Standing in his hospital room, Leo allowed himself to be soothed in privacy by the rapid jumping of his leg as he sat on his bed. Tynamo was also present, floating in front of him with expectant eyes.
That Ronan kid got to him. It was ridiculous looking back, his insults were cheap, and it wasn't like he'd managed to embarrass Leo back there. He was just a boy at the end of the day, one who shouldn't have been able to get under his skin.
So, why, just why did he let himself get goaded into a battle?
Admittedly, greed was a part of it. He'd done his research, and the biggest roadblock that prevented trainers from advancing in the world was money. It was simple, Pokemon battling was expensive. Sure, you could gain a lot of money, but you also had to spend if you wanted to progress. If couldn't find a good enough source of income to purchase the essentials... well, you were kind of screwed.
In the grand scheme of things, ten thousand Pokedollars was not going to last. But, it would give him a very appreciated boost in gathering decent quality equipment at the beginning of his journey. So, he jumped at the chance to screw a rich kid out of his allowance.
But, that was hardly the only reason.
'I lost my composure.' Leo internally acknowledged. Tynamo might have given him to okay, but that didn't change the fact he'd bet his Pokemon like they were his property. It was sickening to admit, but he might not have truly acted much better than Ronan in that situation, which was a real blow to his integrity considering he was meant to be a grown man.
But, what's done was done. Now they could only prepare.
"We've taken a massive gamble here." Leo finally shattered the silence, standing up as his starter's eyes bore into him. "If we don't win against rich boy, then we lose out on that money."
"Namo!" Tynamo yelled, as though stressed and irritated by his words.
"Oh, don't worry about us getting split up." Leo's words morphed Tynamo's anger into confusion. "That deal we made was in word only, so if we lose then I'll simply refuse. He can't make me do anything."
It might have been a slimy move, but so was handing over his partner to some entitled brat who hadn't worked a proper day in his life. His honour meant nothing when compared to his Pokemon.
Tynamo gave a look of understanding. "Ty Tynamo?"
Scratching his head, Leo withheld a sigh as he tried to interpret that question as best he could. Talking to Pokemon was difficult because they just grunted and spoke their names, so all a trainer could do was try and guess their question based on the situation and body language. There were exceptions, he could remember a Pokemon movie where a Lucario could speak using Aura, and Pokemon with the Telepathy ability could develop mental communication, but those were few and far between.
"Are you wondering how we'll prepare?" That question earned a nod, so he continued. "We'll be training a few times a day, every day until our match. I should ask Frieda for some help, she's got a Ponyta apparently." He'd never actually met the fire type before, but at the very least they could get some good practice done in actual battling.
He'd also be asking for some help in balancing Tynamo's diet. He'd fed the amphibian half his lunch to stave off his hunger, but that couldn't have been the optimal meal to feed a battler like Tynamo was meant to be. A trainer's Pokemon were essentially athletes, so there was no reason not to treat them as such.
"We'll also need to cover what we've done today completely, like fixing Water Gun and learning Shock Wave." Leo reasoned, earning a nod in agreement. "However, we should also move beyond that. That guy might have been a prick, but he was loaded with cash, so he might just throw a Pokemon that's beyond our current level at us. We need to surpass that level in a week. Do you have what it takes?"
That earned him a glare and cry, 'do you doubt me?!' Those words were clear on Tynamo's expression, and Leo supposed some things just transcended language.
Leo allowed a grin to slip. "Good. You better prepare yourself though, because this is gonna be a week of hell!"
They'd hardly taken an hour to break, and already they were throwing themselves back into training. What a life he'd found himself.
The morning sun shone right through the glass of his room's only window, bathing Tynamo in sunlight as he stared back with obsidian eyes filled to the brim with grit.
"Just a bit more, Tynamo."
His starter hovered in the air with a huff, one of both exhaustion and exasperation. He responded full force though, forcing out a stream of lukewarm water that flew through the air. It packed a surprising punch to it considering the strength it was at earlier in the day, enough that Leo wouldn't say it was overshadowed by the hoses he was experienced at using as a Fireman.
Leo wrote down a chain of information on his notepad, pleased with the results brought by a mere few hours of training. If Tynamo was a human that was working out, then a day of exercise wouldn't have meant much, but the visible difference was a pleasant surprise. He must have underestimated the rate at which Pokemon improve themselves, because this surpassed even his most generous estimates.
They'd been spending the day 'grinding', for a lack of a better word. Water Gun was coming along at a pleasant pace, but it would get there in time, and when it did the attack would give some much needed coverage against fire and ground types. Maybe Tynamo could even learn some more advanced water type moves later down the line, but they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. Other than that, Shock Wave was also taking form, but it was still a work in progress. Clearly, he had his work cut out for him.
"Leo, I received your message that you need a training partner."
The posh voice of Frieda rung out from behind his head, and Leo craned his neck back to meet the blondie eye to eye. Annoyingly, she still struggled to maintain eye contact, but at least she wasn't flinching away.
Leo grunted. "Yeah, I want to get some battling done before we kick that Ronan bastards ass. Can you help us out?"
