy was something he was not expecting.
"Giyayo!"
"O-oh… well, uh… don't mind if I do?" He forced out, clearly understanding that Miraidon wanted him to ride him, but still only halfway through processing what he just saw.
Crap, I got my license in case I did want to rent out a Cyclizar for travel, but does this even count? …whatever, I'm sure Director Clavell can get me a pass.
…right?
"It was how big!?"
Katy put her hands on her hips and gave Nemona a stern, motherly look of disapproval from across the bar counter as Nemona ate a pancake.
"Nemona, a young lady should not be yelling such things out loud."
There was an audible pause as Nemona swallowed.
"Huh? Why not?"
Katy let out a long sigh as she placed a glass of orange juice in front of Nemona.
"It was larger than the olive you were given."
"Wait, really? I thought the one you gave me was huge…"
"We adjust them for the challenger, taking into account things like age, physical condition, and whatnot, so the trial is best for them." Katy giggled. "Like the young ones, sometimes we just give them a single olive in a jar and send them on their way. You and Julius are the odd ones out."
After a brief pause, Nemona hung her head slightly. "...um, does Julius know about getting help?"
Katy raised an eyebrow as Nemona's disposition suddenly became subdued, and if she was willing to go out on a limb, just a bit scared.
"It's just… I was able to rely on Tauros. I know Julius' team and he doesn't have anything like that on his team. So with such an impossible task…"
Would he give up, was the unasked question as Nemona fell silent.
Katy put on a smile as she waved to another group of customers that entered the restaurant. But before she could reply, the phone rang.
"...Hello, hello? Oh… already? Really? Oh my. And you say that was about thirty minutes ago? I see… no, no, thank you for letting me know."
Katy's smile widened as she hung up. "Oh, Nemona."
"Hm?"
"If you're so worried, why don't you go wait outside by the start of the trial? It seems your friend is coming back down the mountain. I'll save your seat."
Nemona blinked a few times before Katy shooed her out of her seat. Shrugging, she got up and went outside, heading to the outskirts of town.
Narrowing her eyes to look further in the distance, she found a familiar purple Pokemon fast approaching, seemingly carrying Julius on its back. He came to a hard stop by the bike stop, stretching his arms and opening a cooler, where a familiar light green bottle was taken out. At seeing the bottle, her lips naturally turned up a smile, and she was so focused on it she didn't even notice that Miraidon transformed back into its usual legged form, with Julius muttering a "wow, you are full of surprises" as they walked towards the town.
"Juli…!"
Her eyes and brain caught up as she realized Julius was absolutely drenched in sweat. In fact, he wasn't even wearing a shirt; instead, a white undershirt—likely the one he wore underneath his uniform, was draped around his neck like a towel.
All of the comments from her female classmates about Julius' physique rushed through her head. They certainly hadn't been wrong. And with his… robust constitution, it was no wonder he was so confident about the stunt he pulled on the cliffs the day they met.
Wait, is this why the swimming club girls kept bugging me to ask Julius to at least try swimming club when I told them that story? The loose sleeves of his uniform hide it pretty well, but he's… well, he's—
"It's rude to stare."
Katy's voice being whispered in her ear caused Nemona to jump. At her reaction, Katy giggled before straightening up as Julius approached.
"I believe you have something for me, Challenger Julius?"
He held out the green bottle of olive oil with the ribbon on it. "This should be it, right?"
"Mhm. Now, I imagine you must be exhausted. So, we will have our battle in three days. Will ten in the morning work for you?"
"Fine with me, ma'am."
"Oh, so polite." She reached into her waist pouch and pulled out a small bag of cookies. "Also, she was embarrassed to hand them over, but this is a bag of cookies that Nemona made for you while you were doing the trial."
Nemona blinked twice before tilting her head in confusion. "Huh? No, I didn't make those. What are you talking about, Miss Katy?"
Julius looked to Nemona before shrugging. "Well, whoever made them, it's appreciated, Miss Katy, but I think right now I would use some cold water and electrolyte powder."
Katy let out an audibly disappointed sign, but pushed the cookies onto Julius anyways. "I see. Well, I will see you then, or perhaps earlier if you decide to visit the Patisserie Soapberry. Come now, Nemona, your friend certainly would like a shower, and your food is going to get cold otherwise. But again, congratulations, Julius, and best of luck in our battle."
