We part ways from Ronnie the next day; and decided to take her advice. We travelled faster and arrived at Petalburg the day later. And it was lucky we did, because though the reception at the gym was empty, the next available slot was 1 month later.
'What?' Mari and I said.
'Yeah, we're booked up.' The nice receptionist, Gina, gave an apologetic shrug as she swiped my Trainer ID card. 'It's the time of the year you know, graduation. Everyone's becoming a trainer now. Don't worry, you'll get free stay at the Pokemon Center until your appointments. Free breakfast and dinner there. Would you like a ticket to the battle happening in like 10 minutes? Tt's free anyway, just a way for us to keep track of the number of people going into the stadium. And it's e-tickets! Scanned through your trainer license. Very environmentally friendly!'
Mari and I shrugged, getting back to back appointments a month later. We also got tickets to the battle because why not? The battle, as it turned out, was rather boring. In order to make sure that Pokemon trainers do not cheat, Pokemon League mandated that the Pokemon gyms' pokemons are chosen according to the Challenger's Pokemons' levels. There were minimum levels for each gym Pokemon, no maximum. That way, trainers do not level up their Pokemon too fast, causing them to be over levelled and over trained, in order to blast through the first few gyms, which trainers could do in the past (I actually listened in history lessons). For the first gym match, the Challenger have will have 2 opponents, the second 3 and so on and so forth, with 6 being the maximum. Trainers can challenge the gyms in any order. From the fifth gym onwards, the final opponent will always be a special one, usually a Pokemon that is higher levelled than the entire team, or one with a unique attack or strategy. It supposedly challenges trainers to think out of the box. Because of the way this gym circuit is structured, there will always be matches that are low levelled and boring at every single gym. Since Littleroot Town is where people get their license, and Petalburg gym is a normal typed gym, it is the most popular first gym. So there were a lot of matches just like the one that Mari and I watched. A Sentret fainting after getting a few Bites from Poochyena was really nothing exciting.
'I wonder what Pokemon he is going to use for our matches.' Mari mused as we walked to the Pokemon Center. 'He probably have tons of Pokemon. Can you imagine?'
'No idea. I can't even imagine managing a full team of six.' I replied.
A week later, I was squatting in a bush in Petalburg Woods, observing a swarm of Scythers, most of whom were asleep. The conversation with Mari about managing Pokemon had me thinking about a third team member. She herself had caught a new Pokemon, a male Salandit. It had crawled through the window of our room in the Pokemon Center and scared the shit out of her while I was bathing. Or at least she said she calmly battled and caught it, but I heard her screaming from the toilet.
'Master, why are we here?' Estelle asked, almost invisible amongst the bush. On the other hand, Lexy would have stood out like a sore thumb so I sent him off to practice Headbutt, a move I was trying to get him to learn, near the edge of the forest.
It was a good question. Usually, we spent morning alone. We will practice individual skills after a morning run, and then meet up with Mari after. Ronnie was appalled upon hearing that we did not train together.
'But that's what friends are for!' Ronnie exclaimed. 'Its half the fun travelling with someone. And you can have more variety in training.'
Seeing our skeptical look, she announced. 'I had a travelling companion.'
This was news to Mirabell apparently, who looked at her trainer curiously. Mari and I thought that she was going to launch into a story and gave her an expectant look.
'What?' Ronnie asked, apparently done with her story.
Mari and I decided to train together more frequently. Afterall, who's to ignore advice from a more experienced trainer? However, we still wanted to focus on individual skills, therefore we had the morning sessions. That morning, I planned out the morning jog so that we end near the Petalburg Woods. I overhead some farmers in town complaining about Scythers messing up their crops again and decided that Scyther would be a good addition to our team. Scythers were not native to Hoenn but some Trainers long ago probably released their Scythers into the wild and they managed to survive in Hoenn climate. They are wickedly fast and strong, and not that hard to train, or so I heard.
'Master, will you not include the lizard in this?' Estelle asked.