Leo turned back to Tynamo and gave the guy a gesture to take a break. Tynamo gave an annoyed glare in response, but complied begrudgingly and floated off somewhere to catch his breath.
"Of course, what do you require my assistance with?" Frieda strode over to his side, the question rolling off her tongue in a tone that gave off eagerness to be helpful. It was a habit he'd noticed, sometimes she'd look completely focused on pleasing someone else, as though she had to get their approval. It wasn't to an unhealthy degree, but it could end up being a concern if it spiralled out of control.
Then again, it was Frieda's life at the end of the day. He wasn't in charge of her.
"I need to get Tynamo a sparing partner." Leo spoke seriously. "I might be able to train him, and maybe find some trainers lying around for us to battle, but I need a Pokemon on a similar level to him to usher him forwards to a higher level. Can you help with that?"
Frieda's only response was to nod her head rapidly. "It would be my pleasure to assist you any way I can."
Frieda then proceeded to reach a hand into her purse and she pulled out a pokeball. She pressed the button at the front, triggering the contraption to open wide and release it's contents.
As the light faded, Leo gazed upon Frieda's Pokemon and blinked in surprise. Standing before and looking up at him is a Ponyta... he thinks? It was just above three feet tall from it's hooves to the smooth white fur on the top of it's head, with a face and body shape of the fire type he's come to know, but that was where the similarities ended. It's coat was smooth, no scars or blemishes in sight, and most surprisingly it's hair wasn't on fire. It just had a regular mane, one coloured pink and blue mind you, but still regular.
"What's wrong with your Ponyta?" Leo blurted out, looking from the Pokemon in front of him to Frieda with a look of befuddlement on his face.
Ponyta frowns, neighing in offense, until a hand from Frieda lands on it's head and it's irritation begins to bleed away. It still kept a glare on him though.
Frieda stared his way with a pointed look. "Please don't be rude. As for why she looks different to other of her kin, she is a Galarian Ponyta, a regional variant which is a psychic type, and becomes a psychic and fairy when they evolve."
Hearing that, Leo looked upon Frieda's Pokemon with a sudden interest, his dusty memory kicking in. He'd been looking through the Pokenet to find out about new Pokemon in later generations of the games, but the internet here was infuriatingly lacking in specifics. In fact, some Pokemon are rare enough that data on them is next to none, even in their home regions!
As a result, Leo was ashamed to admit he was shakily informed on Pokemon in Alola, Galar, and Paldea. The last was probably his strongest, since he'd seen some interesting battles on Poketube, but even then that wasn't much. He'd learn about them all eventually though, that much he vowed.
"Sorry, a lot of my knowledge on Pokemon is weak. I didn't mean to offend." Leo briefly apologised before continuing. "How did you even get one of these guys?"
"When I was younger I wanted one for my tenth birthday, and daddy was more than happy to comply." Frieda explained with a smile full of nostalgia. "I honestly wasn't expecting him to actually do it, but when the day finally came daddy had already imported her from Galar, and the rest is history."
Leo didn't fail to notice the way his rich friend spoke with a solemness, nor how Ponyta brushed up to her owner in an effort of comfort. He wasn't usually one to jump to conclusions, but the very familiar signs of mourning helped him paint a clear picture. One he really didn't like.
"Well, Ponyta certainly looks like she'd make a damn good partner for Tynamo." Leo spoke with a light tone as he looked the pony up and down. "Just try not to go too hard on him. I'm too poor to afford potions, and the Pokemon Centre is too stingy to heal him for free just because I live here."
"That's no issue. I'm more than willing to share my stock of potions." Frieda dismissed his concerns by reaching into her back. She proceeded to pull out a hyper potion of all things out of her tiny purse and offer it to him without batting an eye.
"How much room do you have in there?" Leo asked, not bothering to mask his bewilderment as he gazed at her purse. It looked unassuming, but there was no way she was fitting much more in there with a potion bottle shoved in.
Frieda's response was only to blush and hastily explain. "W-Well, for your information, I had this bag specially commissioned by the Silph Company in Kanto. It uses the same technology as Pokeballs to store much more than its size might suggest, so it's quite a convenient product to own."
Taking a moment to think on it, Leo opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again... and realised that did explain how you could store so many items in your bag in the games. Plus, if Pokeballs could store Pokemon, then it wasn't a huge leap to say they could store items as well.
"That's such bullshit." Leo cursed it out regardless.
Night was starting to become visible, the sun starting to set and bathe the sky on orange. That told Leo they'd been training for practically the whole day, with only breaks or rest every couple of hours. Granted, the only exercise Tynamo had been doing was attacks, and he wasn't sure how much energy that sapped, but that was still a lot of training.
Leo sucked in a deep breath when Tynamo executed a proper Water Gun. His starter opened his mouth, pure water leaking and dripping onto the ground, only for the liquid to coalesce into one point which he shot at high power into the air. Water flew up and fell down like rain a few dozen meters away, inciting him to grin.