"You're here pretty fast. Thought you were going to have Student Council work, but I do appreciate the company." Julius commented as they ate dinner at one of the smaller family restaurants of Cortondo.
"Uh, I definitely wasn't putting off my work and closely following to make sure you came here?"
Julius' fork stopped twirling in his spaghetti. He looked up at Nemona with a bewildered expression.
"I really hope you're joking because if so, you really need to work on your delivery."
Nemona cleared her throat, quickly backpedaling. "I mean, ah, I did come to check on your progress! And you know, cheer you on! It's your first Gym Battle and gym trial ever, right!?"
Julius paused before nodding. "Oh. Well… thanks. Though hey, if you knew I was coming here, you couldn't have told me about the trial?"
Putting her hands together, she offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but it's sort of an honor code thing with trainers not to spoil what the trials are. I'm still not sure what the purpose of them is sometimes, though."
Nemona's expression suddenly fell, with Julius frowning.
"It wasn't… too bad, was it?"
"Hm? Well, it wasn't a fun surprise, I can say that much. But it's not like I'll stop just because of it." He paused for a second before asking what was on his mind. "Did you push it by yourself?"
Her expression suddenly shifted into one of shock. "Huh? No way, I'm not crazy like you! I can't believe Miss Katy gave you an olive that big, too!"
"Then how'd you do it?"
"Tauros pushed it up for me and we just ran up the whole way."
Julius thought about it for a few moments, wondering if Nemona had seen the landscape of Cortondo from the mountains. If she had talked to the old man. If she even really knew how expensive Cristal Olive Oil was. Even if it had been only for a moment, he felt at peace up there, and despite being away from Paldea for years, he felt like he understood his homeland a little more.
"Huh. Well, I guess that checks out."
"Still… are you feeling ready?"
"I guess? I've done training, I tried some of those strategies we talked about, thought about held items and moves and uh… I guess we'll see. It's like stepping into the ring for the first time for a fight. I've done everything I can to prepare, so it's just a matter of finding out if it was enough."
Nemona let out a chuckle. "Not nervous at all?"
"It'd be a lie to say I'm not at least a bit nervous. I guess maybe anxious is a better word? It'd be nice to write home about a victory, so I keep trying to envision one. What's the policy on rematches?"
"If you don't, they usually give you about three days or so for the next. It depends on how busy they are. Katy is the first gym leader, so she might be pretty busy and you might need to wait a week. But if that happens, we'll do an intense training camp and then a rest day."
Julius managed to suppress a chuckle. "Let me guess: if I win, it'll be a reward training boot camp?"
Nemona smiled in reply, causing Julius to roll his eyes. "Oh, but don't forget to use your Pokedex app if you need to find a typing, in case Katy brings something with a dual type."
"That's allowed?"
"Yep. But Bug types move pretty fast, so getting a window to do so is harder."
"Hmm. Right, thanks for letting me know."
With dinner wrapping up, Julius returned to his room and began finalizing his plans. Even if he had an easier time due to Cassiopeia funding him, as he didn't know how difficult a first badge battle was supposed to be and Nemona wasn't exactly an accurate measurement, he was taking it fairly seriously. With everything Nemona taught him, he should have a fighting chance.
Soon enough, it was the morning of the battle. He woke up earlier than usual, doing his usual workout for the day. With his battle scheduled for ten in the morning, he had enough time to eat a lighter breakfast and have some time for his stomach to process it, making sure nerves and anxiety wouldn't induce a feeling of nausea.
Nemona had come down to get him and brought him to the gym building, where she went on ahead to the arena even if she didn't tell him where it was. Once it was confirmed he was all set, the aides escorted him out to the building which was incredibly busy from up on high. It seemed to be a cafe—that is, Patisserie Soapberry, that Katy had mentioned. He hadn't visited yet as he was preparing for the gym battle, and with brunch time in full swing, it was packed to the brim.
Brought upstairs, which had its own seating arrangements, he found what seemed to be an arena with metal waist high rails around a circular perimeter. One of the aides opened up a gate, allowing Julius to step in, taking his place on his side of the pitch to face Katy, who was already on her side of the pitch, and a referee seated on the sidelines.
"What an interesting Trainer you are." Katy said as the gate closed behind him, resting her right elbow on her left hand. "It's not often we have someone do the historic olive roll by themselves like that. It was quite impressive."
