Twin Colors
By tremor3258
Chapter 13
Return battle
The brothers had described the nearby arena as a 'field'. Rose was far too Galarian to call it a court either. Its lines were just painted on some raw dirt, not packed down to clay, and had faded and softened with the rain. There were furrows and divots from old fights. Most of the field was still mud from the rain, gone sticky now that the sun was coming out.
Flying types were one of the best ways for farmers to handle bugs near crops, so Rose had figured their opponents had at least one between them. The field's lousy condition was going to make that a bigger advantage.
The brothers didn't seem too concerned on the upcoming battle since they were continuing their argument from the Pokemon Center.
"Triti just mentioned it, Ted? Why is it a big deal?" Ed continued. Ted had wormed out that Ed hadn't 'happened to spot two Naranja students' with Pokemon and was rightfully angry.
"If you know an opponent's Pokemon, you can build a specific strategy. And trainers get reputations, good and bad, fast. You want to go to Naranja, it won't be very pleasant if people think you're a cheat!" Ted raved.
He paused as they reached the field, with clenched fists. "Look, you want to cancel the match, I'll hand over the forfeit. There were other people listed you can challenge," he said, gritting his teeth. Rose was impressed. Ted and Mei had matched eyes, and to even offer to back down completely took mental fortitude. She knew how much a challenge dominated your thoughts.
"I think you're better than us, but not that much better," Mei said, starting to shadowbox. She was feeling it too and less eager to back down.
"I was going to be holding back against regular students. Even if you're battle trainers, I can go easy?" he offered. Ed looked appalled.
"Shame," Rose muttered.
"Good eyes and attitude," Ted praised, "You'll go far." Mei grimaced.
"No, you can go all out," she said, with a snide look at Rose.
"I need to do something. I may work the fields, but I do have honor as a trainer. My Pokemon won't have their best moves slotted, alright?" Ted said.
"We'll take it," Mei said quickly before Rose could push the odds against them more.
"Sun is on the side of it now, do you have any preference?" Ted asked. He was starting to do stretches to loosen up, while the younger Ed was bouncing on the balls of his feet, nervous.
"Relax, bro, we can still use the plan," Ted said, amused.
Mei held a hand up to block out the sun as she considered. There were still enough clouds in the sky to scatter the rays it wouldn't be an extra energy source. Good weather for a balanced match. Rose shrugged at Mei, indifferent.
"It's your homefield, you can pick," Mei spoke for both sisters.
The two boys just headed for the closest side in response. Rose and Mei walked close together to discuss final tactics as they headed to the other side.
"Azucena will be out first to paralyze, if possible, and get us the speed advantage," Rose murmured.
"I'm starting with Pome – with your hood down and what the nurse knew about our team, there's no question we're aroma girls, so I expect grass counters to start," Mei whispered back. Rose was wearing the blue and purple flower barrettes she'd been favoring this week.
"Buy me some space and I can get some real heat built up for whatever Ted's bringing," Mei continued quietly.
"You punched a tree in the third eye so hard its owner felt it," Rose said, equally quiet, "I'm not worried on your power." Mei preened a little at that.
The two reached where a trainer box had been crudely scrawled out on the side of the field. The two grabbed their chosen Poke balls.
"Ready!" Mei shouted and both twins waved. The brothers responded by starting their throws. The sisters hurried to respond in kind. Pome waddled happily on the field as Azucena flexed.
In a flare of light, a Fidough pawed the ground growling from Ed. The light from Ted's Poke ball expanded farther and stayed in midair. A Vespiquen buzzed menacingly, clacking her mandibles. Mei and Rose winced as they felt its presence spread out – moves were going to take more effort thanks to her ability.
"It's not the grass one, Ted," Ed said nervously.
"It's fine," Ted said, wiping his brow.
Rose intertwined her fingers and pointed at the evolved Pokemon. Mei nodded in agreement. Rose was setting herself more work if she was going to be working around literal friendly fire, but that Vespiquen was a problem.
"Set there?" Mei called. They didn't have a referee.
"Go!" Ed called, and three Pokemon burst into motion. Ted blinked as the other side stayed silent.
"ED!" Ted yelled as Ed was expecting some verbal command like on TV. The twins didn't need such to start their moves. Vespiquen moved closer to cover the Puppy Pokemon.
"Uh, Growl Rami!" Ed called out.
The rain beat down against her coat, drowning out all other sounds, even Azucena's breathing was gone, her presence only in their link together. This oak tree had been Grass – deep and huge and obvious. Reaching out it here, it was just a clearing, light and water crisscrossing to avoid any alignment.
She had centered herself here almost accidentally, but something highlighted the area to point it out to her. She'd spent the last time concentrating, seeking a guide. This time, she knew she'd had more than she wanted. She looked at the hole, rather than a single spot.
A million tiny points of growth all striving, a vast web, light on one flower throwing shade on the next, a tiny change in the stream's direction drowning some plants as the drier-tolerating varieties pushed them away.
There was no great power, no great elemental mystery. Today she had a clearer head and could take the lesson better. Grass was more than just the leafy blades and the tendrils that supported its energy. The seeds of the next generation, the announcement flowers of the current ones, all resounded off each other. And underneath, the whisper of wind and shadow of blades cast meant the sun was there, even if not visible
There weren't ways to deepen her strength here as she would have defined it last week, or last life. But looking past just the stems, her inner world exploded with color. The tendrils between her partners and her were blossoms, not just vines. Their flowers and the petals shed bounced off each other, a whole network of energy and connectivity she had missed seeing. A touch on one pushed the others, sometimes into ever greater motion.