It was like night and day when compared to the morning. Sure, it might have only been Water Gun, as in the most basic water type move he could think of besides maybe Bubble, but the sheer improvement he was seeing was almost staggering. Was Tynamo that much of a try-hard, or was Water Gun just that easy to master?
Regardless, Tynamo took visible satisfaction from his own attack and, despite his fatigue, roared skyward with pure ecstasy. He was obviously pleased with himself. In fact, he was so pleased with himself that he started firing Water Guns into the air whilst he rode on his high.
Leo let him have this victory. It was well deserved.
"Well, it appears that Tynamo is satisfied with himself." Frieda spoke from behind him, taking his side with Ponyta quickly following, slightly winded from their own training, but not too bad otherwise. "The only question is, are you?"
"He's growing faster than I expected." Leo answered, failing to keep his voice neutral. "He'll be a real force of nature once we get going, I know he will. He's got a pride in his eyes, the kind of pride that isn't satisfied with accepting anything less than number one."
The best part was that it wasn't even a lie. Even though he'd only known Tynamo for a day, his personality still spoke for itself. He was stubborn. As in, the type of stubborn that could be downright counterproductive if not kept in check. Numerous times he'd tried to cut their breaks short, or work himself to the point of exhaustion. If Frieda didn't have some Oran berries on hand to restore his energy, then Tynamo could have hurt himself.
In fact, Leo now added berries to the list of items he'd need to stock up on.
"You've bonded quite a lot with him in just a day." Frieda mused, turning her gaze to Ponyta so that she could fuss over her. The amount of affection she gives her partner made him feel lacking, but he just wasn't that overly affectionate. He didn't want Tynamo feeling like he wasn't appreciated though.
Realising he hadn't answered her question, Leo cleared his throat. "I'm just trying to understand him. I'm his trainer, it's only natural." He stared away from her, back to Tynamo, who was deeply panting. It seemed that he'd finally run out of steam.
Pushing Tynamo further than this, when they'd just made a breakthrough, wasn't necessary. He wanted to get a grip on actually battling, but now wasn't the right time. They needed rest.
"We should have a battle tomorrow morning." Leo decided. "Meet me here at half three after school. I want to see how me and Tynamo measure up against you two."
His words seemed to shift a gear in both their heads, because suddenly the Ponyta and Frieda looked dead serious. It was a bit startling, since Frieda was usually so meek, and he felt something in the air shift.
Frieda then stood up, eyes set. "You can expect us to be there. Just know that we won't be holding ourselves back, so don't expect to be the victor of your first battle."
Leo narrowed his eyes, not sure if he liked her sudden cockiness, but decided to let it slide. Teenagers could be inconsistent with their behaviour.
"We'll see." Leo decided to leave it at that, turning towards Tynamo, only to widen his eyes when he saw that his starter had passed out and was lying on the ground, wettened by his own water.
"Goddammit." Leo sighed, then brought up Tynamo's Pokeball and promptly returned him in a flash of red light. After which, he began to leave the battle area.
"I'm going to bed." Leo declared, looking up to see that the sun had gone under. They'd need to get up early and get some extra training done, but it wouldn't be quite as intense since they needed to keep their energy for their upcoming battle.
"Of course, have a nice night." Frieda spoke politely, and he waved over his shoulder in acknowledgement before stepping through the hospital's automatic door.
Leo had a week to train, and he'd be making the most of it.
Within the battlegrounds of a Pokemon Centre in Castelia City, with the day hardly even broken in the cool morning, a trainer and his Pokemon were already awake and ready for a day full of work.
Leo watched with narrowed eyes from the sidelines as Tynamo screamed out, unleashing a Shock Wave. Actually, calling it an official move was probably an insult, the amount of power and speed behind the attack was negligible, but that didn't matter.
It took some trial and error to figure out, but Tynamo's ability to manipulate and produce electricity just wasn't up to snuff. Sure, he could technically make use of the move, but it lacked refinement and cohesion. To remedy this, they were practicing with a severely weakened version of the attack to practice control. Power would come in time, but for now they'd focus on finesse.
With a frown, Leo watched Tynamo execute a disappointing Shock Wave, but noted that it was much more stable than usual.
Tynamo seemed to share the sentiment, since his eyes were set in frustration, but he repeated the exercise, this time slightly stronger. It was nice to see he was willing to put up with tedious exercises, at least if they were going to help him improve. That was a sign of discipline.
Leo felt his stomach rumble slightly, but ignored it as he picked at his flaky skin as a distraction. He needed Tynamo in top form so that he could win their upcoming battle, which meant that he needed to get as many calories inside him as possible. In service of that, Leo gave Tynamo a not-insignificant portion of the food which the Pokemon centre provided for him. Whilst he didn't plan on starving himself, he had a feeling hunger was going to follow him in these coming days.
"I really need a proper meal." Leo decided. Whilst Frieda had treated him to some rather gourmet food the day before yesterday, he had yet to have a proper dinner since he arrived in this world. The hospital food was rather bland, but he'd still eaten whatever he could get his hands on.