Julius forced a smile. "Would've been nice to know the rules beforehand."
She chuckled, putting her hands together at chest level. "It never hurts to ask around. Still, while we met before, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Katy, the owner here of Patisserie Soapberry. But you know me better as the Gym Leader of Cortondo Town, or as some call me, The Lovebug."
"Julius Merida, just a normal kid."
"Hehehe, is that so? Bug-type Pokemon, Normal-type Pokemon… both can be very unassuming. But despite their size, Bug-type Pokemon can still be very powerful. So, Julius, don't let your guard down unless you'd like to find yourself knocked off your feet~ And so, hold on tight!"
Julius winced as the arena began to descend. He found himself surrounded by a miniature yet lush forest and as he looked up, the circular parts of the platform that surrounded the rectangular arena slid away like a sunroof, causing the morning sun to shine down on them. As he looked around, he found himself surrounded by cafe-goers eating on the other side of some glass.
That glass must be made of sturdy stuff. Julius thought before turning his attention back to Katy.
The referee stood up from his chair and spoke. Based on the volume and the slight echo, he had a wireless microphone clipped onto his shirt somewhere.
"This is a gym battle between Gym Leader Katy Cortondo and Gym Challenger Julius Merida! Substitutions are allowed for the challenger! Items are unrestricted for the challenger and are limited to two items per Pokemon for the gym leader! Are both sides ready?"
Katy clapped once with a smile. "Ready!"
Julius nodded once, expression neutral. "I'm ready."
"Then, take your marks. Release your first Pokemon in three, two, one… release!"
Katy's eyes narrowed as she observed the Wooper in front of her. Most Trainers would have opened up with a Flying, Rock, or Fire type. Her first Pokemon, Nymble, was supposed to be a warm-up as while it was fast, it really only countered Rock types if a trainer brought one. Really, she was supposed to just test the basics, with her position as first gym leader per the traditional order.
Not to mention Flying types were plenty in Paldea. By this point he would have run into Fletchlings, Hoppips, Starlys, and maybe if he was lucky, a Rookidee. If this were a more advanced battle, she would have anticipated a Flying type to set up Tailwind, too. But maybe he was just testing the waters. As much as she didn't want to judge, Nemona seemingly had high hopes for him, so she assumed that he had "the potential" as others might call it.
"Well then… let's see how you deal with our speed!"
Though, the other way her Nymble would test opponents was opening up with Sucker Punch, as most would immediately start firing off. But knowing the speed difference between them, she could wait for a faster Pokemon to be used. And with the typing of Wooper, it would be best to attack with Assurance—
"Wooper, set it up!"
A white glint shone from Wooper's chest, where a small claw had been worn on a cord necklace.
Several stones shot out in all directions from Wooper, but none of them struck her Nymble. But in the next moment, the rocks sank into the area, hiding themselves.
…excuse me? This is his first gym battle, correct? I was expecting Peck or the usual Rock Slide trap due to how evasize Bug types are. Do I need to schedule an eye exam or did this zero-badge Trainer just set up Stealth Rock? With a Quick Claw of all things to make sure it went first?
It didn't stop her Nymble from landing a good blow, in any case. His team seemed undertrained as it should have taken hits more elegantly with how bulky those Woopers could be, but was it all part of the strategy?
It took one more Assurance, eating a Poison Tail, and then an Astonish, but her Nymble eventually took Wooper down.
"Nymble!"
During the brief time of the switch, her own Nymble had leapt back, where Katy used a Potion to heal him back to tip top shape. Seeing as his Nymble might be faster, she already knew that Sucker Punch would easily catch a newer trainer off guard.
What will you do then, Julius? Nemona seems to think you've got something to you.
Purple and black energy condensed around her own Nymble before—disappearing…? So her opponent wasn't attacking yet.
Her opponent's Nymble shone bright white and red for a moment as the… sun suddenly turned quite harsh?
Sunny Day? But Nymbles shouldn't be able to learn any Fire type moves. It was a good way to bait out Sucker Punch, though… Katy thought, narrowing her eyes. We'll try again. Whatever move he has planned will cause some damage, and if he switches to a Fire type, Assurance should do a lot of damage.
Just like before, her own Nymble lit up with purple energy, managing to outspeed Julius' Nymble, but—
"Now, U-Turn!"
