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 ww w . 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.
That's enough out of me, though. Enjoy!
Oh, one last thing- sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday. Life's hectic right now.
Chapter 13: Underneath it All
Adisa grinned as the fifth of the Trainers in the small field fell on his rear, shocked at the ease with which she had smashed his team. "Well done, Vulpix. I'll have to reward you with some extra Fire Flares tonight. Thanks for the Battle, kid."
"You're... damn strong," the young man, maybe sixteen years old, said, shaking his head as he pushed himself to his feet, "I mean... I didn't stand a chance, and even with only three Pokémon to my six, you smashed them all to pieces! It was like you read my mind... everything I was gonna do, you had a counter to. How'd you do it?"
Adisa only shrugged, to her the battle hadn't seemed that hard. Her own Pokémon were simply higher leveled and better trained to respond to her verbal commands. "I don't know, honestly," she said, "It wasn't... well, I think I might've had an advantage because I've spent more time with just these three Pokémon, but it's still hard to tell. You aren't a bad Trainer, though."
"Thanks," the young man said, eyeing her cleavage a bit, "I donno, I think I need to work a bit on maintaining focus. You're good, but until today, nobody's beaten me in weeks, so I thought I was good too."
Adisa smirked at his reaction, but didn't tell him off. She still found the overtly sexual nature of many of the inhabitants of the game world to be a bit off-putting, but she was getting used to it. Even found it a bit thrilling that so many people, and of such varying ethnic backgrounds, found her appealing. It wasn't that common in the real world, due to her dark skin and height, outside of a few of the black men she'd dated when she was a bit younger and still interested in being casual.
The fact that now, men (and not a few women, she'd noticed) checked her out on a regular basis was more flattering than disturbing, and she didn't seem to mind giving them a show. "Come on, I'll buy you dinner, thanks to my winnings."
The teenager laughed, rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry, I can't- gotta get home and take care of the chores. Uh... hey, if you're back tomorrow, I have some friends I'd like you to meet. Friends who have some ambitions in the world. Want to change things, maybe streamline things a bit. We could use a good fighter like you."
In-game revolution? Huh. Not something I'd have expected, but hey, teenagers are teenagers I suppose, and many want to change the world for the better and think they can. Could be fun. "Sure, I'll be here," she grinned, "Maybe bring them expecting to get a whupping."
"I'll do that," he laughed, patting his belt where six Pokéballs hung, "and get my own team fixed back up. I'll see you tomorrow... oh, what's your name? I'm Jordan."
"Adisa," she smiled, holding out a hand, which he took happily, giving it a firm shake.
"Pleased to meet you, Adisa. I'll be here...after four, until about eight, like today."
"I'll see you then. Good luck tomorrow."
Then he was gone, gathering up several of the younger Trainers from the field as he went.
She smiled, it was good to see responsible teenagers caring for their siblings, and even more, the apparent children of neighbors, as he chivvied no fewer than fourteen kids along the path out of the park to the north.
"Maybe I'll head that way myself after tomorrow," Adisa muttered to herself, "Pewter City has a Gym too, but I've heard the one here in Viridian is fairly challenging.
She stretched, "Come on, Vulpix, let's get going back to the PMC. I'm getting a bit hungry, and I owe you an extra treat for your good work."
"Pii!" the fox-like creature with six tails chirped, each one waggling a little as it fell into a quick lope beside her.
Elle jogged across the sand easily, feeling little sprays of silica hit her bare calves as she kicked up some of the earth while she moved, but slowed down quickly, then went from a normal walk to a slow, cautious one.
She'd only been on the 'desert' floor of the Challenge for thirty seconds, but she already knew something was wrong. She had passed a few rocks, some whole, some crumbling, but the soft waves of yellow were undulating, and not just a little. All around her, they were moving, waving almost liquid-like.
She took another step, then froze as the sand began to hum.
A low sound, barely audible, but a tone nonetheless. "Oh, shit," she whispered, and braced to start running for her life. Before she could take that first step, though, she heard her companion cry out in warning, and her vision went yellow and brown as the earth erupted in a colossal whoosh. On instinct alone, Elle closed her eyes and mouth, covering her face and nose with both forearms as she ducked and started running, heavier stones and pebbles peppering her body as she went.
Blindly, she stumbled over a rock, caught herself on one leg, then felt her other twist beneath her, giving way as she tumbled downward with a cry of alarm and pain as her right forearm took the brunt of her inertia, grinding it into the sand. That's gonna sting for a while...
Slowly, the sand and earth began to peter out, and she dared lift one grit-covered eyelid, then shut it again as it started to water.
"And she's down," the Gym Leader's voice rang over the P.A., "Our first Challenger has taken a spill! You know what's coming next! That's right, the circle! Come on, give our Pokémon and Challenger a cheer, folks! You better get up, girl, you don't wanna be laying down on the job when Sandshrew are on the loose!"
Sandshrew... like the one on the bridge? Shit...
Elle shook her head, fighting past the pain in her ankle and opposite arm as she pushed to sit, then got one leg under her and stood. "Okay... I can do this. It's not a Battle, so... I need my Horsea to fight them off. Squirt, come on out."
The little Sea-Horse creature looked terrified as it glanced about the dry environment, and Elle had to reach out and physically grab it as it started hopping toward the distant oasis, leaving it to cry out, "No, you stay with me," she ordered it, but left it in her hand, almost pistol-like, "Get ready to use Bubble or even Water Gun. As soon as you see a Pokémon, fire, okay? I hope you can understand me, shit..."
But she had another Pokémon out, too, and Elle wasn't done giving quiet commands, "Loki, watch my back. Give me a Lick if you see them coming. I'm gonna keep moving..."
She took one step, just one, toward the oasis, and apparent safety.