Leo nodded to himself. Once he got that prize money, he'd be going out to a restaurant with his starter to celebrate.
Tynamo, being the type who seemed eager to train until his bones cracked, floated just besides his head with an annoyed look on his face. Well, as annoyed as a fish could look at any rate.
Leo paused his scrolling through the Pokenet on an article about laws and regulations to acknowledge Tynamo's annoyance with a sigh. "I know this isn't interesting to you, but in order for me to become a trainer I need to pass this stupid test. I don't like it either, but I can't just neglect my studies. Besides, you need some rest."
Tynamo's disinterest in the human laws and life was palpable, if anything he seemed kind of baffled that there were so many rules that a person had to follow. It made sense. Leo wasn't dumb enough to think the wild was in any fashion tame, or that there wasn't a food chain that had to be followed.
Scratching his patchy facial hair out of habit, which even Leo had to admit looked horrid in the mirror, Leo allowed his thoughts to drift slightly on the subject of the wild. Pokemon were more intelligent than animals, and thus more reasonable, but that didn't mean they were friendly. Outside of the Routes and cities, this world was untamed, and if you weren't prepared, then you could lose your life.
Luckily, there were systems in place to prevent loss of life and to keep the balance between trainers and Pokemon. And, it was a requirement to learn about these systems if you wanted to become a trainer because the League was adamant about the unprepared being denied the opportunity to get themselves killed.
Leo could appreciate the thought that had obviously gone into these tests, but it really was not ideal considering he had to essentially cram years worth of knowledge into less than a month of studying. He had a good memory, but that was a lot to learn and not a lot of time.
He could only hope his metaknowledge would give him a boost.
"In the wild, I bet you didn't have all these goddamn laws." Leo absentmindedly started ranting to his starter. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you probably had some rules in your pod, but they can't have been this convoluted. It was a simple life, something us humans apparently can't get in any dimension."
Tynamo listened to his rant, giving his definition of an eyebrow lift at that last part, but clearly didn't pay it too much mind in his boredom. Yet, despite the monotony of the activity, never once did Tynamo choose to go back to training without Leo. He waited dutifully, only giving the occasional complaint as he took the chance to recuperate. Light their training might have been, he'd still gotten himself winded.
For a while, a comfortable silence descended on the two of them, and Leo was fine leaving it at that. There was a value in saying nothing when there was nothing to be said. He could focus on his studies, and Tynamo was seemingly content to catch his breath. Now, he could just recall the electric eel to his pokeball, but Leo didn't feel too keen on keeping him in there all day. So, the two of them would be enjoying a pleasant silence whilst he completed an hour of work.
Within a windowless bathroom that relied on a single, dim lightbulb for illumination, Leo eyed his shirtless form with a grimace as he stared into a slightly dirty mirror. The bathroom was surprisingly shoddy considering how much funding the Centre actually got, but it would suffice.
Leo stared into the mirror and licked his tongue over his slightly chappy lips. He'd healed fast all things considered. Where, just a few days ago, he would have felt a slight sting all over whenever he shifted too quickly, now he felt nothing but a slightly unpleasant tingle every now and then. It was certainly a welcome change.
His skin was flaky enough that it was falling off though, revealing white, unblemished flesh, so he'd been tearing away at the flakes like band aids. His body was no longer in constant pain, neither was devoid of water, so his skin was healthy underneath. It was best to deal with the issue nice and quickly.
"Tyna." His starter commented from the side, staring at him weirdly as he peeled away his sunburn. He was probably wondering what his trainer was doing, since Tynamo definitely didn't have to deal with getting sunburnt.
Leo looks at Tynamo's eyes through the mirror's reflection and informed him. "Humans don't have much protection against the sun, so if we spend too much time out there without protection then we'll get sunburnt. That's why I'm peeling, my skin got damaged from the sun's rays and now it's healing."
Tynamo kept his questioning gaze. Leo wondered if he had another question, but regardless he just continued. "I got sunburnt by staying in the sea too long. I was... trapped there..." Leo cast his eyes down, sucking in deep as he thought back to when he'd been thrown into this dimension. It was a harrowing experience.
Leo tried to hold it back, but he still breathed in sharply whenever he thought of how he'd gotten there. The pain and isolation he'd felt as he did his best just to keep his head above the water, and how his mind was still reeling back slightly at the thought he'd literally crossed dimensions.
It was galling on a level he wasn't sure he could describe with words. The moment(was it that short?) he'd crossed into the Pokemon Universe was... difficult to remember. It was like being overwhelmed so completely that he couldn't even be traumatised by it, like his brain had just refused to fully take in the memory of that state, since it would have broken something as fragile as the human mind.
Leo's eyes, previously cast down, stared back into the mirror and suddenly he was eye to eye with pure crimson. They weren't too pronounced if left on their own, but whenever he caught them under the darkness they seemed to glared back like vicious rubies.
'This really is an anime-verse...' Leo jokes to himself, but can't find the will to laugh. This wasn't his normal eye colour, a light hazel that he'd gotten from his mother, and part of him suspected that these weren't even his eyes. For nearly half of his twenty three years of life, he'd needed glasses to see. It started small, but over the years his eyesight had been steadily getting worse to the point where he sometimes joked when he'd finally go blind.