She didn't understand how to maximize all of it, and it still needed nurturing and love and growth to get stronger, but the odd twistiness and erratic connections that had baffled her had rules they followed in the larger world. She knew enough rules for what she was she could keep moving forward with her partners.
Her mother was a single strong and damaged connection. The past bundle of memories, regrets, and triumphs forced on her had focused on growing a great forest of herself.
She was neither and she could finally start finding peace with that.
The cold and wet started to penetrate, the higher state falling away. She whispered thanks under her breath. She thought she heard an answering giggle, but it could have been her own or Azucena's of delight.
She wasn't where she wanted to be, even this early. Whatever had suggested the meadow she owed a great deal of gratitude. Their battle sync blossomed, and what she'd thought of the dance now had much easier steps to follow. She could see the flowers. Petals whirled in the space between the 'tendrils' as she'd thought of it, a true dance between her and her partner, a ballet of energy.
A touch of energy here and here sent things moving there. She'd been looking at and focusing on less than half her connection to her partners, the most obvious and direct tethers had all she'd thought to see. No wonder her timing had been poor.
Learning the shrine of the great tree had been occupied was a relief too. Having something strong start trying to make her a servant was scary. But being shoved away as part of a scheme didn't upset her self-identity like being rejected by a paragon of grass energy did.
Unfortunately, there were pests in her new worldview. Among the blossoms. Vespiquen had scattered metaphorical grubs in the way to intercept blossoms and chew on the vines. It would take more of both she and Azucena to put moves together, but at least they weren't as blind now for where to send the energy, and their speed was unaffected.
What they needed now was that speed, and she thanked Kieran again mentally for her help. She urged Azucena to assemble the move quickly over well. Azucena trotted forward on her little stubby 'legs', stun spore starting to secrete out from her 'bib'. They had worked on this yesterday and the Petilil spun as she had in practice, releasing a small 'blob' of paralytics as a concentrated packet.
While they'd started speed training, even a slow evolved Pokemon was still an evolved Pokemon, and Vespiquen angrily scolded Rami the Fidough, an enraging display to boost his physical attack. Thanks to the little Fidough's Own Tempo, the usual confusing effects weren't in play.
The goal was eventually to be able to cause the packet to spread at whatever distance they wanted to handle various countermoves. With Ted intent on setting up his brother, the Vespiquen was moving predictably enough they didn't need to worry today.
The spore packet ran into the air turbulence of her wings and broke apart, settling on the Beehive Pokemon. She grimaced and energy ran down her exterior, the crackle of paralysis – the flow was disrupted and choked by the stun spore. She'd have more trouble getting her moves out and occasionally it would simply fail.
Azucena continued her spin and started building another spore for the other Pokemon, but even doing it quickly without care, it would take a few seconds.
Pome was breathing in and out. He and Mei were letting the power build as much as possible into the Ember, boosting its temperature more and more. They let the growl from Rami wash over them, even if it caused some physical hesitation, it didn't affect this sort of attack.
Finally, Pome opened his jaws and let loose a spray of sparks. With everything the two had put it, they looked more like a tiny pack of comets. Vespiquen curled up slightly to help defend herself, but the bright Ember sparks still exploded like a little meteor shower.
She unfolded as the bits of smoke faded away to show burn marks, but the Honeycomb Pokemon was tough. Even with the type advantage, she was still more than ready to fight.
Azucena spun closer to her opponents and hurled another packet of spores. Rami looked back towards his trainer, but Ed was caught up in watching the spectacle of the strengthened Ember burst. Without instructions and not heavily trained, the loyal Puppy Pokemon took the stun spores head on.
Azucena flexed in triumph and then held her arms out, before suddenly clapping and squeaking cheers to Pome to build his energy. Rose's concern on Helping Hand was she needed to time it to Mei's attacks. Fortunately she seemed to be using the cadence from their last match, so Rose could let these crescendo a bit.
Azucena's big job for the match had been weakening both Pokemon so Pome would have an easy shot. Helping Hand's range was more than a court's width, so even barely visible to Pome half the field away, the tiny Petilil could cheer on the Fuecoco. And since the Petilil's entire available offensive move selections were grass based, her attacks wouldn't be more than scratch damage even if Rose was on Ted's level as a trainer.
Turgidly, the Vespiquen's wings beat faster into a Gust, and Azucena trotted to the side with a spin as the move finally got under way, while she kept the Helping Hand building.
Vespiquen knew what it was doing with the Gust and used her power advantage to be able to broaden it to sweep a large part of the field. Azucena couldn't dodge, but Rose and her saw it coming well enough to have started the spin in time to lessen the blow. The little Bulb Pokemon got sent tumbling but wasn't out of the battle yet.
Rose glanced at Mei briefly. Her face was set in concentration, but her weekend's training was doing some good on her pacing. Her face wasn't showing the effects of exertion from one big hit like the first match.
The air slightly shimmered around her, so she was keeping the output dialed high she was getting spillover from Pome, but her run through the trainers in Mesagoza West had apparently improved her control to not overextert. She hadn't been able to do that twice in a row Thursday without nearly collapsing.
Specialists could get a 'cheat' was one of those things Mei and Rose had read. Given the network of bonds between a team and trainer, the energy type of Pokemon a trainer studied hard and associated themselves with could serve as a sort of buffer to 'enter' another Pokemon of a type into that web without much additional disturbance.
Mei had only two Pokemon and was rooted deep into grass. She loved them, but she didn't have the sort of 'kindling' she was becoming aware she needed. The bark-covered branches she thought of her connection as had power running through them, but she had to keep those tendrils regrowing as her Fuecoco kept his fires hot.