Then the ground moved again, as one, two, three, two more, and then three, eight in all, dome-like, sandy heads poked up from the earth, all snarling in her direction.
"Sh- shit... surrounded..."
She heard Alex, behind her by a hundred feet or more now, call something out, but she couldn't spare the attention. "Shit... what do I do...?"
I need to make a path... a way through. I can... I can open one up. Sandshrew are Ground-Types, so I have the advantage with Water... right?
"W- Water Gun, on the one by the Oasis, Squirt! Soak him!"
The Horsea hesitated a moment, but as she gave its little belly a squeeze, water gushed out, a thick stream of it, like from a powerful squirt-gun, blasting toward the Sandshrew most directly in her way.
It shrieked and dived beneath the sand again, not quite getting clear of the blast, and shuddered. It didn't come up. Three of the other Sandshrew hissed and recoiled, one looking particularly frightened, but three others snarled, one charging in.
She spun Squirt around and squeezed again. This time, it used Bubble, but the snapping drops of liquid still had the rushing creature recoiling in fright and lunging to the left, bowling over another Sandshrew in its haste to get away.
And she ran straight through the gap.
They were after her in a moment, but Elle couldn't spare a glance. Instead, she kept firing backward blindly, hearing the occasional shriek as one Sandshrew or another was struck by the Bubbles and Water Gun.
Finally, out of breath, she made it to the small grassy area that surrounded the ten-foot pool of water, and Squirt gave a warble of relief alongside her.
Then she spotted the eyes.
Dozens of them, beneath the water, and one head rose up even as the Sandshrew fell away, forming a loose ring around the side of the oasis she'd come from, still spitting and snarling in fury, doused, but not down.
She flicked her screen on. Wooper... Water and Ground both? Shit... I didn't expect that... Damn, they're gonna be strong against Squirt! Shit- time to go!
She ran again, still breathless. Fifty yards left.
Forty, thirty...
Twenty.
Ten. Just a few more steps.
There was another cry, and then pain blossomed all along her right flank, and Elle's vision blurred.
"Ouch," she heard a distant voice cry, "That had to hurt! Look at the blood splatter! I wonder if our baby killed her in one blow?"
No... not dead yet, Elle found herself thinking, and pushed up onto one elbow from where she'd landed against the stone wall of the dais, several feet to the left of the stairs.
And at the stairs themselves, still streaming sand downward, was a creature at least twice the size of the two-foot tall Sandshrew, that resembled them... only instead of a smooth shell and short claws, this one had spines nearly a foot long lining its back made of hardened sand, and claws just as long, mole-like but a bit straighter, with fangs that looked razor-sharp. It hissed, and Elle felt the blood run from her face even while it dripped onto the floor of the arena.
One of its claws, too, was coated in red.
Her blood.
"Oh, God," she whispered, pushing herself to her feet, Squirt wobbling, tired, next to her. "That's not good..."
"And my Sandslash makes another appearance, ladies, gentlemen, and Pokémon of all kinds! She's only come up twice this week, no one else made it this far, but look at that! The girl's on her feet, too! Will she run? Try and fight? All she has to do is get up here... can she do it? Sandslash won't follow past the half-way point of the stairs, and she seems quick on her feet... is she fast enough?"
"Lash," the creature facing her hissed, brandishing both claws outward, before lifting one to its face and giving the blood a lick before lowering it once more. "Sah... lash!"
But it didn't step away from the stairs.
Elle groaned, "I gotta fight it...?"
Still, the choice provided an opportunity. She risked a glance outward, to find the Wooper and Sandshrew, both having followed past the oasis, now far back and moving further, apparently unwilling to interfere in the larger Pokémon's fight, though many of them kept an eye on her. Could I maybe climb the stairs from the side? Use... String Shot, or Vine Whip? I mean, she did say I just had to get up there, so I can go around, it's allowed. But... I want to beat it. I want to prove I'm strong enough. Only...
She glanced down again, and her blue eyes widened at what she saw on the screen. Level... level twenty-two? Shit... that's ten levels higher than my average! Still... I have a chance. A small one... if it stays there. Right? I have a lot of range, and it doesn't look like it does.
"Okay... L- Loki? You there, buddy?"
She saw the ghostly shape appear briefly out of the corner of her eye, having already taken up a position behind the Sandslash, who didn't seem to notice it. "Okay, good. Um... s- start with Hypnosis. Knock it out as fast as you can, please! Athena, come on out! You use Hypnosis, too, okay? We gotta get that thing down, either so I can run, or we can fight it on an even keel. Okay?"
The crowd above roared, but she couldn't hear it over the pounding in her own veins, or the throbbing in her side. She did see the waves of psychic energy come from both of the Pokémon, saw them head toward the enemy.
She also saw, with growing horror, the spines of the Sandslash rising as it gave a cruel-looking grin, and then watched as it spun, and the spines began to come loose, flinging out in a wide circle all around it.
They passed right through Loki without hurting it, but Squirt and Athena were both struck, a single blow enough to knock out the owl and sea-horse at once. Two spines, too, lodged in Elle's right thigh as she screamed in pain, and a third cut across her bicep, just above her chest, opening a slice there, too, before slamming into the stone wall.
"A Swift attack takes out two of her three Pokémon in one move! Good job, buddy! Come on, girl, you gotta do better than that!"
But even so, Loki knew her plan, and another wave of energy rushed out even as she reached for the balls to return her two now-unconscious, maybe dying, Pokémon. Pidgey and Ledyba, both Flying-Types, would be all-but unaffected by its Ground-Type moves, and Elle knew it. But they were so low in level, weaker even than Athena, she knew it would only take one of the spine-showers to destroy both.
Loki, though...
The Sandslash wavered.
Then it collapsed to the ground, one bloody claw twitching as it snored.