Now? His vision was immaculate. Sometimes he found himself dizzy from how accurately he could pinpoint the tiniest details of the people and Pokemon he was surrounded by daily. His sight had never been more keen.
That fact should have given him an ounce of comfort. Afterall, having to use contacts or glasses to correct your vision was a huge inconvenience. Instead, it only brought dread.
'I'm probably overthinking this.' Leo sighed to himself, scratching at his patchy beard. It looked pretty bad, but he'd only shave it after he finally got his money.
After he cleaned off most of his shedding skin, having left a pile of the stuff in the sink for someone else to clean up, Leo marched out into the first floor with Tynamo just on his tail.
Once he walked into the lobby, he was fast to place himself down on a sofa he'd become familiar with these past couple of days. He let his eyes dart around every now and then, until eventually they landed on the clock and burrowed in eyebrows.
15:32
It was about time for his first Pokemon battle, and Leo couldn't say he wasn't nervous. Frieda was a novice trainer, just like him, but that didn't mean they were on even footing.
Battling with Pokemon in this world was vastly different from the games. Attacks could be used much more creatively, and with of other factors like the terrain and battle tactics in play his metaknowledge wouldn't be very helpful to him. Frieda went to a school that went over these subjects, so it was inevitable that he'd be the underdog in their bout.
It was most likely that he'd lose here, his inexperience and ignorance being a hurdle he wouldn't be able to overcome.
Leo's face scrunched up in displeasure at his own thoughts, and a heavy breath left his nostrils. The thought of such defeatism being his immediate response left a bad taste in his mouth, and for some reason it lit a spark of defiance in his chest.
'Am I really the type to just give up?' Leo thought as he looked back on the past week- no, it went further than that. Even before he'd lost his entire world his mind had been spiralling into somewhere dark. It was plainly obvious looking back.
It started when his parents died all those years ago, burned and buried under the home they'd built together, and from there it just... got worse. Things had never been the same after that, everyone else mourned and got on with their lives whilst he could only trudge along, constantly looking back over his shoulders. Things turned out that way purely because he let them.
That was all it came down to really: he allowed those experiences to scar him. He didn't need to linger and mourn anymore, he chose to. It was his fault.
Leo found his eyes drawn to his starter, who floated next to him on the sofa with impatience building on his features. He was ready to battle, and Leo had promised to take him right to the upper echelons of the battling world. How could he do that if he was stuck in the past?
Leo stood up with hardened eyes, gaining the attention of Tynamo who stared back. For a moment, they were silent, having a face-off of sorts.
"We're gonna to win out there, got it?" Leo spoke simply, as though there was no other option.
In response, Tynamo paused for a second, but proceeded to nod and screech highly in agreement. It seemed that he was a fan of that mindset.
With a chuckle, Leo opened his mouth to respond, but from the corner of his eye he caught sight of the colour of blonde hair and his mouth instantly slammed shut. Frieda had arrived.
"Ah, Leo, you were waiting for me." His blonde haired acquaintance greeted cordially as she walked up to him, her breath slightly heavy. "I must apologise for the delay."
"It doesn't matter." Leo said with a grin befitting of the teenager he biologically was "We were gonna have a battle, weren't we? I say we get on with it." As though punctuating his words, Tynamo let out a high-pitched shrill from behind his back.
Frieda smiled teasingly in response as she commented. "A bit too fast to the point, aren't you?"
"I just don't like bullshitting." Leo's words only earned him a head tilt, as though she were confused by his choice of words. Not the usual displeasure at his vulgar vocabulary, but rather, he simply wasn't making any sense.
After a second, Leo attempted to correct himself. "Tauros... shitting?"
That also earned him nothing but awkward silence.
"At any rate." Frieda began, clearly trying to move the conversation forwards like he'd said nothing. "I'd love to give you a marvellous first battle, but my legs are rather tired from having to walk all the way here."
"Isn't your school only about half an hour away on foot?" Leo questions, staring the girl in front of him up and down to take in her dainty form with a raised eyebrow. Her school uniform covered up a lot of her skin, but all he needed to see was the lack of definition on her legs to know how little work she did with them. Then again, his own physique had dropped dramatically when he aged down, so maybe he didn't have a right to judge until he earned his body back.
"Maybe you should work out more." Leo settled on.
Frieda's immediate response was to blush pink, but to her credit she quickly shrugged it off. Her face dropped though, and she hugged herself in comfort.
"My body is just fine, isn't it?" Her voice was hardly above a whisper as she spoke, though he heard her loud and clear.
Leo instantly erased any ounce of judgement from his face when he realised he'd messed up. She seemed to shiver and wilt like a flower, her suddenly delicate demeanour making it clear that he'd touched a nerve. The signs of anxiety were all too familiar.
"There's nothing wrong with you." Leo backed up, holding his arms up placatingly to put her at ease. "It was just a suggestion, since trainers often have to spend days at a time out on the road. I was actually thinking of putting together an exercise regime myself, and you're free to join me."