Keeping Pome going at full power took a lot out of her, extra energy was having to 'burn' from the fields of her endurance to compared to what Terpsi needed. The last few days had been exertion, under an Elite-grade trainer for part of it, and that practice had helped expand her reserves.
Pome and her working more and more together were also slowly fine-tuning that the fuel went to his fire instead of up in smoke, though that would be a long process. Also hurting them was the Pressure effects from Vespiquen on the field, trying to assert itself over all the bonds and taking more energy out of all the other Pokemon on the field.
Azucena's Helping Hand was a complete blessing – what looked externally like of a series of cheers expressed itself on Mei's mental landscape as a tornado of flowers shot from Rose and Azucena. The petals settled on Pome's pyre and sent it to higher heights without effort on Mei or Pome's part.
Pome let loose again, another torrent of Embers pounding on the big bee. She made it through intact again, but rubbed the impact sites in irritation, clacking her mandibles. That one had hurt.
More flowers rained down from her sister and her starter. Her sister was underestimating her endurance and expecting her to halt the strong attacks. Rose is moving fast, go with what we have, Mei ordered Pome. The next burst wasn't nearly as bright, but they'd managed two shots before Vespiquen had another move ready, and the fire was already building up again.
Mei held up a hand with an ok. She could keep doing them at the slower level. Rose nodded, and the Petilil began glowing subtly as she strengthened herself, sneaking a Growth in between boosts to Pome.
"Ed, get the croc! The bulb can't hurt Honey," Ted ordered his younger brother. The Vespiquen swiveled away from Azucena, who looked miffed as the Honeycomb Pokemon fluttered over her head.
"You heard him, Rami! Fetch like I taught you! Covet," Ed ordered. The Fidough barked and dashed past Azucena. Hearts started to form around his head, before a crackle of lightning broke through the hearts, popping them. Rami whined in dismay as the paralysis stopped the move.
Azucena stuck her tongue out as she continued to clap in another Helping Hand. Pressure was actually less effective here than it would be against an Elite trainer. The relative strain of these small moves was much smaller on a move basis than something like Energy Ball or Fire Blast. Pressure had less to amplify.
Mei waved to Rose and pointed at Rami before holding up two fingers. They'd gotten lucky and Ted was smart enough to ignore the Distraction Petilil, and that puppy had been powered up by his partner.
Mei's plan was the sort of thing she and Rose had played around with before they'd gotten Pokemon. Rami's trainer had to vocalize commands and adding in the paralysis, it'd be a while before he could attack again. Azucena stopped her cheers and extended her skirt-limbs, soaking up what sun and energy she could from the environment, boosting her power with Growth again.
Pome meanwhile, used his final Helping Hand boosted shot into Honey. She charged through the flames, starting to smolder at this point, and before Pome could power up another shot brought a claw down in an air-ripping Slash.
The little Croc Pokemon shuddered but stayed up as he took the blow. Defiantly, he patted his tough scales and peered up at the angry queen bee.
Azucena finished powering up, as Rami staggered forward against the paralysis, hearts starting to surround his head again.
Rose took a deep breath. The flow of the world around them, the base of energy in Azucena that soared to the total heights (which wasn't a lot compared to the Ranger yet) their connection allowed. Ahead was the bright spot of Rami. Rose mentally connected the two and told Azucena to make the puppy's brightness her own.
Azucena grew a ball of green energy between her hands and tossed it forward. Rami yelped as the energy burst around him, then the light stopped growing and retracted back in, before a flow of green light zoomed into Azucena. She drank it down as the Puppy Pokemon slumped to a halt, stamina exhausted and out of combat.
Shimmering light flowed through the Petilil and the tears and impact of the Gust vanished, new growth covering it. Azucena flexed and stuck her tongue out as the Vespiquen turned again. They'd ignored her and let her set up, and Rami paid for it.
Ed started to reach up with the Poke ball to recover the little Fidough, but his reaction speed was glacial to the battle trainers. Pome reached up and tapped Honey on the back of her cell 'skirt' with a claw politely.
The bee Pokemon turned back around, and mandibles clacked in surprise as Pome's jaws were full of fire again. Honey raised her claws, but the lightning interrupted with the glow of the Slash, making it fitful and slow. Before she could bring it down, another wave of Embers struck her, finally knocking her out.
Rose clapped and jumped once in the air. They'd kept their cool through that monster Vespiquen and pulled it off. Well, half-off, but they were up 2-0 for knock outs.
Mei wasn't so necessarily restrained. "YES! Long live the republic, the queen is down!" she cheered.
Ted and Ed, recalling their Pokemon, froze in place to stare at her. "Kalos is just a flight away. No one else here has read the Pyroar Order books?" she protested.
Rose politely raised her hand.
"Anyone who I haven't made read the Pyroar Order books?" she clarified.
Rose put her hand down.
"Ted," Ed said plaintively looking at the Poke ball.
"We're not out yet. Still time for the good old fashioned Naranja Gauntlet. Keep the bulb busy!" Ted declared, throwing out his second. After a heartbeat, Ed followed giving a heavy toss that sailed over Azucena's head.
Rose looked at Mei mouthing 'Gauntlet?". Mei shook her head, she'd explain later.
Ted's next partner was another Fidough. This one was just a bit larger than Ed's, and probably had a lot more going on under its doughy exterior. The Fidough barked and started running across the field. Azucena chirped and started moving after the Puppy Pokemon but was brought up short as Ed's ball opened in front of her.
Ed's, surprisingly, was a male Pikachu, who buzzed excitedly. Azucena backed up slightly.