"Fuck yes," she cried, then clapped both sandy hands over her mouth to shut herself up. Slowly, she crept forward, taking a cautious pace toward the still-snoring creature. Loki kept up the pressure for her without being asked, sending out one, two, then three waves every thirty seconds or so, just in case it woke up.
At one point, just as she was stepping onto the first stair, it did, only to smack soft lips and close its eyes once more, a relaxed expression coming over it as it dozed on the sand.
Quietly, exhaling slowly in relief- on the stairs, now, she could at least run easier- Elle crouched down, one hand clutching her side that still bled profusely, and set Gobbler's ball down on the stair, then pushed the button.
The crowd had fallen quiet, and Elle looked up to see Alex, on the far side now, watching her quietly but also mouthing something. Run, just go, she guessed, but she had other plans.
Gobbler appeared in her familiar purple-green light, and Elle whispered, "Alright, girl... Growth. Get as big as you can, while Loki keeps him locked down."
"Bell?"
But the little creature did as she asked, loyal as always, and she watched as roots began to extend outward, digging into the rocky stair and the sand below. Over the next minute, while Loki sent even more waves of psychic power down at the Sandslash, Gobbler grew and grew, until she was nearly as tall as Elle's waist, her leafy fines two inches thick at the base where they met her stem. "Okay... good enough. Loki, keep up the good work. Gobbler... use Leech Seed, then Vine Whip!"
The Sandslash shrieked in agony as the razor-sharp vines lashed through its body, while the Grass-Type attack slipped into the small fractures and joints in Sandslash's spiked shell to stab deep into the soft flesh, or cut even more deeply into the rare soft spots of its underbelly.
It wasn't enough.
The Sandslash's claws smashed through one vine, then the other, and Elle gasped in horror as it set its sights on Gobbler, still smaller than it in volume, even if it now matched the other Pokémon's height.
Then the waves of power from Loki shifted. Not barely-visible psychic energy.
Blue, ghostly flames gushed outward, surrounding the Sandslash in a whirl of heat and fire.
She gasped as the sand began to bake, and the Sandslash shuddered, gasping again. It gave another feeble slash at the air, but hit nothing... then it collapsed to the ground, writhing, as flames continued to lick away at its body.
Then, after about a minute, the fire died out, and the blacked, baked husk of the Sandslash lay still on the somewhat glassy sand of the desert Challenge.
The crowd was quiet.
Deathly so.
Which is why Elle jumped, nearly out of her skin, when a surprisingly cheerful full yelled out, from twenty feet behind and above her at the top of the stairs, and over the P.A. both, "Look at that, folks! Not only did she get past it the easy way- she turned back and fuckin' killed my favorite Sandslash! Holeee sheeeit! What a performance, and the balls on this kid! Bleedin' and bloody, and she has the moxie to fuckin' kill my baby! What a kid, I tell you! This is gonna be fun! Get up here, girlie, I'll give you your chance to rest, and then we're gonna have us some fun, fun, fun!"
Something about the woman's tone, while cheerful and excited, sent a shiver down Elle's spine, but she forced herself to wave up at the crowd, and return Gobbler back to her Pokéball before heading up the stairs to the woman... a very familiar woman, though Elle had never seen her dressed like this.
Alex didn't know what to do. A barrier had risen between him and the stairs as he approached. Sure, he could just hop it, it was a simple cordon, but... somehow, he knew bypassing the barrier would mean he forfeited his right to compete. But he had to get over there, and do it within the five minutes if he was going to help Elle. And she needed his help, he carried all but one of the Potions, and her team was in bad shape- she was in bad shape.
"Fuck it," he growled, and turned to run.
He didn't really register the woman's taunts, alternating between praising and threatening Elle with 'fun', or her announcement that she'd seen him running down the central stairs.
All he knew was that he had to move, quickly, to get to Elle.
As soon as his feet hit dirt, he moved left, then right, narrowly missing one rolling Graveler as he entered the first path.
The next was on the left side, and if he stayed on the right, the one he had just skimmed past would be the next he had to worry about, coming up behind him...
Alex ran. He didn't stop in the side-paths, and didn't 'change lanes' to the left until he heard the Graveler just a few feet behind him, throwing his body to the left without missing a beat. Slowly, the Graveler ground ahead, kicking up pebbles and stones, and the moment it did, he was behind it, watching in amazement as its spinning body, eyes open, glared at him in a blur, but didn't change direction or pace.
Then he was through, dashing to the right, and right again, to head back toward the start. Left, then right, and middle, and left, and...
It wasn't so bad, he decided, dodging the boulder-like Pokémon at a dead run, he just had to watch where they were coming and listen behind. At the end of the second section, he turned left, into the last passage, and kept going, more careful around the heavy, larger dark gray of the Donphan, which wasn't moving in straight lines like the Graveler, but zig-zagging back and forth.
Then, just as he was nearing the far end, out of breath but forcing himself to continue on, something solid and heavy hit him from the right, a blur of gray out of one of the side passages, like a speeding car.
Alex flew into the air, twisting, and his world blurred between brown, gray, and yellow for a moment, before everything went white.
Elle groaned along with the crowd, but knew from how he'd landed that Alex was alive, even if it looked like he might have broken an arm on coming down. "And he's out," her future opponent cried, "Down for the count- hah, that Bullet-Punch one always gets first-timers by surprise! Alright, looks like it's time for the main event! Alright, kiddo... I'm gonna make you wish you'd just fought my Onix in the desert instead, for killin' my baby! Mic up!"
The microphone, which only as she released it did Elle realize wasn't the standard wifi model but attached by wire to the ceiling high above, rose twenty feet into the air as the woman stepped to the far side, near her throne-like seat in the shadows, and cracked her knuckles impressively while turning to face Elle.