Now, that last part was a technical lie, but Leo was definitely thinking of it now, since Frieda's shoulders seemed to loosen with his words. It was clear he'd have to come up with something now.
'Not that it's a bad idea.' Leo scratched his beard in thought. Truthfully, watching his partner and Pokemon work themselves to the bone whilst he just sat on the side-lines made him feel inadequate. It was important to take notes and watch his Pokemon train carefully, but he would be smart to put in some work too. Actually, there was a chance he could lose some of his team mates' respect if he wasn't productive with his time.
Tynamo tackled his leg lightly, breaking him out of a trance as he looked down to see his partner's dark eyes staring up at him with obvious impatience.
Leo stares at Tynamo, then to Frieda who was now sitting down on the sofa, and shook his head. "I know you want to battle, I do too, but please give us a minute."
It felt anticlimactic to just wait after getting his blood pumping like that, Leo understood when to have patience. It was better to wait for his friend to get her act together.
"No." Frieda rung out as she stood up, forcing a neutral expression. "I have my wits about me. I have no want for your pity. Let us battle, now."
Leo wanted to repute her, his adult mind insists she take a moment to compose herself, but the Pokemon by his leg really didn't want to wait.
So, he simply crossed his arms and grinned in an attempt to lift her mood. "Great, just don't hold back on me for being a beginner, alright?"
The smile Frieda gave in response might have looked innocent, but under that flowery surface he could see a snake waiting to strike. "Of course, my pride wouldn't allow it." She uttered out before turning to march for the battlefields.
Leo watched her retreating form and found himself grinning like a madman. He'd been doing that a lot lately, which was certainly a strange habit to pick up, but then again this was an anime universe. He must have developed a flare for drama.
'Okay, it's time to see if I've got any talent for this battling gig.'
Standing across the battlefield, with a generous distance between them, Leo and Frieda stared each other down with fire in their eyes. Tynamo was floating a mere half-dozen yards away from his trainer, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he regarded Frieda with a critical gaze as she held a pokeball tight in her palm.
Trying to maintain a cool visage, Leo gave only the slightest twitch of his fingers slip along with the occasional lick of his lips. He felt some sweat building up, a mixture of the heat and the jitters running through his body, and he couldn't stop himself from shaking. It was strange really, he was normally much more composed that this, yet the prospect of battling had him vibrating like a child on Christmas.
He, a man who has charged into fire and risked life to save life, was left shivering like a leaf. All because of a Pokemon battle.
Frieda finally broke the tension in the air, which felt like it had been sitting for hours, by tossing her pokeball forward with all the strength she could muster. That makes Leo's spine straighten as the device ejected it's contents.
Forming into a horse-like frame with four legs, a familiar Galarian Ponyta takes shape and neighs loud enough for him to hear loud and clear. The horse Pokemon looked relatively harmless just a day earlier, but Leo could physically feel the difference in her gaze. It was like a switch had been flipped, and Ponyta was now looking upon them like bugs to be squashed.
Tynamo growled lowly.
Leo frowned and narrowed his eyes, though he said nothing as he diverted his attention back to his blonde opponent, who held a medium sized rock in her hand.
The rules for this battle were simple, since they weren't playing for money and this wasn't an official League sanctioned match. It was just a simple battle, one on one, and it would begin when the rock Frieda hurls into the air hits the ground. Simple enough, though she would probably be able to react a touch faster.
Looking him right in the eyes, Frieda threw the rock upwards and Tynamo tensed. Leo himself felt his legs freeze slightly, and he could see signs that his enemies were the same.
The rock rose until gravity caught up with it, grabbing the rough object out of the air and dragging it down, until finally it crashed and-
"Confusion!" Frieda orders without letting him get a word out.
Ponyta's horn began to shine purple as she intently glares at Tynamo and, without any prompt, a veil of violet covered him.
Tynamo shrilled slightly, writhing as though something were holding him still, and Leo sucks in as he blurts out an order.
"Break free with Tackle!"
Leo had done some research on moves and, from what he could see, every major attack out there had a 'gateway' move of sorts- being a lesser version of that move. For every Thunderbolt, there was a Thundershock. For each Ember there was a Flamethrower, and so on and so forth. These moves were called 'gateway' attacks because they developed into more advanced techniques if honed correctly, which Leo would certainly take into account later down the line.
At any rate, Confusion was one of these because it was essentially Psychic, only weaker. As such, it had all the same weaknesses to a larger extent.
Tynamo banished the panic in his eyes as a thin, barely visible, shroud of a white aura cloaked around his form and suddenly he was rocketing forward. The telekinetic hold over him certainly slowed him down, but it wasn't quite strong enough to hold him back entirely.
In spite of this, Frieda didn't panic and stated. "Dodge with Agility."
Ponyta didn't even bother with an eyebat as she released her psychic hold, instead zipping around the battlefield with such raw speed that Tynamo had no chance of ramming into her. Ponyta came to a halt once safe, panting lightly.
