Pokemon: Challenger Approaches

by Genglue

Tori never thought achieving his dream would be easy. After all to become the best Pokemon trainer in Kalos he would have to beat the League Champion with a five year winstreak, Alain. But he never expected his journey to become hyper-charged with so much unexpected challenges, all of which make his dream just so much harder to reach.

7. Seeds of Hope

Viola's Scyther ruthlessly slashed through all of Tori's Pokemon, the bug laughed maniacally as it stepped over Fennekin's body before jumping and charging at Tori. Its blood-stained arms were inches away from cutting Tori's face like a balloon.

Tori woke up in a cold sweat. Lily had dozed off on the window of the room, and Fennekin lay cuddled around her feet. Tori could see her glowing eyes staring back at him.

My Pokemon are safe, Tori thought, there's no reason to stress over fighting Viola, she's not a monster after all. Tori couldn't help remembering his last embarrassing loss against Viola, his impatience and forgetfulness led to a very deserved loss.

The window for rematching Viola was thin because in one day Tori was meant to be at home as the event that Sycamore had hosted would've ended by then. If he didn't get a badge before then he would be stuck at his mom's house until he was 18, unable to achieve his dream of becoming a Pokemon master.

Tori couldn't sleep for the rest of the night, instead, he stayed awake, staring at the roof of the room hoping his anxiety would leave him but it never did. When Hop woke up, he followed him around, acting like he wasn't extremely tired.

Tori's Pokemon followed a very tired Tori to the lobby of the Pokemon Center. Hop was sitting on a small chair with a plate full of food, and he was hurriedly scrolling down his phone.

Tori peered over his shoulder and saw him searching for the weaknesses of Scyther. He said, "Those aren't going to work for Viola. If they would then she wouldn't be a gym leader."

Hop turned off his phone and asked, "Then do you have any ideas?"

"I'm thinking," Tori replied. His sleep-deprived mind jumped back to last night when Fennekin was fighting Garbador.

Tori shouted, "I got it!" He got a few weird looks from the people sitting next to him, but he didn't mind, Tori was too busy thinking of the start of his plan.

"Mind telling us?" Hop asked.

Tori thought for a bit, "Probably best if I show it to you. Come on Fennekin," Fennekin didn't seem to hear him and continued to eat the bacon Tori got for her. Tori impatiently picked Fennekin away from the bacon she was eating, in retaliation she snorted fire into the air and tried to scratch Tori. Tori gritted his teeth and said, "Hop, let's go to that hill."

Tori dropped Fennekin onto the hill looking over Santalune Gym. Fennekin wistfully looked back at the Pokemon Center as if she wished the bacon could fly from the Pokemon Center to her mouth. The two stayed in silence, too absorbed by their thoughts, before Tori asked, "Do you mind being called Helia."

Fennekin tilted her head. "I mean I saw you wince when I said it, that's why I've still been calling you Fennekin," Tori replied, at the corner of his eye he saw Hop and Lily climb up the hill.

Fennekin shook her head. Tori said, "Alright then, Helia it is."

Hop, realizing that Tori had finished talking, asked, "What's the big plan, Tori?"

"Alright so yesterday when fighting another Pokemon I thought of," Tori said, Helia coughed loudly behind him, " We thought of a new strategy. Instead of using Flame charge to charge forward, we use it as a dash to avoid attacks."

Hop stayed silent. Tori waited for a judgment on his plan, "But then how do we attack?"

"Helia here will use embers whenever possible," Tori said, "We can avoid attacks from Scyther while hitting him as well."

"Then what will I do?" Hop asked sarcastically, "Act as a cheerleader?"

"Oh, right," Tori replied, he had forgotten that they were planning on fighting Viola in a double battle.

The two of them sat in silence while Helia and Lily wandered around the hill. Hop suddenly said, "I got an idea," He quickly unwrapped his plan for Tori.

"It's so obvious," Tori said, "Won't Viola see through it."

"That's what makes it genius," Hop said excitedly.

Tori thought about it again and nodded his head, excited about putting it into action, "Yeah that might just work."

The Rocket Trio wasn't having the best day, or week for that matter. Their balloon was destroyed, they landed in the middle of a forest, and James and Meowth were knocked out. All this misfortune was caused by one kid, Tori Windsoar.

"Hey, you can't give him that much credit, narrator!" Meowth shouted, he angrily swatted the air above him. James was still too dizzy to join Meowth in his complaints, so he just waved his arms in the air.

"If this story gets to Rocket HQ we'll be ruined," Jessie complained, she tried to copy the mocking tones of her co-workers, "The Rocket trio beaten by a kid again! Can you imagine it!"