"Orko, don't let the Petilil near Pretzel! Electro Ball!" Ed ordered. The little mouse saluted with one free paw and crouched, a ball of electricity starting to form near his tail. The little electric-type's eyes widened as Azucena spun more Stun Spore, leading to Orko hastily launching the ball at the spores.
Azucena shielded her eyes – and stamped a 'root' in frustration, the spores had been vaporized. The Electro Ball wasn't aimed near her, and so most of the electricity ground out well away. What little carried didn't do much against an insulated grass Pokemon.
Rose nodded, seeing Ed's tactics. Electro Ball usually was fragile. You couldn't form them under fire. The upside was they were more powerful the longer you could put them together.
As quick as electric-types usually were, the move played to their strengths. Azucena and Rose were fast, but fast reactions for a Petilil on moves were treacle slow compared to a Pikachu. Orko was going to hit hard for a pet.
While Rose was distracted trying to get Stun Spores on Pretzel, the fairy-type had charged forward. The Pokemon briefly left trails of gold light behind as he body-checked into Pome. The croc gasped and tried to brace, but it wasn't enough against the more experienced Pokemon. Combined with the damage he'd taken already, Pome was knocked out.
Mei had braced herself in anticipation and her ears were only ringing softly after the KO. She quickly recalled Pome. "Retaliate?" she called out, as she was getting Terpsi ready.
"Take Down – cheap TM but you can't argue with the results," Ted called back. Mei chewed her lip briefly as she made her throw. That was not good news. Retaliate used the shock of a teammate's KO to channel to extra power. Take Down wasn't as powerful a move, and it had some recoil, but its power was consistently high.
And since it wasn't as powerful as a Retaliate charged by avenging a partner, it said a lot of favorable things about Ted as a trainer for taking down Pome in one hit
Terpsi, go for the rat, Mei instructed as she tossed her out. Getting this to a two on one was their best shot. The little Bounsweet hopped out and as the sync fell into place, she immediately went into a rapid spin to gather speed.
Mei hadn't been using this move's side effects as well as she should have against Rose Thursday. Yesterday's practice and a couple sharp words from Kieran had gotten the bugs out, and every rapid spin from Terpsi brought the storm faster and faster.
Orko squeaked as Azucena charged towards him, hopping backwards towards Pretzel. The little Petilil grinned and spun more Stun Spore towards Pretzel, aiming the packets near Orko. Speed wasn't quite as crucial, so she was able to build up a salvo of packets.
The Pikachu started building up charge to fry the packets again but launched the ball early with a grunt as Terpsi slammed into him from behind. Several of the pods impacted against the two immune Pokemon, but the electricity made the others explode, spreading paralytics over that part of the field.
"You're new, but electric types are immune to paralysis," Ed explained proudly as Orko ran through the resulting dusting of powder just fine. Terpsi merely hmphed and shook the dust off herself – Grass Pokemon biology and their typical nature to gather in groves in the wild translated to completely immunity to powder moves in trainer battles.
Rose just shrugged and pointed, not even smiling, just matter-of-factly. Between running into the Pikachu and Bounsweet, the spore clouds had spread enough to catch Pretzel, who huffed in dismay as the paralysis took effect on skin contact.
Azucena had been working on making sure that Stun Spore was big instead of dodging, and she took the Electro Ball right in her tiny 'chest'. The power went through her and into the mud. It steamed dry around her as the move ground out – this really wasn't a court in any sense. The little Petili brushed herself off despite being singed. Terpsi had forced the issue that with that and her resistance she hadn't taken much.
"Sorry, bro," Ed said.
"You did your job, I thought the fruit would glance off me to get speed first," Ted admitted.
Mei stared at Rose, not even using hand signs. While she wasn't a Psychic, Rose was pretty sure she got the message.
She wasn't to admit ever publicly that hadn't been a planned combination.
Azucena, her status move job done, hurled a Mega Drain into the slowed Pretzel, who winced as Azucena topped herself back up from the stolen energy. While Fidough looked like the sort of fluffy Pokemon who were good at taking ranged attacks, the Puppy Pokemon was instead physically a near-wall, tougher than many evolved Pokemon.
As Fidough tried to fight through the paralysis, Terpsi went after Orko. Mei knew her physical moves couldn't do much to the fairy-type. This time as Terpsi spun, green flashes of light surrounding her, a whirlwind of sharp leaves detaching and regrowing for that grass classic, Razor Leaf.
Mei and Terpsi couldn't fling them accurately yet, so they had to use it as a contact move now. They did get the added power and speed to the move a Pokemon had with moves of its natural type.. Orko yelped as he tried to run away, the attack slipping in. As they separated, the Pikachu was panting. Rose had a decent idea of their stamina from the pre-evolution in Resistor. Orko couldn't take much more.
Mei however, cursed. Rose looked over at the Bounsweet, surprised. Terpsi was moving with stiffness and small crackles of energy surrounding her. Either Orko had gotten a Nuzzle in or Terpsi had fallen afoul of the Pikachu's ability.
Rose pointed at Pretzel, who was stiffly gathering up energy for his next attack, then Terpsi. The inner world and moving in step with her Pokemon was a dance of joy, but the not talking thing was annoying. This was complicated to try and give via hand-signs, and Rose wasn't sure they were followed.
Azucena, if we can get another drain together with your boosts, that may do it. If Mei picked up for Terpsi to Play Nice to weaken Pretzel, then we can probably get two attacks in and that'll be the match. Rose thought to her partner.
The little Pokemon chirped agreement, set her shoulder analogues, and hurled another ball into Pretzel as he started to move forward, once again glowing gold.