Tynamo openly growled in agitation as he halted, his built up momentum disappearing as he cut off his attack and turned back to his opponent.
'Oh come on.' Leo nearly groaned, not because he missed, but because Ponyta knew Agility of all things. That would make landing any attacks next to impossible, because none of Tynamo's attacks were fast enough to match that sort of speed!
'It looks draining though.' Leo noted, even though as he though that Ponyta huffed and readied to leap right back in. 'Not enough that one use will exhaust them though.'
"Ponyta." Frieda cut in, snapping his thought short. "Use Fairy Wind."
The young horse neighed in agreement, her long, flowing mane dyeing itself pink as the wind in front of her began to sparkle. It was a bizarre sight, and Leo was nearly caught off-guard when she threw her head forwards and wave of thick, pink, shining mist was sent hurling right for Tynamo.
"You can't dodge, so endure it with Charge!" Leo yelled, feeling his heartrate soar. "Then follow up with Shock Wave!"
His starter didn't hesitate to obey as a sharp electrical charge flowed over his slick skin, empowering his special defence just in time for Fairy Wind to strike. It made Tynamo wince, his eyes closed tightly as he was caught in a storm which somehow caused him to scream in pain. Leo didn't know how, it just felt like wind to him, but he knew it had to stop.
"Shock Wave!" He demanded, knowing it was their only counter.
Despite the pain he was in, Tynamo complied as the electricity cackling around him was sucked back into his form. The move was still rough around the edges but, with the help of Charge, Tynamo roared as a coat of lightning surrounded him.
The change was plainly apparent, since the winds which previously assaulted Tynamo bended around his form like a rock in a stream. His armour took the form of a circle around his form mere moments later, which bent and morphed into bolts that pulsed erratically. With a screech that made his ears ring, Tynamo cast four lightning bolts forward.
"Abort and dodge them with Agility." Frieda commanded, not standing idle as her Pokemon abandons their previous attack with a distasteful huff. A familiar purple energy surrounded her then, just before the Shock Waves make contact, Ponyta blurs and the attack completely missed.
'Damn, not willing to give us first blood, huh?'
Tynamo didn't share his frustrations, merely squinting his eyes in response. Then, as though magic, Tynamo's attack literally halts in the air and shoot in the complete opposite direction like a heat-seeking missile.
Leo felt his eyebrows shoot up, but his shock quickly gave way to realisation. 'Shock Wave never missed in the games, and I knew that held true here, but I didn't think it would be so... literal.'
Leo allowed himself a grin. Not that he was complaining.
Ponyta and Frieda so shocked that they freeze for a split second. Then, suddenly, they are forced out of their stupor when Shock Wave slammed into Ponyta with extreme force. The pony faltered and screamed as what must be thousands of volts ran through her.
"Ponyta!" Frieda cried out as her Pokemon let out a pained scream, but unfortunately the attack was over as soon as it started.
"Don't stop, strike them with Water Gun!" Leo capitalised on their weakness, knowing they had to take the advantage whilst they could.
Tynamo agreed by acting, sending a stream of water barrelling towards Ponyta.
Frieda snaps out and yells desperately. "Use Light Screen!"
Ponyta, though still stiff from the Shock Wave barrage, obeyed with respectable speed and a psychic glow began to wrap around her form. It clung to her like armour, allowing her to weather the oncoming Water Gun with little more than a grimace.
"Again!" Leo ordered.
Tynamo screeched, firing another Water Gun with even more zeal than before. It was strange, how nervousness could just vanish like this, but battling just made him feel so in the moment.
"Match them with Psybeam." Frieda instructed, this time much more composed.
Still shrouded in a barrier, Ponyta galloped as her horn began to glow and pulse. Once the shine reached it's apex, she threw her head forwards, unleashing a rainbow beam that cancelled out Water Gun and caused a slight drizzle as it rained down.
'How many attacks does this thing have?' Leo wondered, slightly incredulous as he shrugged the water off his clothes. 'Telekinesis, bullshit speeds, summoning winds, armour for ranged attacks, now LSD lasers! This must be the work of TMs.'
"Tackle." Leo called out.
Tynamo instantly shot forwards in an attempt to slam into Ponyta's front, even though he had no run up. He was thwarted when the pony simply jumped to the side, causing him to miss by a longshot as his momentum carried him forwards. Ponyta was fast to follow up with a Takedown, nearly ramming into Tynamo headfirst, but he narrowly floated out of the way by mere inches and she crashed into the ground.
She grunted, definitely from recoil, but stood up mostly unfazed and seemingly only ruffled.
The attempt was hardly pointless though, since Leo noticed Ponyta was losing steam. No shaking, or even heavy panting, was apparent on her as far as he could see, but she was starting to sweat. It was a tiny detail, one he wouldn't have noticed without his especially sharp eyes, but her movements were getting sluggish.
"Psybeam!" Frieda ordered, snapping his instincts into place.
"Water Gun!" Leo immediately countered, making his Pokemon charge up and fire his attack.