James tripped on his foot and fell face-first onto the ground. He rolled over and said, "Jessie, we never had much credit in the Rocket HQ in the first place."

"Are you still dizzy?" Jessie asked, losing her thread of pitiful thoughts. She knelt and touched James' forehead.

"Maybe he wouldn't be sick if someone took care of us while we were knocked out instead of searching for a kid," Meowth said, glaring at Jessie. After Tori ran away with Helia, Jessie left the fainted James and Meowth on the ground, so both caught a cold through the rains that bombarded Route 4. After three days of recovery, the two males of the Rocket Trio were both starting to feel better.

"I already apologized," Jessie said, she glared back at Meowth with equal intensity, angry at his ingratitude, "And wasn't I the one who nursed you back to health."

"Shut up both of you," James said, he turned his head to face forward. He pointed at a few rectangles in the distance, "Is that Santalune City?"

Meowth squinted at the short cubes on the horizon, "Wow, maybe it is."

Jessie sighed in relief, "Thank Arceus, we can finally return to a Rocket HQ."

James painfully got back up, "So what are we waiting for, let's go," He paused for a bit and then vomited out a mixture of berry paste, "Before I feel any worse."

Even though they had only spent a morning practicing their new strategy and using that against other trainers Tori felt good about his odds against Viola. By noon, they returned to the hill to give some rest to their Pokemon and get some food from the nearby food car.

Tori bought a tin of bacon for Helia, and while she was eating, he took some for himself. He bit off a piece of his bacon and said to Helia, "Eat up, you'll need the energy this afternoon."

Hop shared portions of his sandwich with his Wooloo by throwing leaves of lettuce at him like it was a game, He asked Tori, "Are you just going to eat bacon? I can buy you some more food."

Tori shook his head and Hop sighed, "Whatever you say," He gazed at The Santalune City Gym and petted Wooloo's head, "We're going to win Tori, that's a guarantee."

Tori snorted, "There's that optimism again."

"Well yeah, like my brother said-"

"I know, you need to think you win to win," Tori said, he was tired of hearing Hop repeat his brother's words.

Santalune City Gym looked pretty from up on the hill. The glass on the roof of the gym reflected the sunlight making it sparkle like the eyes of a beetle. The building looked like it had a spark of life inside of it.

Hop suddenly stood up, sending Wooloo running around angrily. He peered at the gym like he was confused about what he was seeing.

"What is it Hop?" Tori asked.

Hop asked, "Look down there, at the burly men. Is Viola in between them?"

Tori squinted down the hill. Three large bodyguards circled a blonde camerawoman. They seemed to be walking toward a jeep, "It probably is, what's she doing."

"I don't know but I'm going to find out," Hop said, as he rushed down the hill. Tori got up, pulled Fennekin away from the tin of empty bacon she was licking, and followed Hop down the hill.

When Hop got near to Viola one of her bodyguards stepped forward and pushed him aside, the bodyguard grunted, "Shove off kid."

Tori rushed forward to help Hop but he got back up himself, "We're here to challenge Viola."

"She's going on a photography trip, challenge her tomorrow."

"Me and my friend can't wait until tomorrow," Hop replied. Tori was surprised that Hop was fighting so aggressively to fight Viola. He didn't even have to, after all, he didn't have the deadline Tori had. Now that Tori thought about it, he might not have argued as aggressively as Hop. Viola was such a great trainer, and he would never want to distract her from what she was doing.

The bodyguard and Hop argued for a bit longer when Viol suddenly cut in, "Well luckily for you and your friend some complications have emerged," Viola pushed one of her bodyguards aside, "I guess, I have enough time to fight you both, but only if you only use one Pokemon each."

Hop and Tori stepped away from Viola, she released her Vivillon and Scyther and waited impatiently for them to choose their Pokemon. "I guess I'll choose Helia," Tori said. After hearing her name Helia walked forward, confident that she was going to win.

"Well, I choose Wooloo," Hop said.

Viola looked at their two Pokemon, "Oh, I remember you two now, you were the kid with that ballistic Wooloo."

Tori winced, reminded of the last time he battled Viola. Viola looked at the two of them expectantly, "Well do something, I don't have all day."

"Wooloo, let's show Viola how ballistic you can get!" Hop said Wooloo jumped around excitedly while waiting for a command, "Wooloo charge at that Vivillon, bring her crashing down," Wooloo jumped toward Vivillon, however, Wooloo was unable to bring the flying bug down as she just flew higher.

"Using similar tactics," Viola sighed, "Vivillon use Tailwind, blow that Wooloo away," The Vivillon beat her wings faster, and large gusts of wind blew at Wooloo, making him jump even shorter, "Scyther, quick attack. Take that Wooloo out before he can do anything."