All right, Rose is calling Pretzel and has done a ton of damage. Razor Leaf went well, once we can get it together, let's take out the rat. Mei directed.
Terpsi turned and stiffly started to spin, leaves beginning to separate, then grimaced and stumbled – they'd pushed something on the wrong channel and lost the move, though at least it didn't cause backlash.
Rose glanced over at Mei, surprised she'd gone for the other one even if she'd misread what attack Rose had requested. Rose's fists clenched as Azucena hurled another Mega Drain into the Fidough. It wasn't enough to stop Pretzel, who slammed into Azucena. She skidded backwards – then stumbled and started rolling, head over root. The mud had dried out enough from the repeated electro balls Azucena didn't have the traction she'd been expecting.
Dizzy, she rolled out of bounds before she could bring herself to a stop. She wasn't unconscious, but she was out of the match. She chirped angrily as she got up and held her 'arms' out to be recalled.
Ugh, you had this. Good lesson for the future when we're not on a court, so at least we learned something. Rose thought. Azucena nodded as she was swept up. She'd kicked butt, no hard feelings. Even without the sweep, she'd put them close enough they could still win.
Ivy mentally stretched and came out, chest puffed out and proud as he got deployed to finish it. Pretzel barked tiredly as he turned to face the cat. Two boosted Mega Drains and a couple Take Downs had taken a lot out of him.
"I'd like to say we planned that, but nasty bad luck," Ted said sympathetically. Rose shrugged philosophically. They had some luck with paralysis blocking moves which had let them get this close. With more experience, Rose and Azucena could have used the surroundings better, but some bad luck with the good was to be expected.
The two Pokemon nodded at each other and went back into motion. Ivy's claws glowed black as he carried that aspect of sharpness over himself to set himself up a bit better against Pretzel's sheer fortitude. Pretzel meanwhile stared, eyes watering, and Ivy backed up, the fairy knockdown of Baby-Doll Eyes and the dark honing cancelling each other out, besides a little sharper aim for the Sprigatito.
Terpsi squeaked in angry annoyance as she got introduced to Electro Ball, though the same grounding effect Azucena got worked in her favor with type-advantage.
Mei had spotted the drier ground, and Terpsi could carry her spin to start farther away to get up to speed, even with the move coming together slowly under paralysis. Ed yelled for Pikachu to dodge, and Orko looked around in confusion, not sure which way to jump to safety. Terpsi's leaves slashed into the Pikachu, leaving him knocked out.
Mei cheered as Ivy jumped to the side, letting loose a barrage of the weaker Leafage into Pretzel. The leaves thudded in a clean hit, but even with Pretzel's accumulated damage, he kept moving, though he was trembling a bit. Ivy hissed in annoyance.
Pretzel pawed the ground, static from paralysis gathered around him, but he still started moving forward, hesitant for the first few steps. As the channels stayed clear to his partner, he started moving faster and more confidently, the gold traces of a Take Down starting to build around him.
Ivy kept side-hopping and sent more leaves forward, making it harder for Pretzel to build momentum into the attack.
"I've got this," Mei said. Rose refused to look over as she needed to watch Pretzel so Ivy could concentrate on evading. She was therefore surprised as Pretzel when Terpsi rocketed forward from across the field in a cloud of leaves.
The ball of leaves surrounding the Fruit Pokemon collided with the building Take Down. Terpsi went rolling backwards, unconscious. Pretzel howled victory, then fell over, the Take Down recoil finishing him off.
Ivy stepped forward in confusion, and tapped Pretzel with a paw (claws retracted, this was a friendly match) a few times, but the unconscious Fidough didn't get up. Giving a mental shrug, Ivy sat on his haunches and began grooming himself in calculated disinterest.
Ed sighed in disappointment as he recalled his Pokemon. "Good match," he said, a bit sullen.
Ted, however, clapped after recalling Pretzel. "That was a lot better fight than I thought it would be! Good match."
"You're definitely a battle trainer. Great battle," Mei commented as she recalled Terpsi. She kissed the Poke ball. A double KO had been a beautiful dramatic finish to the Multi Battle.
The four walked to midline and the twins bowed. Ted nudged Ed subtly and the two extended hands to shake on the match, which the sisters accepted.
"I've got it Ed," Ted said calmly as he transferred a forfeit over electronically. Mei gave a thumbs up as Rose bowed again.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do much, bro," Ed said, looking miserable.
"I wasn't expecting Helping Hand. It's not your fault," Ted explained as the four began walking back to the Center.
"That Vespiquen is a menace," Mei complimented. Ted grinned.
"Honey's a great help in the fields and at the court. I'd been planning to use Spite to drain off your Fuecoco's attacks combined with her ability. With the Helping hand boost, Honey was being roasted too fast to empty out Ember," Ted admitted.
"And besides Pome, Pretzel could handle Terpsi," Mei said. Both brothers nodded.
Mei continued, affronted, "See why foreknowledge is so advantageous?" Ed rubbed the back of his head, a bit chagrined from someone a head shorter lecturing him.
"I shouldn't have gone to the challenge and just held back, but we don't get a lot of Naranja students through," Ted said, "Thanks for taking the offer though. Getting someone good enough to see through me doesn't happen much at Los Platos, and I went right in for the lock."
"Been there," Rose said quietly.
"It's doing research like in the pros, isn't it?" Ed asked, still bothered by the general chastisement.
"Not your research," Mei said, a bit stiff. Rose nodded.
"They're right bro. In a tournament, if a nurse did something like that, they'd probably be suspended. Titri's our cousin, you see. I'm happy to help keep the town safe and the crops happy. If you want to go places, Ed, you have to keep this in mind," Ted said.