'This is recon only, we'll get him when we are going to catch it.' I told Estelle, then placed a finger on my lips when I realized one of the Scyther was looking our way. Then, feeling a little stupid, I realized I was the only one speaking. Estelle had been speaking directly into my head.
Unfortunately, it is too late. Suspicious, the Scyther stalked in our direction, while the rest of the Scyther stirred, but did not wake.
'Master! We must leave, with haste!' Estelle urged.
'Yes Estelle, run!' I told her, just as the Scyther starter slashing the bush in front of us. With twigs and grass raining down on us, we bolted from our hiding spot. Estelle was in front of me, though I couldn't fathom why, when during our morning jogs, she was always lagging behind. Then I realized, her feet were gliding over the forest floor; she was probably using her psychic powers to help her levitate and fly through the forest, leaving me behind. The little cheater! Estelle was running in the direction of where we left Lexy. Smart girl. In official Pokemon battles, 1 vs 1 or 2 vs 2 was a rule. However, outside, we could use as any Pokemon as we want; and using 2 Pokemon to capture 1 was better than just using 1. But the more Pokemon the trainer use, the harder it is to control and give them commands. Just as we were about to reach Lexy, I felt the wind blew past my face sharply, slicing into the thick branch in front of me. With a crack, the branch broke and crashed down just as I run past.
'Master!' Estelle cried out, before teleporting.
I risked a look back – the Scyther was still hot in pursuit. Gee, why was this Scyther so aggressive. I thought it wouldn't leave too far out from its swarm. Unless the swarm was also in pursuit. I doubled my pace. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Estelle had teleported somewhere to our right. All of a sudden, the Scyther was blown off course and it hit the tree with a sickening crack. Relying more on instinct that anything, quickly unclip an empty Pokeball from my bag and threw it at the motionless Scyther. Estelle teleported back to my side as I watched the Pokeball shook once, twice, then with a ding, it stilled.
'Did we do it, Master?' Estelle peered at the Pokeball.
'I think so, yeah,' I smiled. 'By Arceus, you are amazing, Estelle!'
'Master,' Estelle looked up into the trees. 'We should leave this place.'
I quickly collected the Pokeball and ran after Estelle, who had already glided quite a distance away. I almost forgot about Lexy and crashed straight into him just as we were about to exit the forest.
'Trainer?' Lexy asked in astonishment.
'Oh Lexy! We should run, now!' I grabbed him and tried to drag him with me, which was impossible.
'Why?' Lexy asked, still rooted to where he was.
Just then, the first of the Scyther swarm reached us, the rest close behind, judging by the buzzing sound of their wings.
'That's why,' I muttered under my breath.
One of the Scythers dash towards me, scythe gleaming in the sunlight. It bounced back from an invisible attack just as it was about to reach me, stunned. Enraged, the rest of the swarm hissed. 'SCY! THER! SCY!'
'Master, they say they are going to eat you.' Estelle informed me.
'Eat me? Why?' I asked, then realised the new addition to my team. 'Because I injured one of them, duh.'
'I do not know, Master. They seem pleased that they stumbled upon a human. There is no mention of their captured comrade, I do not think they care.' Estelle observed.
With a roar, Lexy stepped in front of me, he let out a powerful Twister, uprooting trees and bushes alike. His strength and control of Twister have improved by leaps and bounds and it was evident in this one. Most of the Scyther decided to flee upon seeing a huge dragon targeting a tornado at them, but a few unfortunate insects were caught in the carnage. Lexy walked amongst the destruction he caused.
'Eat Trainer? Bah! I will eat them!' Lexy announced, popping a dead Scyther into his mouth with a crunch. 'Yuck! Maybe crispy?' He blew a small ember onto a second and ate it, chewing with a thoughtful look.
'Come on, Lexy,' I surveyed the wreckage, slightly stunned. 'Thank you, both of you. You guys are amazing. Let's get out of here.'