"M- Maline?" she gasped, only then realizing why the woman looked so familiar. Maline Greengrass, the lady who interviewed me? Why's she...
"'Fraid not, kiddo," the woman said with a confident smirk, flipping her dusky gray jacket off and tossing it onto the throne behind her, leaving the woman clad in a black tank-top, dirty combat boots, and khaki shorts with cargo pockets, "My name's Nadine- Nadine Minert, leader of The Underground Gym. Beat me, and you get your Underneath Badge, like I said. So..."
The woman, who was identical to Maline, though she dressed, moved and spoke quite differently from what Elle had seen in the real world, smirked as she opened up a holo-screen of her own, scanning Elle. "Let's see... highest level Pokémon is fourteen, and your average level in your battle party is... elevenish? Oh, dear... I'm afraid that's sad. See, this is a League Gym. I gotta follow certain rules."
Slowly, Nadine sank into her chair, spreading her legs out a bit and leaning back with her arms on the sides of the throne, smirking down at Elle, who took up her own position at the center of her Trainer area. "One, League Battle Rules. Standard stuff, ten second rounds, one command per round, and so on. I get two items per battle against a Challenger, that sort of thing, like you heard outside. With me?"
Elle nodded, growing increasingly concerned with Alex's condition, but also her own as another wave of hot liquid fell between her fingers, running down the outside of her leg. "Two, I gotta be 'fair'. Same rules apply for everyone, and I actually like that rule, since I helped set it up in the current Indigo League. Again, with me?"
Another nod, shakier.
"But third... this is my fuckin' Gym. I make the rules, and I decide who lives... and who dies. D'you get it?"
Slowly, Elle nodded a third time.
The woman, though, stood up quickly, and shouted angrily, "I don't think you do, kid!" Then, calmer as she started to pace, clearly putting on a show for the crowd, but also trying to scare Elle a bit more (and it was working, she had to admit to herself), "I run Viridian City. Might makes right in our world, and I'm the strongest damned trainer for a hundred miles. Some of that's typing, sure. But this is my Gym, in my City, and I say how the rules work. See, normally... at your level? I'd give you a chance. I have a few baby Pokémon I could use to fight you, ones I've just started training. I could do that. Maybe I will, still, depending on how you answer my question. No, shut the fuck up, kid, I ain't asked it, yet. But... League Rules only say I have to use my 'minimum team'. The lowest level on my minimum team is twenty, and it's a team of four. Highest is twenty-six. You think you can handle that? I don't, moxie or no. No, that ain't my damned question, so shut your fuckin' trap, before I haul a few guys down here to fill it for you."
Elle's mouth closed at once, and another, fresh wave of fear came over her.
The woman, Nadine, stopped pacing, and walked slowly, elegant despite her toned muscles and rough posture, toward her. The older, taller woman put one finger below Elle's chin and lifted her face. She hissed downward, "See, girlie, when I say I run this place, I mean literally, by law, my word is law. If I tell some of my boys to come down here and rape the fuckin' shit out of you, they will, and they'll enjoy it. Done that before, when someone got too uppity. So you listen, and you listen good. I ain't all into that. Not my thing. But I don't like it when my Pokémon get hurt, and I'm in a right snit. So remember what I said when I ask you this. Answer to my satisfaction, and you can fight my training pets, which'll at least give you a chance. Nothin' higher than twenties, a team of four, lowest level twelve. Or you can withdraw, of course. Answer wrong, or give me any lip at all, and you fight the team I want to use- my team for maximum-level Trainers. With me?
Elle nodded, but didn't dare try to speak with the woman's finger still on her chin.
"Good. Now, here's my question..."
She turned away, voice booming on its own, just being picked up by the overhead system, "Which of your Pokémon do I get to kill in trade?"
Elle's voice faltered along with her mind.
Which... Which one does she get to kill? What the fuck? This is... this is a game, doesn't she know that? I mean...
"Choose!" the Gym Leader roared, loud enough that several of the watchers down on the bleachers jumped, and Elle took an involuntary step back, "Choose which of your Pokémon mine kill! The rest, since their actions are your fault, will be shown mercy. This time."
"I..." Elle couldn't think straight, couldn't believe the game was taking it this far. Sure, the world had become a much darker, more violent place in the last century and a half, than it had been in the early 2000's. But this... this was ridiculous. Asking someone, anyone, to let one of their friends, their pets be murdered in front of them. Even forcing them to choose which one?
Yet, still, she found her mind questioning.
Loki? No... he's my Starter. I need him. Gobbler...? I can't win without her, and Alex would miss it, I know he would. Squirt is too cute, and Athena could be super strong, which means I'm down to Hera or Nike, but either one is-
"Choose!" Nadine roared again, now reaching for a ball, "Or all of them die!"
Somehow, a hand, sturdy and strong, fell on her shoulder. "Retreat," Alex whispered, voice trembling with pain, and she spun, whirled.
He, too, was holding a hand to his side, slightly higher, and she could see that he'd removed his shirt to tie it around his ribs, where a massive, dark bruise still stretched beyond even that. Both eyes were blackening, his lower lip was cut and swollen, with another heavy bruise on his jaw, too, but seeing him standing there...
"No," she whispered, turning around quickly once more, so that Alex's hand fell, "I won't! I'm sorry your Sandslash died, but no more have to die! Take on my whole team, or none of them!"
The beautiful woman, identical in appearance to the crisp, professional Vice President but with an utterly different, rougher demeanor, actually took a step backward and the younger girl's vehement tone. "No...? You'd question me... refuse me... in my own Gym?"
"Yes," Elle growled, stalking forward two steps to stand within the Challenger area once more, "Because I like my Pokémon, and I don't want them to die, even if this is just a game!"