Water met laser, but this time, much to his horror, it was not an even match. Water Gun was getting forced back, likely due to Ponyta having a couple of seconds longer to rev up her engine.
After Water Gun ceased, Tynamo was struck head-on and a scream was incited. It hurt his ears, and Leo grit his teeth.
"Hit her with Water Gun again, just like before!" Leo scrambles, knowing how short his options were as he reviewed all five of Tynamo's moves and found that to be the safest option. It really spoke volumes that Water Gun was his best choice.
But, much to his despair, Tynamo didn't follow his orders. In fact, all he could do was stumble around and squirt weak water blasts haphazardly. There was no thought in his attacks, he was just firing uselessly!
For a second, Leo tries to figure out what was happening, then it clicked.
'Shit! Tynamo was confused by Psybeam!' Leo grimaced. In the games, confusion was a status condition that caused a Pokemon to hit themselves if they were unlucky, inflicting harm on themselves that they would have given their opponents. Here, it worked a little different, instead the confused target would lose focus and fire attacks randomly.
"Ponyta, strike them with Takedown." Frieda spoke simply, sounding level-headed now that she was in control of the situation. It got on his nerves slightly, but he couldn't focus on that as Ponyta charged forwards with high force.
"Listen to my voice, Tynamo!" Leo yelled, knowing the battle would end if nothing was done. But, much to his dismay, Tynamo didn't listen to a word.
Ponyta shut down his hopes by ramming into Tynamo full force, snapping him out of the confusion as her head buried it's way painfully into his side. The air was driven from Tynamo's lungs as he was sent hurdling and crashing to the ground with a low, pained groan.
Coming to a halt, Ponyta panted and winced as she faltered slightly.
"Tynamo, are you alright?!" Leo asked with eyes full of worry, his starter responding with a pained moan as he rose up and floated with a giant, red mark on his side that made him flinch.
'One more hit like that and Tynamo is done.' Leo grimaced at the thought, but knew he couldn't stop now. He said that loss wouldn't be his goal, and he'd be damned before he went back on his word.
"Charge." Leo breathed, regaining his nerve. "We're going big or going down!"
Tynamo's face screwed up as sparks rapidly gathered around, merging into his skin as his defence rose. That last part wouldn't matter though, since they wouldn't be getting struck again.
"Finish him with Takedown." Frieda stated, her face infuriatingly indifferent. As though the battle was finished.
Ponyta roared as she sprinted forward, her grace forgotten as she rapidly began to close the distance between them.
"Tynamo, get to dodge-" Leo pointed with narrow eyes. "-and use Tackle on one of her legs!"
Frieda's face reeled back at the command, though Ponyta didn't seem to hear in the mania of battle. Either way, her trainer began to yell out a warning that was just a hair too late.
Ponyta cried as she tackled forwards, acting more like a beast than a horse, and fortunately missed and overextended due to Tynamo swerving to the right at the last second.
With no hesitation, Tynamo charged an opportunistic Tackle and launched himself like a rocket into Ponyta's leg, right at the kneecap!
A sickening crack rings out, almost making him wince in sympathy, and Ponyta tumbles down with all the grace of a crashing car. She rolls, screaming all the way, until the momentum dies and she is left there to crawl.
"Ponyta!" Frieda's composure instantly fall apart as she breaks into a sprint. The rich girl doesn't seem to care that it technically counted as a forfeit as she went to her Pokemon's side, likely to check over her injuries.
Leo just stares for a second, not sure why exactly he felt so surprised, but he did. The sight of a Pokemon getting injured like that shouldn't have caught him off-guard, yet he was frozen like the floor was ice.
Tynamo was panting lightly, but each breath drew a wince that likely had something to do with his injured side. He'd need to receive a few sprays of Hyper Potion, that was for sure.
Frieda quickly returned her Pokemon, rising up on shaky legs.
"You-You win." She uttered out. "I surrender. You got me"
Those words should have given Leo some satisfaction, knowing he'd won his first battle, but instead he felt like he'd swallowed ice. Tynamo also looked shocked, though there was no visible guilt.
For a second, he wanted to deny this win, but stopped short as Frieda made a mad dash away from the battlefield and towards the Pokemon Centre. She was certainly going to heal her injured friend, and put that firmly above expressing distaste over her defeat.
Leo was left alone with his Pokemon, who mustered up some of his remaining energy to turn and face his trainer with concern.
"Don't worry about it." Leo answered and, without further ado, he held up a pokeball and returned Tynamo without giving his partner the chance to protest. In a flash of light, he was once more alone.
Victory felt less satisfying than he envisioned.
If you want to support me, then look towards The Magician 565 in the place of patrons. I am a pretty broke student all things considered, so if you want to read additional works of mine then the donations would be much appreciated. I hope to write for you all, and if you could show your support more openly then I'd be happy to crack down!
Additional chapters:
Rising To the Top - 5
Now It's My Turn - 1
An Outlier - 5
The All Mighty Earth - 5
Power Grasping - 3
Dealing With Darkness - 2
God of Destruction - 5
Counterattack - 5
Total - 31