The sound of a dropped plastic cup hitting the table before tipping over and releasing the remainder of its contents all over the wooden table caused absolutely no distress to two of the spectators in the conference room.
"Rika."
"It's not so bad, Geeta?"
Geeta turned just her head, cold eyes piercing through Rika. The ponytailed, green haired woman in suspenders withered under her gaze, slowly holding her black gloved hands into a surrender position.
Meanwhile, Clavell was just quietly cleaning up Geeta's spilled drink. Not that she would miss it, as there were three empty Pikaffeine cups and two more ready for consumption.
"He's using a Quick Claw, Geeta! No one sensible uses a Quick Claw! They're a huge newbie trap, there's still hope."
"Look into my eyes, Rika. Look into them and tell me that again. This completely new challenger just used Sunny Day into U-Turn to switch into a Fire type."
"It's… creative?" Rika offered as on the screen, Julius' Fuecoco successfully guarded against the known Sucker Punch that was coming before completely annihilating Nymble in one strike with an empowered Ember. It was obvious that it was using a Charcoal as well to boost its power, meaning this was completely intentional.
Clavell just seemed to be amused as he watched the battle. Katy switched into Tarountula, a small green spider with a ball of thread on its back, only to have it get shredded by the Stealth Rock Julius had set up with Wooper. "It seems he pays attention in battling classes. During times he's physically here for class, Dendra might move him up to the advanced students."
Geeta let out a long sigh. "Clavell."
"Geeta?"
"After this display, do you want to revise your answer on how far do you think he'll go?"
Clavell just shook his head. "I told you, you need to wait until the third gym. We don't know how much preparation Julius made for this battle. Perhaps he overestimated the first gym, so he'll get shattered by the second, and then wisen up for the third. That's usually how it goes for the average person who makes it past the third gym badge."
"I'm well aware of the urban legends regarding the third gym battle. Iono and her management company constantly submit requests to change up the advertised order because it can be bad for her image. But there's a reason it's the traditional order and we aren't changing that without good cause."
"Mhm. I still don't understand why you're so stressed about it. Even if Julius is aiming to rise through the gyms and go after also reaching Champion rank, why is there a problem?"
Rika bit her lip as she looked towards Geeta. The latter of the two only closed her eyes, shaking her head. "There's no need to concern yourself with this League matter, Clavell. We'll focus on handling it, just as you need to focus on handling Team Star."
"Yes, yes, of course…"
"Tarountula is unable to battle!"
The second Pokemon had gone down in a single hit. Stealth Rock had dealt plenty of damage and with how souped up Ember was, it didn't stand a chance.
"I'm still not done yet~ One more."
"Then, release your next Pokemon within five, four, three…"
Julius raised an eyebrow as a small, orange teddy bear-like creature entered the field. It wasn't a Bug type, at least by appearances, nor by typing considering how Stealth Rock didn't seem as effective.
"Oh my, you're quite good, aren't you? How should I roll things out from here?" Katy said with a smile, as if ready to answer her own question. A small ball, one familiar to Julius, came into her right hand, with Katy holding on to her hat as it charged with power. "Sometimes, you have to add your own special ingredient into the mix!"
Before Ember could connect, the orange bear in front of him was encased by crystal as Katy sent her Tera Orb in. Within the next moments, it emerged with a green crystal crown that looked like bug antennae. At the very least, it afforded him a moment to use his Pokedex app to confirm its name—Teddiursa, as well as its former typing.
"This one might not be so sweet for you!"
It looked similar enough to Rock Throw, but Julius was plenty familiar with the Rock Tomb move, which absolutely crushed Fuecoco in one go.
"Fuecoco is unable to battle! Does the challenger still have Pokemon remaining?"
"I do."
"Then, release your next Pokemon within five, four, three…"
I see. So it's just like a test. Even if you rely on natural type advantages against the Bug type, you have to deal with something that naturally counters it in return. Let's set things up a little more before we commit.
His own Nymble returned to the field. It was faster than Teddiursa, managing to only get off a Screech before it went down to a Fury Cutter.
I can't stall this one out, either. I remember that move from class, it'll only get stronger every time it's used. Screech should have set us up nicely, though.
It was going to be a battle of who could deal more damage first, as his final Pokemon, Pawmi, came out of the ball with a battle cry of "MIIIIII!". Around its neck was white and black striped scarf with a red target in the center.