"Game? You think this... this is a game?" Nadine's tone was incredulous, and she took a single step forward once more, back to her own starting area, "I'll show you, girlie, how much of a game this is... Onix, I'm starting with you!"
Alex was forced backward by a dome of light, but he was not pushed off the platform, thankfully, only to its edge, far enough that both heels just pressed past the lip down the stairwell he'd laboriously climbed moments after returning to consciousness.
And now this... to find Elle terrified, furious, and pushing on anyway...?
She's insane, he had to wonder at the girl, and at the Gym Leader opposite her in the large circle, split at the center by a smaller one, with two streams of light coalescing into Pokémon.
Gobbler the Bellsprout on one side...
And a massive serpent composed of boulders, with a head the size of his entire body, topped with a spike similar to his Larvitar's but far larger, as long as his legs, maybe, with a total length of at least forty feet. Jaws gaped wide in a soundless roar that nevertheless made the stone around them shake.
"Onix," Nadine said quietly, "see that little pipsqueak of a girl? See her Bellsprout? I know you don't like Grass-Types, my friend... show them how little threat you find them! Start off by showing them your Rage!"
Again, the Onix roared silently, though the vibrations it sent through the earth made the stones all around Alex and Elle's feet shake and rattle.
"Don't attack yet, Gobbler," Elle cried out, "just use Growth again! I need you to be big!"
For the next sixty seconds, in fact, Alex saw neither Pokémon move, forming a strange sort of tableau, with the massive, even gargantuan rock snake looming over the foot-tall pitcher plant, and even though with six full stages of Growth, as much as he suspected the game would allow- six stages of a 'buff' had been standard since the mythical Genwun- it was still dwarfed by the much larger Rock-Ground Type.
"Okay, I'm sick of this," Nadine called out, "If you won't attack to let his Rage build, then I will! Rock Polish!"
It was not a direct attack, but it was a move Alex was familiar with from his own youth. Rock- and Ground-Types, most of them anyway, were notoriously slow. Rock Polish was a move that smoothed the edges, so to speak, granting a couple of stages of speed boost at once, in a fashion similar to Gobbler's Growth for attack power.
But he suspected it didn't matter, the Onix was going to be too much.
"Rock Polish again, big guy."
Then Elle called out something he didn't expect, her own voice low and threatening, a tone he hadn't heard from her before, "Wrap him up!"
It was almost comical, seeing the roots and vines, paper-thin in most cases, stretch out from the ground, covering the two sections of the snake as it arched over the ground, binding it, or attempting to, to the ground.
The Onix roared silently again, but Nadine only laughed, "Pitiful! His defense is too good for that, girl! Even with all your attack boosting, he barely felt it, and as for the trapping... slide to the left, Onix!"
The roots ripped and tore, and he saw Gobbler shudder as its extended toe-tips, or whatever they were, were ripped to shreds like the hairs they resembled.
"Now, Stealth Rock!"
He didn't see anything happen, but Elle frowned, "Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't know that one," she muttered, "Fine! Trap moves are well and good, but- Start the Acid, Gobbler!"
Alex was stunned at the volume and the stench of the noxious purple chemicals that sprayed out in a high arc from his sex-toy- er, Elle's Pokémon's mouth, but that was nothing compared to the shock and surprise on both the Gym Leader's and her Onix' faces.
"What the- Poison shouldn't have that much effect against a Ground-Type! You bitch," Nadine growled, "you even weakened his rock armor a bit! But no matter- I can still flatten you with a Rock Tomb!"
The Onix surged forward, covering half the distance between it and the Bellsprout in under two seconds, then smashed its head into the ground between them, sending a shockwave of earth and stone into the air, raining down across Elle's half of the battlefield.
Somehow, once the dust cleared, Gobbler was still standing, if only barely, struggling to pull its body and feet from the rubble that covered it half-way up its slender, sprout-like body.
"Alright, girl, use Absorb! Suck it dry!"
The familiar little flecks of light were not miniscule stars, but fist-sized orbs of shining green and yellow, and they flew with astounding speed from the Onix's shuddering, shaking form into the much smaller Bellsprout, and he watched as the battered bruises mended almost completely from just the one move.
"Shit," Nadine growled, "Okay, Rock Tomb again! Maybe it'll be-"
"Vine Whip!"
The rocks flew, but before the full momentum of the move could be reached, the Onix shrieked, audibly this time, as one of its eyes, the only soft spot it likely had, was reduced to a bloody paste by the lashes of supersonic foliage at the end of thirty-foot whips.
It was enough, though, for Elle to panic, "Use- use Absorb one more time, finish it off!"
"No!" Nadine roared herself, "Return, Onix!"
But it was too late, and it shuddered, falling unconscious with a crash against the ground.
It vanished a moment later, but Nadine, as the dust began to settle, looked even angrier than before. "Okay... you bring a Grass-Type to my Gym. Understandable... it's a weakness of Ground. But that little bitch of a Bellsprout is gonna suffer for knocking Onix out, too. How? I've got a trick up my sleeve. Gligar!"
Alex was confused when he first saw it. The creature that appeared resembled, superficially, a scorpion, something he'd occasionally seen on the rare hikes with family in his youth with two pincer-tipped arms, a long, segmented body and tail with a sting at the tip, two mandibles. There, the similarity ended.
Instead of eight, arachnid-like legs, the Gligar had twelve stubby nails that extended from a rib-like sail, and it immediately lifted first the front half of its purple- and blue- scaled body from the ground, then soared into the air, flapping the sails between tail and claws with dizzying speed to provide lift and momentum.
"Holy shit," he murmured, aghast, "A Ground-Flying Type. That doesn't even make sense!"
"Oh, no," Elle whimpered, "Shit, damn, fuck... C- Come back, Gobbler. I... I concede. You win."