"You wanted me to get a trainer win," Ed protested.
"That's why you Swaggered," Rose said, putting a couple pieces together.
"I thought a couple new Naranja students would be training dummies; Ed really isn't bad. Easy way to buff up a Fidough," Ted acknowledged.
Ed shrugged and said, "Sorry."
"We should have been more fluid in the plans, really. I don't know Petilil that well and I wasn't expecting Helping Hand," Ted admitted.
"We got some luck with paralysis early too," Mei said, gracious in victory.
As the Center came back into view, Ed asked, "What did she mean first?"
Ted grimaced but Mei wasn't that gracious to avoid explaining. "Oh, battlers don't just get more power with the sync. Reaction time and time forming moves with the Pokemon is much faster. He could have done a Gust, to keep any powder at long-range away, and still have time to go for the Swagger before your Rami could do any physical attacks. If I were to estimate, Swagger would put Rami past Pretzel on raw force. But he concentrated on buffing you and left himself open."
"I think it was sweet," Rose said quietly.
"He's got real skills and potential," Ted said awkwardly.
"Bro," Ed said, a bit taken back.
"Hey, you've got physical moves down, but you don't tend to set down andyou're your status moves well. They can really set you up. That little bulb really showcased it," Ted complimented.
"Orko had some great combinations. I wish I'd recorded that hit against Terpsi. You maximized contact for Static, right?" Rose praised. Ed nodded.
"Multi battles are something though. Getting doubled up on was rough," Ed complained.
"Lot to keep track of, see why only the pros do full on double battles. You timed your Growths in between the Helping Hands?" Ted asked. Rose nodded.
"Yeah, those were a real help to getting Pome's fire to take out your Vespiquen. It is going better, Rose? This helped today, right?" Mei asked, suddenly anxious.
"I'm seeing a lot better. I still need plenty of practice," Rose said. That hone claws had been a little odd to form yet, off-element moves seemed to be a concern.
"Once she gets powder moves all the way down, that Petilil is going to be hell to fight," Ted predicted.
"That was kind of stressful anyway," Ed said darkly.
"Really, it's our fault. The Fuecoco, you said Pome, right? The Fuecoco had all our attention and she slipped in a textbook set-up while we weren't watching," Ted said grimly.
"Take Down came out fast even as tough as Pome is. Oh, just for something I've been looking into – do you have any fairy moves to attack? I know they wouldn't do well against Pome," Mei said.
"When I saw the Fuecoco I unslotted it. I thought with twins you might both have one," Ted explained.
"Annoying call, but a fair assumption," Mei declared.
The nurse hastily got their Pokemon treated as Rose ordered a Taxi. Ted bought a few Potions when the nurse returned. With a glance at the nurse, handed them to the twins as an extra apology.
"I can't let my brother get bad habits. He's thinking about Naranja and the circuit still," Ted explained.
"I've got a long way to go," Ed protested.
"So do we," Mei said.
"Thank you again for the match, anyway. It was a close battle," Rose said.
The brothers nodded, and after another round of apologies, walked away. The twins headed over to the Taxi stand after Mei glared at the nurse again.
"Shame no fairy moves in that fight," Mei said, "Or Spite. Since we're looking for those types right now."
"Azucnea has Charm, though it's not a very energetic fairy move. I'm not sure if I'm imagining a preference, but I felt something at the clearing. Maybe we were concentrating too hard on green in Hammerlocke," Rose said.
"Yeah, but no ghost moves at all for Pome. I still want to follow up that with Professor Dendra," Mei said, then sighed, making a connection
"Charm, right. Terpsi should have hit Pretzel with Play Nice in there," Mei castigated herself.
"There was a lot going on," Rose said equably.
"If Pretzel hadn't hit as hard, Azucena probably could have recovered in-bounds. She would handle the pooch easily, instead of a big dramatic double KO. Thinking about it, it could have gone badly at that point," Mei said.
"You had a dramatic finish in mind?" Rose asked.
Mei looked down and pressed her fingers together. "Well, I didn't know exactly what would happen. I was hoping Terpsi would stay in it. But a Take Down wouldn't leave much left for Ivy at that point, right? Worst case?" she said.
Rose started looking ahead, but her voice was steady. On the Rose scale of Not Being Angry, this was mild irritation. "Rest isn't a very expensive TM either," she said.
"How often do you see that in Galar on the Gym Circuit?" Mei said defensively.
"How often do Fidough show up there? He was tough. He could have snoozed all his stamina back up while Ivy and Terpsi scratched at him," Rose predicted.
"Ivy was doing something with his claws," Mei noted.
"We're still working that one in, especially if we're trying to dodge at the same time. We did cover both set-up and debilitate strategies when we were in Galar," Rose said, looking again. Definitely Mild Irritation on the Rose scale.
"Yeah, and how they can be countered. If you're strong enough, it's less a problem, right?" Mei said, trying to be philosophical about it. Then she sighed.
"I hope it's not the Knight, but she didn't have real equals. Maybe it's from Terpsi, too. She's going to end up with the big kicks. That Spite strategy would have worked in a one-on-one," Mei forecasted.
Rose giggled as a thought occurred.
"Hmm?" Mei asked, prickly.
"I know that trainer thought you had a preference or a sub-affinity, but a lot of Ghost moves are all about disabling, and some of their best damage like Hex is exploiting a weakness," Rose explained.
"Fairy tends towards hard hits or healing instead of buffing" Mei reminded her sister, "Do you think we got it backwards?"
"There are some pretty notable grass/ghost Pokemon. You're all bare branches right? What if it's not ice about to come in, but things at rest? Or just you like the big trees for your aesthetic," Rose said.