"Helia use ember," Tori commanded. Unlike last time, Helia listened and sent bursts of fire at Scyther. Scyther winced but continued charging toward Wooloo.

Scyther tucked his scythes in and charged into Wooloo, cutting into his skin and sending pieces of his wool flying. Psychic energy flickered around Wooloo as Scyther mercilessly barraged him with attacks.

"Wooloo hold it together," Hop said through gritted teeth. Psychic energy fully surrounded Wooloo and he angrily charged at Scyther, who gracefully dodged out of the way. Hop squinted at Vivillon, "Our plan's ruined."

"Mindset is the first battle, according to your brother," Tori smirked, happy that he was able to use Hop's own annoying words against him.

"Vivillon use air slash, Scyther use X-scissor, target that Fennekin," Viola said, reminding Tori that he was still battling (What a rookie mistake).

"Helia dash out of the way," Tori cried out, but he didn't need to. Helia used a flame charge to dash out of the way right when Scyther closed in to cut her, leaving a trail of fire behind. Wooloo stumbled into the fire, setting his feet ablaze and making his anger grow like wildfire.

Viola's bored expression grew to shock after seeing Helia effortlessly dodge Scyther, "Vivillon use tailwind, slow that Fennekin down, Scyther chase her down."

Vivillon changed the direction of her wind to blow Helia back. The fox had to dig her claws into the dirt to avoid being swept away. Scyther closed in dashing through the wind.

"Flame charge through his legs," Tori said. Helia surrounded herself in flames and ran under Scyther. Scyther slashed at Helia, cutting into her leg. Helia yelped and tripped. Vivillon summoned another strong wind, keeping Helia down. Scyther charged at the defenseless Fennekin, preparing to take her out of the battle. Tori clenched his hand into a fist as he saw his vision of victory crumble, unable to do anything to change it.

By some miracle, Wooloo charged into Scyther, picking the bug up with its head. Wooloo carried Scyther away from Helia while the bug tried to get off the sheep's head

"What are the odds?" Viola said, "Well, Scyther show your strength! Dig your hands into the ground, stop that sheep again."

Scyther stabbed his scythes into the ground. Realizing that he was losing speed, Wooloo bucked Scyther off and turned around, preparing to charge into Scyther again.

"Yeah, Wooloo charge into that Scyther! Don't let him stop you!" Hop cheered.

Viola commanded to her Scyther, "Scyther stop that Wooloo in his tracks."

Scyther charged over at Wooloo. He smacked the sheep back, and the two of them went into a standstill as both were trying to push the opponent down with their speed.

Tori commanded, "Helia use fire spin, stop that Scyther!"

Helia breathed out a wave of fire, but it was blown out by Vivillon before it could reach Scyther. Tori suddenly thought of an idea and shouted over whatever Viola was about to say, "Helia use ember on Wooloo."

Helia hesitated but eventually agreed, sending a small blast of fire at Wooloo. Wooloo angrily re-directed himself and charged at Helia. Blinded by rage he didn't realize he was going to hurt his ally.

"Your Wooloo does have some anger issues, huh?" Viola commented, "Scyther, stand down. Let that Wooloo finish Fennekin off."

"Tori, what are you thinking?" Hop asked, he was too shocked at what he just saw to be angry.

Tori ignored him instead saying to Helia, "Helia, cling onto Wooloo's legs," Wooloo was right about to bash Helia before she grabbed onto his legs. Helia was pulled through the dirt, and pushed by Wooloo, "Jump onto Wooloo!" Helia flipped over and hopped onto Wooloo's head, Wooloo angrily shook his head, pushing Helia onto his back. Helia dug her claws into Wooloo to get a better grip.

"Yeah, Helia!" Tori shouted as he jumped into the air in celebration, "Now rapid-fire embers."

Viola and Hop both dropped their mouths at this insane strategy. Helia was now riding Wooloo like he was a car. Wooloo turned around sharply and charged at Scyther.

"Scyther, jump out of the way," Viola said, for the first time in the battle she looked like she was thinking of a strategy. Scyther hopped out of the way of Wooloo but was shot in the foot by Helia's fire. Scyther winced before falling back to the ground. Wooloo quickly turned around and charged at an immobile Scyther, "Vivillon use hurricane, don't let Wooloo touch Scyther."

The gust of wind didn't send Wooloo off his course but made Helia lose her grip, she fell off of Wooloo and rolled on the ground. A loud crunch burst from Scyther's body; his chest looked caved in. Scyther screeched loudly, receiving a painful injury.