"Hah," Nadine laughed cruelly, "You think you can just quit? It's allowed- you can leave. But don't you come back until you can beat at least my third tier team, whelp! If you do, I'll kill every damned Pokémon you bring, and maybe you, too. You get me? And you... don't even think you can challenge me today. You can come back tomorrow... if you dare."
"No," Alex found himself saying as he stepped forward, now that the shield around them had fallen, to put an arm around Elle, trying in vain to help support her weight as the girl's began to sag downward, hampered by blood-loss and pain, not to mention frustration and maybe even some humiliation. "No... I'll come back when I'm ready, not before. You're right- clearly we didn't know what we were getting into. We will, next time."
"See that you do," Nadine growled, then turned around dismissively, idly returning the still-flying Pokémon to its ball as well, and walking toward the far end of the Stadium, "You gotta walk out the hard way if you lose. Get going. The Graveler and Donphan won't attack you headed the other way, you can pass safely."
Confused by the sudden lack of anger in the woman's voice, as well as her apparent dismissal of their injuries, Alex tugged on Elle, who turned woodenly with him.
Both made their way in silence down the stairs, limping, and then down into the passageway. The Donphan and Graveler, all four of them in the first hall, were arrayed, two on a side, near the stairs. One Graveler even lifted two hands in a sort of salute as they passed.
Neither heard the whispering of the crowd, or the faint, scattered cheers at how well they'd done.
They did not know that no one, not a single soul among them, had taken out even one of the powerful Gym Leader's Pokémon, much less two, one of them forever.
In fact, they wouldn't learn that for quite some time.
All the pair knew was that they'd both been defeated, and that they hurt.
Adisa grinned across the field at her opponent while several other Trainers of various ages and backgrounds, most from the real world as far as she could tell, circling around the dome that had appeared. She'd had a good look at most of them over the last few hours, since apparently coming into the area known as 'their turf', which seemed to be a small city park on the north side of Viridian City, because the dark-skinned woman had challenged or been challenged by almost all of them.
Her current opponent, though, was one of the few NPCs she'd met in the park. He was brown of skin, a few shades lighter than her own, with slicked-back, slightly wavy hair in a long ponytail with light stubble adorning a strong, square jaw that matched shoulders and build. Not a bodybuilder, she decided, but a man who exercises regularly for certain.
"You're pretty darn good," the man said with a laugh as his fourth Pokémon, a blue crocodile-like creature with red fins that ran in two rows along its back, was withdrawn. "Nobody's taken down my Totodile in several days, and you didn't have a problem with him or my Starmie, even with two of your own team at a disadvantage. Not bad at all."
"Thank you," Adisa grinned, reaching down to rub the ridges on Machop's head, leading her Starter to give an almost frog-like purr and put a dirty hand against her own muscular thigh, "Machop's been training hard. Your Chikorita was just unlucky to go up against my Vulpix first, and your Eevee... well, when it evolves, I'm sure you'll have a much more balanced team to begin with."
"Thanks to you, too," the other Trainer said with a laugh and reaching for his next ball, "I've got one more I'll use, and if you take him down, you win the match."
Adisa, and several of the watchers, glanced down at the sixth ball at his belt, one with a much different ball holding it. She had a few Great Balls herself, with their blue tops and two red stripes at the top to differentiate them from the less-powerful regular Pokéballs, but this one had the same white underside, and a black top with a blocky-shaped goldenrod U that covered most of the front. "You won't use that one...?"
"This one?" the man said with a fond expression as he reached down and ran a hand over it, "No... I only use her in emergencies. My grandfather's Pokémon, you see. Very strong, but old, too, and I don't want her to get hurt. So no, I'm going to be stopping if you can bring down my Cyndaquil."
With one more smile, Adisa put a hand on Machop's shoulder to keep him from leaping forward into the fray as the small creature that resembled an anteater with fire growing from its back, about two feet long. "It's cute," she murmured with a smile, letting her eyes move from the handsome man across the battlefield down to his Pokémon.
"Well, I'd be happy to introduce you later, win or lose," he said, sounding strangely eager for the battle to resume, "but who're you sending out?"
"The one Pokémon you haven't seen, of course," Adisa replied after a moment, reaching for her Pokéball, "the one with the advantage."
"Ah, damn," the man laughed as Geodude appeared, rubbing the back of his head, "This isn't going to go well for me, is it? But I'm not giving up. Cyndaquil, use Ember!"
"Geodude, hit it with a Rock Throw, and keep up the pressure. You should have plenty of energy left!"
It took less than thirty seconds, even with a pair of missed throws, for the Geodude to knock out and possibly heavily concuss the much lighter Flame Mouse Pokémon, but the man at the other end of the circular field waved his hands in defeat with a smile all the same, and conceding to dismantle the game field before hurrying to his Pokémon's side and returning it to its ball with both speed and care.
Gratefully, he accepted Adisa's strong hand to stand, "You're really good. I'm Morley, by the way, Morley Vaan. Jordan mentioned you were pretty good, and maybe interested in our group, if you... want to go get dinner, maybe?"
Several of the real people in the crowd laughed and catcalled as they broke up, but Adisa found herself looking over the young man with newfound eyes.
Before, he had been her opponent, her enemy.
Now that the fight was over...
He was as fit as she was, maybe even more-so, broad of shoulder and well-toned without being brazen about it, and his vaguely-artificial eyes raked over her body, too.
She was surprised that the realization didn't bother her- normally, she disliked being seen as an overtly sexual creature, at least in public. But she found herself smiling anyway. "I'd like that," she answered after a few seconds, "My name is Adisa."
He clapped her on the upper arm and turned to the side, "Come on, then, there's a good place just down the road a few streets. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you about meeting some friends of mine, too. Friends with a few goals for the world- all beneficial ones, of course."