"That's a thought," Mei allowed, "It could be we're looking at filling in what we're missing – you said a little about things not fitting together last night."
"I don't remember last night, but I can see how we're thinking maybe fairy with the meadow. It could also be I've a natural knack to the flower side of Grass Pokemon," Rose said. She sounded a bit doubtful, but her eyes sparkled as she thought, looking for something she missed.
"What I saw in the meadow was more of a system or a web. Internally, I'd seen the direct connections, but I'd missed how they interacted with each other. The buds and the petals between. Being there helped me see more of it," Rose explained.
"Nice you got a revelation," Mei said, though Rose appreciated she made an effort to hide the jealousy. A less-experienced observer of Mei would say she succeeded.
"Kieran has a lot of Pokemon, maybe he can show us something. You said it felt like stuff running underneath all the green? You can have a psychic preference without being psychic after all," Rose suggested.
Rose sighed as she looked around for the Taxi, but it wasn't in view yet.
"I'm so used to just being 'you're Grass' that I hadn't even thought that I might need to work on developing with a type, until this all got dumped on me. It's a bit scary, but at least Thursday showed you need to work at it," Rose admitted.
"You suddenly trying to keep tidy is weird, but last night was terrifying. Make me listen to you sometimes, okay, if you need to talk? I know I'm either being chilly or extra-me right now, and I may need a knock on the head myself," Mei said.
"I'm sorry I don't remember," Rose said, not apologizing for Mei's reaction to what was, apparently, her ordeal.
Mei was self-centered on occasion, not oblivious. "Sorry," she said contritely, "I'm not blaming you."
"At least all this isn't something that happened to them," Rose said brightly. She reached into her purse and brought a compact out and flipped it open, then started doing light touch up.
"Better than it was?" Mei asked.
"Coming off a win helps," Rose admitted, "But I'd happy to just remember being me all the time."
"Right, just you. Without prompting from me, you timed a bunch of moves because of our match Thursday, right?" Mei asked. Rose nodded.
"How many Growths did you slip in there too?" Mei asked. Rose held up two fingers in reply.
"Do you think you could have gotten all that off with what we knew four days ago?" Mei asked.
"Just with what Mom taught us to be ready for? My partners and I would be lucky to move at all," Rose replied grimly.
The two sighed.
"I can't give it up either. I don't know how or why we got picked, and I'd prefer if we didn't get their perspective, but there are advantages to the mess. Victor's convinced we're former ace trainers whose training got shredded, recuperating at Naranja," Mei said, giggling.
"I don't want to be her. I really don't. I want to find Rose," Rose said, "But having a lot of ideas of how matches go and how to train really is speeding up the search." Rose put the compact away and looked at her hand.
"I think the suddenly being them instead of us at the start hurt. If we had gotten this level without nearly getting eaten, I would dedicate all my wins at Wyndon to the Trio of Creation," Mei said darkly.
"They meant well. They aren't human and they meant well. Pokemon thoughts are even more alien when they aren't partnered. Though on the 'why here' thing. Ted's the best Paldean trainer I've met so far. If he'd been solely focused on winning instead of helping his brother, he might have won," Rose estimated.
"I hope my brain would kick in if it was a bit closer, but it would have been a tougher match," Mei admitted, "I bet he could give Kabu a good fight with his skills, especially if he has a couple more partners."
"In Galar I'd expect he would have a small sponsorship at some point and have a few badges in his history, just being a trainer with his skills. Even if he plan in his life was farming and not the championship, it's just what you do," Rose said. Her eyes glimmered briefly, then she sighed.
"You think we're being too hard because we've lived and breathed the Circuit," Mei said. Rose nodded.
"I really regret I haven't had time to read up on past Padlea society. I'm starting to think Nemona's weird since she set such a long-term goal like the Gym challenge early," Mei mused.
"She's been very kind. If she likes battle and those skills, that's what the Gyms are for," Rose declared.
"Naranja sets the Treasure Hunt up like a traditional journey. It's even in their brochures. The Academy's been here so long they don't know when it was founded. Maybe since the 'elites' went on the journey, it taught other Paldeans not to? I don't think the dragons care much if not many people are doing a gym challenge," Mei said.
Rose looked up at the clouds. "The dragons still went to an awful lot of trouble. I'd rather not be on a sacred mission, though. The last round of heroics had far too many lives riding on a couple stalled-out Ace Trainers," she said, shivering.
"Just work on being good enough, and your biographies later will put one in for you," Mei suggested, "Having a super-Pokemon hand power to you is kids' stuff, really young kids too. I think our mission is the one all trainers are supposed to be on. Live and be with Pokemon," Mei intoned.
She grinned and said, "I wouldn't mind being a hero this time, though."
Rose rolled her eyes at her sister. "It's a lot more work than it looks in the movies. And it is only afterwards other people might see you're one. If the Ranger had been a hero, the Sundial wouldn't have been lost to a dimensional fracture," she warned.
"You were having to deal with the last me though. Or what seems to have been me," Mei said, "Or a could have been me. I don't want it to be… Anyway!" Mei shook her head.
"But I know my limits aren't up to saving a region even if I had some PR team clearing the way. But keep moving is what you're saying now, right?" Mei retorted. Rose could only nod.
The ride back to Naranja had been simple enough once a Taxi finally deigned to go to Los Platos. As usual with the Squawkabilly, conversation was difficult. Mei spent the time reading an e-book on the basics of double battle strategy, so she could talk to Kieran about their win. It was certainly its own field, and she quickly got lost down a rabbit hole of hyperlinks looking up term definitions.