Viola gasped. Only a small membrane separated the outside from Scyther's chest cavity. Wooloo bleated pridefully and turned back around to kill Scyther.

"Wow, Wooloo, that's not nice," Hop said, he hurriedly returned Wooloo to his Pokeball. Viola also rushed Scyther back to his Pokeball to prevent him from receiving any more damage.

"That may have been life-threatening," Viola said sternly at the two of them.

Tori said to her, "We're so sorry that we injured your Scyt-"Then he saw Viola laughing at their horror-struck faces.

Viola waved her hand, and said, "Don't worry Scyther will heal. I'll just give him a few days off. Just let me take a picture of that Fennekin riding on Wooloo and we'll call it even."

Tori sighed in relief, he didn't anger Viola or help to hurt one of her Pokemon. The three of them stood awkwardly waiting for someone to say something. Tori asked, "Are we still battling?"

Viola replied, "If you want to. I would understand if you forfeited though, you're at a disadvantage."

Tori was just happy that he could continue fighting, "Not entirely, Helia shoot at the Vivillon."

Despite being on the ground, Helia hit with incredible accuracy and hit a blast of fire onto Vivillon's wings. The fire spread across the beautiful markings and burned for a longer time than usual.

"Vivillon get that fire off you," Viola commanded. Vivillon beat her wings to try to create enough wind to blow out the fire, however, the fire persisted in burning, "Impossible."

"Not impossible if you're covered in something flammable," Tori smirked, picking up a piece of Wooloo's wool on the ground, "Something like wool."

Viola suddenly realized that Wooloo's attacks on Vivillon were never meant to deal damage, just spread his wool onto her. That was Tori's master plan. She matched Tori's smirk and said, "Guess I underestimated the two of you. Well, Vivillon let's show them our all! Barrage that Fox with Air slashes."

Vivillon winced as the fire bit into her wings but followed the order, creating areas of sharp wind, cutting into Helia. Helia breathed out a cloud of smoke making it hard for Vivillon to aim at her.

"Blow that smoke away," Viola said.

Another wild idea popped into Tori's head, "Helia use flame charge while using smokescreen."

Helia struggled to get back onto her feet, right when the smoke cleared. She covered herself in flames and ran around the grass while puffing out clouds of gray smoke. Making it hard to see where she was or where she was going.

Viola growled at Tori, "Are you seriously going to stall me out? Vivillon use hurricane."

Helia caught onto Tori's idea and stopped breathing smoke. She charged at the hurricane while surrounded by fire. The hurricane blew her into the air, she tried to pounce at Vivillon.

Viola suddenly realized she had made the same mistake twice, "Not this time, Tori. Vivillon get out of the way, she can't hurt you if she can't hit you."

Vivillon flew backward avoiding Helia's claws. Helia desperately sent one last burst of fire at Vivillon before falling to the ground. The three humans winced when Helia hit the ground, she tried to get back up but her leg couldn't support her weight anymore.

Viola looked at Tori in pity, "Sorry, kid but it looks like you're out of film! Vivillon finished Fennekin off with a Bug buzz," Vivillon weakly cried out and that's when Viola noticed Vivillon's wings had holes burnt into them and she too had fallen to the ground.

Helia struggled to get back to her feet, she limped over to Vivillon like she was a toddler learning to walk. Every step Helia took could've knocked her out. Tori held his breath, hoping that Helia could survive long enough to take out Vivillon. Helia tripped over, dragged herself forward, and scratched the bug on the head. Vivillon had fainted. Helia climbed onto the fainted bug's head and laughed, happy that she had won before closing her eyes and falling to the ground. Viola returned her Vivillon to her Pokeball, very shocked that she lost.

Hop charged into Tori, hugged Tori tightly, and shouted, "We won, Tori!"

Tori had done it. He had beaten his first Gym leader; he might have a chance to win the Pokemon League. Hope that died days before was sparked back alive like the stars in Vaniville. Hop dropped Tori back down and ran around to burn his excitement

Viola walked over to Tori, patting him on his shoulder, "Congratulations, Tori. I thought you were just another idiot using brute strength to win but you might be smarter than you look. Here you go, you have earned the buzz badge," Viola presented a copper badge shaped like a beetle.

Tori took the badge from her hands, thanking her profusely. Viola dug into her pockets to get another badge, "This is for your friend."

"You have a shot at winning the league, Tori," Viola said, she turned around and went to her bodyguards, before they all walked away Viola finished, "Remember that."

Tori couldn't help but stare as Viola walked away. Viola thought she could win the Pokemon League, he swelled with pride. But I can't get cocky, Tori thought, I'm still going to train my hardest.