"I'd be happy to meet your friends, if they're as nice and skilled as you are," Adisa laughed, feeling once again surprised that the handsome, slightly younger man was so captivated by her own skill... and maybe something more.
While another highly skilled Trainer and Game Freak Beta Tester was enjoying the company and passion of her first NPC Trainer at a rather warm PMC on the north side of the large city, Alex gently helped Elle sit down at the edge of the large tub in the most expensive room the South Viridian Pokémon Center had to offer, though it was more of a single-bedroom suite.
"Help me get my shirt off," the girl asked woodenly, eyes staring beneath his legs at the floor or, maybe, doorway of the bathroom, arms moving slowly and without coordination or strength.
"I... shouldn't," Alex muttered, looking away and standing upright himself rather gingerly. He was just as dirty as his companion, maybe even more so, but both were covered in soil, sand, and wounds, from heavy bruises to small cuts and scrapes from blowing flecks of stone they had been struck by in The Underground.
"Alex, please," Elle whimpered, "I... think my arm's broken."
He sighed, then nodded, wincing himself as his ribs twisted while he stepped over the rim into the large, spa-like tub, which had no fewer than thirty jets at varying heights and angles to go with it, along with enough bench-room for two people to lay down if they wanted to, and still be beneath the water. "Alright, your right arm, right?"
"Mm, hm... ow... owie!"
He looked down at the ruins of the white t-shirt the girl had worn beneath the pink over-shirt he had just helped her remove, and frowned. "Well... I hate to say this, Elle, but you're gonna need new clothes. This shirt isn't worth saving."
"Cut it off," she whimpered, leaning forward slightly and resting her good elbow on her leg.
"Okay, I have some scissors in the medicine kit. One minute."
It took him more than three to find them and open the package with his own damaged, also possibly fractured, left hand but eventually the older man brought the bandage-cutters into the bathroom and untied his own shirt from around his ribs to let him work a bit easier, before crouching in the tub. He kept his back as straight as possible with his arms extended, and winced as he realized that his upward cutting had sliced through the strap of Elle's bra, too. "Sorry," he muttered as both pieces of cloth fell free after he pushed them to the side.
"Doesn't matter," she murmured quietly, sitting up straight again to let her clothes fall, sliding off her arms to slither into a pile beneath her tennis-shoe clad feet.
Slowly, he watched as she reached down and untied her shoes with one hand, struggling to pull them free, before she stood up, pushing off the tub's edge with another painful whimper using just one hand. "Alright," he said softly, "I'll be outside."
He made it one step before her left hand landed in his, and he yelped, "Ow!"
"S- Sorry," Elle whispered, "Don't go. Stay- help me. We- we can help each other."
Alex felt a wash of anguish go through him.
Words were one thing, even a spoken agreement that they would be intimate- had been intimate, to a degree- in the future was another.
Both of them naked in the shower together...?
That was a whole new tier of different.
"Alex," Elle begged quietly, "I'm hurt, and I don't- don't think I can clean myself very well like this. You're hurt too, right? I'll be gentle."
Still, he faced the door. When he spoke, even Alex was surprised at the tone in his voice, it wasn't one he used often. "I'm afraid I won't be."
Again, there were several seconds before Elle replied, "I trust you."
Slowly, he turned once more, and forced his eyes away from the girl's bare chest, modest though it was, to reach down and unbutton her shorts for her with one hand, fighting to ignore the vicious looking bruises and the worse punctures she'd received from the Sandslash, then pushed open the snap on his own.
Both shimmied out of their lower clothing together, and when they had stood, Elle's free hand tugged up on the side of Alex's shirt that snagged on his scraped-up elbow, gently freeing him, before crouching herself, now just in her panties, to untie his own shoes for him.
Alex sighed, fighting still to control the growing erection that just seeing this girl he was so attracted to was causing in him. That she was nearly nude and with her head just at the right level...
Once they were untied, Alex stepped from his shoes quickly, and didn't realize until he was done, with his good hand on the sink to stabilize himself, that Elle hadn't stood up.
Which meant she was staring, crystal-blue eyes wide, at his erection, which had sprung from the hole in his boxers.
Of course, she'd seen it before, had felt it, but never so up-close and with no other distractions.
She reached up one hand to touch it, but winced as the elbow bent, "Oh, shit," Elle muttered, "I... forgot. Damn it..."
"Let's get clean," Alex reminded her, shaking his head, "the water might sting- the soap almost certainly will- but we've gotta clean the wounds, and after a bit the heat will help our muscles."
"Okay," Elle said with a nod, standing up slowly with a groan that further reinforced how much she ached.
Probably as much as I do.
They traded turns beneath the water, rinsing off as much of the sand, soil, grime, and blood as they could with just the spray, before turning to soft washcloths and the expensive, DevonCorp-branded soaps, reputedly made with the oils of a Chansey's Egg and Extract of Cherubi. Alex had to admit it smelled good, and even seemed to help soothe the aches of the battle as, almost clinically, Elle used her off-hand, the best one she had, to reach the spots of his body that Alex couldn't, including his back, and watched carefully as he, himself, washed his private parts and everything he could.
He didn't miss that, after he was clean, Elle maneuvered around him again with a fresh washcloth, soaped it up, and handed it to him with a grin despite the pain still evident in her expression and eyes. "Wash me," she murmured.
"I want to," he whispered back, almost unable to hear himself over the water splashing around them, "but..."
"Then do it," Elle urged, stepping toward him and twisting her injured wrist with another hiss and a wince to cup his hanging scrotum, kneading it gently as she leaned up to kiss him too. "There'll be time for play later, but there's no reason we can't enjoy the little things even when we're hurt."
Then she stepped back and lifted her arms slightly at the shoulder and stepped to the sides of the bath to give him room, before smirking and turning around.