A Choice Band? Katy thought, looking at her opponent's Pokemon. Interesting. Fury Cutter takes time to ramp up, so you're betting that you can take me down before then. Let's see if your strategy pays off.
Then, on top of that, Julius immediately Terastallized Pawmi, with a lightbulb crown now adorning her before she charged in. Even if she was only using Nuzzle, which didn't hit very hard, all of the various boosts given to her made it almost stagger Teddiursa, along with paralyzing it.
Paralysis wasn't reliable, though, and Teddiursa managed to overcome it just once and scored a hit with Fury Cutter. The next hit, and the ones after that, would be at full power. There was no way Pawmi would survive that one, but at the same time, it looked like Teddiursa was just one strike away from completely going down.
"Mii?"
Julius nodded at Pawmi, who looked over her shoulder for just a moment.
"The first one to hesitate loses." He muttered. He could retreat back and heal Pawmi up, but that would give Katy time to do the same. That would reset Fury Cutter's power, but Katy also probably knew that. There was no guarantee that Pawmi, even after being healed with a Potion, wouldn't go down in a single hit. And even if Pawmi survived one, the next one would definitely get her. Stalling out with Potions would only result in a loss.
There was only one way to go.
"Go!"
Pawmi braced—then charged.
Teddiursa, with electricity flowing down its body, saw the tiny orange-yellow ball of fluff closing the distance. It tried moving its arms, its legs, it tried twisting around, but the electricity only surged at the critical moment, rendering its struggle moot.
With one final strike and blast of electricity as Pawmi came in close, its strength left it, the antennae crown on its head fading into nothingness.
"Teddiursa is unable to battle! The winner is… Gym Challenger Julius Merida!"
"Good job, Pawmi."
Julius squatted down as Pawmi sprinted over to his feet, gently putting a hand on her head as the crystal crown dissolved away.
"Good job." He repeated, Pawmi nuzzling up close.
"Julius, that was awesome!"
He silently gave a thumbs up to Nemona, who up until this point had remained oddly, if respectfully, silent during the whole battle. Perhaps she had been paying so much attention she forgot to shout, or maybe she thought it wouldn't be sporting to break his focus.
Katy put her hands together, smiling. "My, my, what an interesting one you turned out to be. Ah, hold tight."
The platform shifted again, bringing them back up to the second floor. Once the platform had locked in place and the rooftop looked like how it had before they descended, a suited aide handed Katy a black velvet box.
Another aide waved Julius over. "Challenger Julius, if you would step forward to the center of the arena."
"Oh, sure."
He moved, matching Katy's pace as she approached.
"Congratulations, Julius. You've certainly earned the Swarm Badge." Katy said, opening the box. Inside was a metallic badge depicting a green oval surrounded by six pairs of small wings. "With this, you've accomplished your first step towards a successful League Challenge."
Julius accepted it, nodding. "Thank you."
There were a few photos taken with the two of them afterwards, likely to be used for publicity, but Julius was also told he would also be sent the photos.
"And, a little gift from me."
"Hm?"
Katy waved Julius over, the two of them exiting the pitch together. She led him to a small table that already had a bag of cookies, a cookbook with Katy's name on the cover, and a light green TM disc in a plastic case. Likely, it had been prepared in case he had won or while they were taking their photos.
"I like to prepare something for those who win my Gym challenge. And it's always nice to have a memento of your time here." Katy said with a smile, pulling out one of two chairs by the table. "Now, if you aren't in a hurry, might you stay for brunch?"
"Oh. I wasn't expecting that, but uh… thanks, Miss Katy."
"Hehehe. A server will be with you shortly~"
Katy passed by Nemona, her smile widening. "Oh, and Nemona."
"Huh? What is it, Miss Katy?"
"Victory is something best shared, isn't it?"
Without elaborating any further, Katy left to go downstairs, leaving a puzzled Nemona behind. Her eyes naturally drifted over to Julius, wondering if Katy meant something by that.
"Table's a little big. Had lunch yet?"
Nemona blinked a few times before she ended up smiling. "Nope! Mind if I sit with you?"
"Not at all."
"What a battle, though!" Nemona said as she sat down across from him. "You really pulled out all of the stops, I didn't even think you'd do half the things you did!"
"I had some time to think on the road, I guess."