They'd texted the group chat, though most people were dispersed to start considering lunch options. It'd be about noon by the time they got back.
Rose had taken photos riding in the other direction just yesterday. She also concentrated on her phone, reading up on type philosophies from what she and Mei had been talking about fairy and ghost.
Well, to be honest to herself, she was reading to inform for about a minute before she switched to reading up on the Internet about type philosophies for amusement.
Even in the first page of results on grass, she could pick any personality she wanted to be associated to grass. Grass was prickly, insidious, nurturing, delicate, and resilient, to pick a bouquet of traits people were willing to defend. Ghost and fairy weren't much narrower.
Out of curiosity, she checked some of the traditionally stereotyped types. Dark had its defenders, with those who were in it prevent bad luck or simple trickery instead of maliciousness.
Poison was as complex as grass – with its moves using other moves to gain effect, there was a lot of teamwork cited by its defenders. Moves like acid armor or coil, boosting the user with small amounts was highlighted. Even healing in some cases.
A couple of the techniques highlighted were apocryphal, and Rose switched to a more factual site to confirm which ones were real. That rabbit hole led to abilities and by the end she made a note that Shroomish were available in Paldea as a consideration for future team building.
If she found one she got along with, it might be worth taking as a partner. She didn't have a 'must-have' list of species, but a physical equivalent of Azucena to sleep opponents would be an easy addition. And Spore was a lot harder to avoid than the other powder moves.
There were a few other mushrooms in Paldea. If Mei's theory about her was right, Foongus might be uncomfortable, poison rubbing against fairy. Also, they doubled up a bit for Azucena's role. She had been looking into speed strategies before she got her partners, and it seemed a natural fit. Toedscool's very odd Ability may not be a good fit. She didn't want to rule either out yet.
Especially Toedscool. They were adorable forest mushroom octopi.
By the time she'd finished saving photos of them, they were coming in for a landing at Naranja.
The ground was still moist here as well, though the walkways were almost dry. Mei rubbed her eyes as they left the cab. She held off talking until they were far enough away to safely remove ear plugs.
"I shouldn't have started clicking links" she lamented, "Do you know they've traced the origin of the modern Double Battles ruleset to early Unova? Apocryphally to a trainer named 'the Heartbreaker'. They think it started as a reenactment of the two princes' legend."
"I hadn't thought where it came from. Since it's more common in Sinnoh and Hoenn, I thought it was some holdover from the old partner system pre-Poke ball. You've said before they didn't switch to common Apricron usage until after the Indigo regions contacted, right?" Rose said, her excellent recall coming in again.
"That's probably why double battles are more in use there, though points to the homeland that Sinnoh's original population didn't restrict partnering at all. Most tribes needed an Apricorn thrown at their heads to get a clue," Mei said, "But the League rules seem to have been written in Unova."
"I guess the Apricorn having a slower effect back in Solaceon is another bit to your point on how slowly culture moves?" Rose suggested.
"Kanto did squash a lot of traditions with its settlement, but not all of them," Mei said.
"Though speaking of Kanto traditions: there was still rice left in the cooker. Let me do lunch, so we can try and have a light-hearted meal?" Mei offered.
"Yeah, my appetite wasn't there by the end. Speaking of breakfast, are you setting your alarm early tomorrow?" Rose asked.
"Way early," Mei moaned, "I have to get pastries for the floor or I'm going to get dirty looks all year," Mei predicted. She explained, with a small amount of tactful editing, how she'd annoyed Mela and the floor early yesterday.
"That's a good peace offering," Rose said brightly, "We're going to be here as where 'home' is until next summer, mostly. I seem to be stuck on waking up early, so I can come help haul. You're not getting up before sunrise, right?"
"Dragons, no! Why, though? Did you have a previous appointment?" Mei asked, surprised.
"I've been picking up Hoppip off the ledges. The wind sticks them against the building and they're not strong enough to fight the breeze to get back in the air. Alamy and her partners have been helping carry them, and then we enjoy the roof. It's very relaxing up there early," Rose explained.
"Oh, that's why there's been less around after the first day," Mei said, a bit surprised Rose did have an appointment with someone not her. She tried to shake off the uncomfortable feeling.
"You don't have to come if you'll be busy making friends. My suitcase has an opening big enough to put boxes in so they'll be easy to transport," Mei said.
"Oh, thanks!" Rose said brightly, "Let's go eat!" Rose fairly skipped ahead.
Mei stopped for a second, then shook her head to try and clear it.
She's got things she wants to do. We knew we'd find other people to talk to here. She isn't just here to be a sidekick or hang around me. And I'm irritated. No wonder it didn't take much to push her into saying she hated me, Mei thought.
"Hey?" Rose said, coming back, "You're not sleepy after the ride, are you?"
"No, and not too tired from the match," Mei said.
"Right, so stopped like that to enjoy the sun, then?" Rose said, but smiling, "I'll help chop, come on."
Well, I said back to Naranja, but pacing that was a good stopping point. Check in with the canon characters next time.
Ed names his Pokemon after Spanish mythological creatures.
This list of things the twins are having to put on the back-burner without school even starting yet is impressive. (Whatever Hannah was trying with training. Getting a long-term fix for the funding situation. Why Paldea is odd about achieving potential. If the dragons actually put them on a mission or they're just supposed to be themselves. What the connection is between Hannah and the Solaceon Ruins. If their father's alive. If there's a very strong wild Pokemon out to grab a Grass-specialist. If Florian actually exists because they keep missing him).
On top of that with the schoolwork starting, making friends, the Treasure Hunt coming up, and all that Pokemon training they're trying to get done.