He brought the washcloth first to her narrow, pale back, noticing two small moles, one high on the left and the other at the bottom right, just above her small, very firm ass, as he began to scrub. "Gently," she reminded him, "I'm not as tough as you are."
"Sorry," he murmured.
The girl's good hand gathered, after two tries, her long hair and brought it into a loose tail hanging over her front as he went, and sighed as his hands and the washcloth not only began to clean her body of the remaining grime, but soothe her sore muscles as well.
Down her back, around the sides, where Elle giggled and flinched as he first touched either side of her ribs, then arms, before moving back down again. "Don't skip," she told him as he reached her ass, then sighed and opened her legs further as he ran the cloth over that delicious flesh, too.
He had to add more soap before continuing down her legs, and she carefully lifted a foot, just as he had, to let the girl wash each one. And while she twitched a few times, especially as he cleaned Elle's toes, she didn't kick, squirm, or giggle, until he had brought the white cloth up between her legs and gently ran it between them.
Elle stopped and stepped forward, beneath but out of the spray, to turn around and step into him again. "Sorry my tits are small," she murmured, eyes clouded with pain and lust in equal measure, "but you can enjoy them if you want- but don't get distracted. I still feel icky."
Alex groaned, but focused instead on gently washing the blonde's cute face and slender neck before moving down her arms, taking particular care on her elbow and just below it, where the bruise just as dark as that on his ribs and jaw was forming.
He skirted her chest, but covered her taut stomach, where barely-visible muscle showed a four-pack at least, taking extra care with the spine-injury above her pelvis, and the area between the girl's legs to wash the limbs themselves before he stood painfully back up and gave her one last chance. "Do you... want to get the rest?"
Elle snorted softly, sounding utterly sincere as she lifted her good hand to put it on his shoulder and pull him closer so she could whisper in his ear, "I've been trying to seduce you for weeks. Why would I change my mind now?"
"No idea," he had to admit, before slowly putting soap into his own hands and dropping the cloth into the swirling suds beneath them and lifting his hands to her body.
He had, of course, felt Elle's breasts before, knew them to be exactly the kind he preferred, both shapely and firm, slightly up-turned, not too big and not too small. He knew now, too, that they were capped by small, light pink areolae and average-sized nipples a few shades darker that were about as big as his pinky-tip at the moment. He felt the girl's body shudder as he glided over them, scrubbing a bit with his own hands, and he jumped too as her left hand circled his cock, giving it a few strokes, leisurely and slowly, while he moved across the girl's body, occasionally flicking either or both nipples while he cleaned them thoroughly, before dipping one hand down to cup her crotch.
"Do it," Elle urged, "I'm already pretty close, Alex... get me off, please."
Unable to help himself, Alex leaned in even as he started pumping his own hips into her hand, "I'm just cleaning you, Elle... it's not my fault if you cum, you little pervert."
He slipped three fingers between her smaller folds, and dipped the center just inside her waiting, eager hole. Elle gasped and pushed into him, her whole body melding into his even with his dick and her hand between them. Hard nipples ground against his ribs just a little above his sternum, and Alex could feel her hot lips pressing little kisses into the light hair on his chest, but his eyes had closed at the pleasure he felt while she continued to stroke him.
He'd been stroked before, of course, but never to completion.
He'd also never showered with someone he was attracted to, and not with anyone since his mother had died when he was very young.
Unlike when he was a child, Alex had sported a raging erection the entire time he was showering with Elle. To his surprise, she had been impressively professional about it all while assisting him in turn.
But now... climax was close.
Very.
His fingers continued to move on the girl's body, one hand moving almost spastically between each breast as if unable to decide which to enjoy, while his more injured hand held his possibly broken fingers free of the girl's twisting, grinding thighs and the others slid up and down her folds, or dipped just slightly into her channel, while his thumb was flicking back and forth as quickly as he could over her clit.
She twitched and moaned, sounds he was growing increasingly familiar with, and as Elle gasped, her eyes flying open and her body clashing against his completely, Alex climaxed, too. Jets of white flew up between their bodies, hitting the underside of Elle's breasts or his ribs or both, hard enough that even with the spray both could feel each spurt almost like a hard finger-tap.
He shuddered as her body moved away, looking down between her breasts, as she was, to see the sticky mess he'd made between them. "S- Sorry," he muttered.
But her hand only pumped on him again, squeezing out more of the goo, and Elle leaned up to kiss him again, bringing their bodies back together and squishing the cum together once more as his hand slowly drifted from her cunt, the other ghosting down her body to rest on Elle's hip.
"Don't be," she murmured after pulling away, then turning toward the spray again to let it wash down her body.
Several minutes later, after both had rinsed off again, Elle's good hand lifted the sheets and she crawled into the bed next to him as naked as the day she was born.
"Er... no clothes?"
"No," the girl murmured, rolling onto her back to match him and carefully placing her arm over the blankets, "too much work. No sex. Still hurt... but thank you. That was... fun. Helped me forget, for a while."
"Y- yeah. Fun."
Then the guilt hit him.
Not just for what he'd just done with an underaged girl, either.
He had fully intended for the unnamed, crazed man to die at the hands of his Pokémon for what he was doing to those Rattata, and tying him up 'for law enforcement' after taking all his belongings of any import, then leaving him there to rot was tantamount to murder, too. Alex was even sure that he was dead before they'd gotten out of range of his screaming, since that had cut off suddenly.
Murderer...
The thought echoed through his mind for hours, until he finally drifted off to sleep just as a small window appeared. Logging off in 5... 4...
A/N: A final note before you click away.
Contacting me via PM is probably the fastest way without joining my Pat]r[ }e{on (which also allows access to my semi-exclusive Discord). Or follow the link above. There are exclusives for the latter two, though...