"Our next battle is going to be great, then! Using arena hazards this early, I'll have to be more careful."
"Heh. Well, I had to get a little creative due to not having a big pool of Pokemon to select from."
Nemona laughed. "Are you practicing catching them, at least?"
Julius leaned back in his seat before looking out at Cortondo's landscape. "It's not that. It's just… I thought about how much it would kind of suck, if I caught a Pokemon purely for this gym battle, trained it, and then ended up never really using them again afterwards and so they'd go into the Box system. So with the money I had, I came up with this kind of strategy. Honestly it would have been smoother if I caught that Fletchling I saw, but also Fuecoco covers Fire already."
"Huh." Nemona tilted her head. "Oh, I know!"
"What's up?"
"I only remembered about it since some student council work came up regarding a group of students looking to become Pokemon breeders, but your mom could apply for the Pokemon Daycare license? While Trainers are limited to only carrying six, if she has the license, she can basically host all the ones she wants to."
"Wow, that's… that works out really well. I'll have to phone home about it."
Julius thought that his mom probably could use the company. That, and he hadn't phoned home in a while, too. It would give him a good excuse to visit home.
He must've been thinking very hard about it, as Nemona started to suppress some laughter from across the table. Unbeknownst to him, she was laughing at how on point her impression of Julius being grumpy, but good natured was, especially with how the distant and at times unnaturally calm Julius was a complete mama's boy.
"Something funny?"
Before Nemona could follow up, the waiter came by and took their orders.
Contrary to her expectations of Julius ordering something health focused or at the very least, full of protein, he skipped past the leaner options and ordered some sort of seasonal item, a Rawst Berry Tres Leches French Toast along with a side of bacon and fried eggs. It caught her so off guard she almost forgot what she was going to order.
"It's worth celebrating, I guess." Julius said (perhaps a little defensively) as if reading her mind, looking at the case containing his newly earned Gym badge. "As long as it's not splurging out every day."
The two continued to make small talk, with topics mostly staying around the Daycare license and Julius making some occasional comments that his mom would probably be thrilled, though Nemona could feel the topic she really wanted to ask edging up on the back of her mind. With how easygoing the conversation was, her heart couldn't take bringing it up, as if it was forbidden. And even with the lulls of silence when the topic of discussion had run its course, even if she wanted to fill in those gaps with something, she couldn't muster up the courage to speak.
Though, she couldn't help but notice how comfortable he seemed even in the midst of silence. Even as she occasionally struggled to come up with another topic that wasn't battling, as she was somewhat on her toes about that as not to scare him off when they had come this far, she never felt any pressure from him to speak.
Brunch came and went, with the two exiting the cafe. The line had died down a little bit, so they were alone on the way back into the streets of Cortondo when her feet came to a stop.
Swallowing her fears, Nemona called out.
"Julius!"
He stopped walking, looked over his shoulder, and then seeing Nemona a few feet away from him, fully turned around to face her. "Forget something?"
She rapidly shook her head. Forcing herself to look up into his eyes, she asked what had been on her mind for the past hour or so.
"Are you… going to keep at the League Challenge?!"
It came out less like a question and more like a demand.
She was ready for a non-committal response. She did hear that Arven had asked him about something and with how he seemed to know Director Clavell already and how relatively gifted he was, it wasn't out of the question that he might be asked to do something for the Academy. This was a trial run without any strings attached. But part of her just needed to know.
"Yes."
Julius replied back, nodding once.
"Sure, the trial was kind of a pain, but I got a lot out of it. If they're anything like this one, I think doing the League Challenge is something worth my time." He continued, gaze never straying from Nemona's eyes. "And if I get stuck, there's someone here who's done it all before, right?"
Her hand almost reflexively came to her mouth as she suddenly felt a sense of embarrassment from how those words made her want to break out into a big smile.
Taking a moment to compose herself, she clenched her fist in front of her. "...Yeah! I'll be there anytime you need help, but with the way you're going, it'll probably be me asking you for help!"
Julius let out a huff of amusement as he turned back around. "Let's not lay on the flattery too thick, there. Anyways, I'm sure you're busy, but I'm going to try and see if I can't find a place to rent me a bike."
"Huh? Don't you have Miraidon, though?"
"There's something different about physical bikes. That, and it's a sense of victory."
Nemona could only tilt her head as he began walking. "I've got a bit of student council work, but let's have a battle before you go!"