He picked up Helia from the battlefield, "Hop I'm going back to the Pokemon Center."

That seemed to knock Hop out of his trance, "Oh right, yeah we should probably do that."

Tori handed over his spare Buzz badge to Hop, who gladly accepted, "I feel like I don't deserve this," He put the shiny badge up to the sun and gazed at it, "I barely did anything."

Tori replied, "Yeah. Helia and I carried you."

Hop looked at Wooloo's Pokeball and said slowly like he was deep in thought, "Yeah, you did."

Korrina sipped at a milkshake she had just bought at a cafe. Korrina and her Lucario were wearing sunglasses in a futile attempt to hide their identities. If you did not know her job, you would think she was a normal teenager scrolling through her phone. However, the truth was anything but that. She was looking at a group of security cameras that Looker hacked into, cameras that pointed at the trap she set in Santalune's gym. She disappointedly said to Lucario, "It doesn't seem like they're coming."

Lucario shrugged and said, "Maybe they missed Viola? She was going to that photography trip of hers and they couldn't have known about that."

"It doesn't seem like something he would do though," Korrina communicated back to Lucario through her aura-bending, "He seemed so determined to beat Viola a few days before. He probably would've demanded a battle."

Lucario, sensing her fear that she had missed Tori again, said, "How about we check the Pokemon Center, Tori could be there?"

Korrina nodded, finally having a good enough excuse not to have to stare at her small Rotom Phone. She skated toward the Pokemon Center, feeling the cool breeze blow past her. Lucario leisurely walked by her, guiding her to the Pokemon Center.

She was so busy feeling the wind that she didn't pay attention to where she was skating, crashing right into her target of capture, Tori. She tripped and fell backward.

"I'm so sorry," Tori apologized, reaching down to help her back up. Korrina was surprised by this sudden act of kindness, wasn't Tori meant to be a criminal? Lucario stood beside her, he looked very disoriented.

Korrina picked herself up, she thought the best way to prevent her cover from being blown was to start skating away.

She felt something grab the back of her hand, she tried to tug it away but whoever was holding onto her had some strong grip. Hop said, "Hey where are your manners? Say, thank you."

"It's fine, Hop," Tori said, he pulled Hop's hand away from Korrina's arm, "It's nothing serious."

Korrina breathed a sigh of relief and skated away from the two boys, the last thing she heard was Hop saying, "That girl looks familiar."

Korrina skated far away from the Pokemon Center, she had already made too large of an impact on the two of them, it was impossible that they didn't know what she looked like now. She would have to be extra careful from now on not to get spotted or else her cover would be blown and the mission ruined.

Lucario held his head and said, "Korrina, that Tori kid may be stronger than he looks."

"What do you mean."

"Didn't you feel a disturbance around him?" Lucario asked, "Something wrong with your aura?"

"What no?" Korrina replied, now very worried about what Lucario was going to say.

Lucario paused for a moment as he remembered something, "Remember that feeling when we saw Colress Machine?"

The Colress Machine, a weapon made by Colress, could mind-control Pokemon. Colress had used it to mind-control Reshiram, a Pokemon with incredibly destructive capabilities, in a plot to gain control of Unova. After Colress was put under house- arrest his machine was transported to a warehouse owned by the International Police.

"Yeah," Korrina replied, remembering the time she accidentally stumbled across it with Lucario. Seeing the weapon made her feel odd like she was dizzy, "Of course I do, it's not every day you see a world-ending weapon."

Lucario said, "I felt that energy when I was around Tori."

"Are you suggesting…"

Lucario said dryly, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Tori has a miniaturized Colress Machine inside of him."

Korrina stayed silent, thinking about the outcomes of this conclusion. That was why the International Police wanted Tori, to take the Colress Machine inside him, "Do you think he knows?"

Lucario replied grimly, "Couldn't read his aura, for all we know he could be a secret supervillain planning to use the Colress machine to take over Kalos."

"He doesn't seem like he would do that, he seemed so nice," Korrina said.

"Just because he helped you doesn't mean he's a good person," Lucario said, "Remember-"

"Yeah, don't let your emotions take over your head," Korrina interrupted, rolling her eyes. Investigator Jenny had thrown that line at her so many times it was engraved in her mind.

"Exactly, we capture Tori then figure him out," Lucario said, "With that deadly of a weapon inside him, that's the best option."

Korrina nodded along, after all a loose Colress Machine was dangerous. But would Tori use it for evil even if he knew? Doubts seeded themselves firmly inside Korrina's head and she started to wonder whether she should even continue with this mission, whether capturing Tori would be a good idea.