He raised his right hand in a thumbs up, not bothering with a vocal reply.
She almost let out a sigh of relief as her legs felt weak. Already, she could imagine the two of them fighting on the beach behind her house again. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't fantasy, it was a distinct possibility now.
Nemona thought back to what she had realized when she spoke to Clavell that night in the Academy. That she didn't really know Julius. Even if it was only just a little bit more, she felt she had a better understanding of Julius now. The way he thought about his team building, how he seemed to have a really good relationship with his mother, the fact he wasn't above having some decadent desserts despite appearances, the fact he was dedicated and patient enough to push the olive, and maybe even the physique necessary to—
N-no, there's no need to make a note about that. Nemona thought, mentally chiding herself as she felt another rush of embarrassment. A-anyways, maybe I should go buy a notebook. It'd be good to keep track of these things.
Meanwhile, from up above, Katy—who was taking a break between her battles, couldn't help but giggle to herself as she watched the exchange and fallout play out. She couldn't hear everything that was said between them, but well… she could gather enough. While she wasn't a Flying type specialist—far from it—somehow she felt the winds of change were coming to Paldea.
"Right! Well, I'm still a little sore about getting hit by Stealth Rock of all things this morning," She said to her Vivillion as it fluttered around her shoulder, "but I suppose it can be the inspiration for a new little treat~"
Whoops, I forgot to post this before I went on vacation. Well, more specifically, I was planning on doing it before vacation but cosplay prep and panel prep got the better of me and I completely forgot to edit this chapter.
I really enjoy writing these Nemona-centric chapters, though I tried a little bit of pacing in other areas like with Geeta and Rika showing up. It amuses me to turn Julius into someone Geeta is actually anxious about, if only because he's starting to come across as another insane person like Nemona, hahaha.
My main goal for the gym trial was to make it like… not a waste of time. In Violet, the olive rolling challenge is just uh, really dumb if you ask me. You can skip every trainer because you can have Miraidon hop over the barrier and the olive just flies up high into the air. It doesn't exist for any purpose, it doesn't teach anything, and it doesn't shed any light on what kind of person the Gym Leader is. I just finished playing Sun and the trials there at least had somewhat of a narrative purpose by comparison. So, my express goal was to give them purpose. As such, I turned the olive rolling thing into a historical part of the city, meant to teach its history, and also offering a wonderful view of the town of Cortondo. Additionally, it served as a teaching moment about Bug types and the swarm, as people coming together could make the job easier.
This let me draw some contrasts to Julius, who did it mostly alone, but with Miraidon starting to open up and actually step in. However, he also contrasts Nemona, who blazed through the trial with Tauros' strength and seems to not have learned from the experience. So, it was nice to make Julius learn from the trial, especially about himself.
The Gym Battle was me being a little silly. I enjoyed the idea that Julius was underleveled going into the fight and so ended up utilizing a lot of weird strategies that were enabled thanks to Cassiopeia giving him a crapload of money. There was a lot of combing through movelists to see how I could make something fun with the limited team. See, I don't want to have a massively sprawling team for Julius since I would like to be able to focus on a few core members, such as Fuecoco and Pawmi, but it does make sense for him to occasionally catch someone for a bolster in strength. This led to the Pokemon Daycare license moment, so I can sort of have my cake and eat it too, in terms of having a wide team and also focusing on some of the members.
To be honest, I think I'm a little lazy in the Pokemon battles. I'm trying to stick to as if it were the game mechanics, but trying to write a decently paced battle like that is kinda hard. I've written faster paced battle scenes before, so I think I'm just trying to find my stride.
And of course, I couldn't help myself with some minor ship tease between Julius and Nemona. I've had that olive scene where Julius' mind strays towards Nemona in my head for a while, and mirroring it with Nemona getting momentarily distracted by him arriving without a shirt was way too much fun. I didn't want to lay it on too thick, as they are still clearly friends who are more reliant on each other to keep motivated instead of burning out, but a little bit can't hurt every now and then, haha.
Next time is Titan I, which honestly might give me a bit of trouble. The Titans are some of the shortest content in the game, considering how there isn't a lot of narrative lead-up to them, so making it interesting is going to take some real thought.
As always, let me know what you liked, what you didn't like, what I can keep doing and what I should get rid of, if you happen to leave a comment.
See you then!
