The speakers in the challenger's waiting room crackled, breaking Longwei from his meditation and Luxio from her nap. "Longwei Sun to the field, your match is starting."
'Finally.' Longwei exhaled as he rose from the bench and made his way to the doorway together with his disciple. He firmly placed his hands upon the double doors and threw them open.
The final corridor leading to the main area was dimly lit, yet what lay beyond was anything but. The stadium's main lights had been activated owing to the late hour, and so the arena ahead was lit up as if the sun were directly overhead.
Luxio could sense the tension in the environment. Instinctually, she knew the importance of the corridor she was walking through and of the outlined field beyond. She knew that she would soon be tested. Tested where many strong pokémon have also fought. Her nerves and spirit swirled in ways they never had before. For the first time since she was just a cub, she felt anxious.
But the calming aura of her human kept that anxiousness from overwhelming her. She shook her head, blinked, and focused. She knew she was strong enough. Her human and the other human had even said she was strong enough. She just needed to remember what her human taught her. He had said she was ready, so that meant she was.
By her side, as always, was Longwei. He walked through the dimly lit corridor calmly, radiating the aura of a scholarly sage. His posture was immaculate, his face gentle, and his steps deliberate. His hands were held together in front of his chest, hidden within his white robe's sleeves. He appeared so calm that one would think he was within his own house and casually strolling to his private library, eager to enjoy a new book and a fresh cup of tea.
Longwei Sun was no stranger to arenas. He had fought within many in Yongyu, where much more was at stake. Here, however, he had no doubt of victory, and he had little concern regarding the consequences of his victory. Sinnoh's "gym challenge" expected the challenger to succeed, after all. Even encouraged it. As such, there would be no harm in him and Luxio leaving today as the victors. Well, so long as he was polite and gave the sect face, of course.
The two breached the mouth of the arena. The sharp change in lighting almost blinded Longwei, but he made no outward appearance of it and continued his calm strides as his vision adjusted and let him take in the arena before him.
The rectangular field itself was massive, large enough to comfortably accommodate hundreds of cultivators and two lesser titans at once. A mortal would likely find themselves out breath were they to run from one end of the arena to the other, assuming they could even make the distance in one go. Longwei, at his present stage of cultivation, would have to strain his lungs just to be heard from the other end. It wasn't the largest arena he had seen, but it was not small either. It was clear to him that this arena was intended for powerful techniques, and the dirt flooring that could be easily repaired with earth techniques further reinforced that.
However, usage of the entire field was reserved for higher-stage battles where the higher power scale would necessitate a larger arena. His was a no-badge challenge, so only a quarter of the field would be used. The stadium was quite much for one that took on no-badge challenges, and Longwei wondered why they hadn't built a separate, smaller arena for such cases.
The stadium's seats were mostly empty. A very small crowd of no more than a hundred people total sat in the seats closest to the middle. Their numbers seemed much smaller than they were due to the hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of empty seats all around them.
Most of the spectators seemed to be regulars that treated the stadium more as a hangout spot than as a serious spectacle, chatting with each other amicably and generally enjoying themselves. The only real outliers were the juniors, who were paying rapt attention. Longwei noticed these were the same juniors who had observed his lessons earlier.
'They likely wish to see the effectiveness of my teachings and learn more at the same time. Quite studious, if only all juniors were so proactive in regards to their betterment.'
Finally, he reached his destination. Longwei stopped in the marked square he had been informed by the gym staff to stand in. Luxio remained at his side, knowing it was not yet time for her to take to the field.
Across from them was a man who looked to be in his mid to late teens. He was wearing a slightly more impressive uniform that had more blue in it than the rest of the gym staff. His short brown hair spiked upwards in the back, reminding Longwei of a dewott's hair.
The Gym Leader placed a hand to the side of his own head, and the vocalization device they had provided for Longwei crackled in his ears. "Longwei Sun, huh?"
Longwei heard the voice clearly, and noted that the sound was not being broadcast through the stadium's speakers. The Gym Leader was speaking to him privately.
He continued speaking, his tone casual as if it were an ice-breaker. "Not often someone starts their Gym Challenge so late. Any reason for that?"
But Longwei was a veteran cultivator from Yongyu. He had survived scheme after scheme ranging from fellow disciples seeking to cripple him all the way to his very own sect elders seeking to turn him into a pill furnace. As a cultivator with no backing, his only protections from these schemes was his own strength, cunning, and fortune. He either learned how to navigate through webs of lies and treachery or he died. He chose the former.
As such, it was easy for him to detect the trace amounts of suppressed hostility hidden beneath the man's tone. 'Hmph, perhaps this one is not as accepting of victorious challengers as I had been lead to believe. It seems I won't be receiving a grand payout due to pettiness. So be it.'
Longwei spoke in a friendly voice that contained hidden undertones of mockery. "Why, to defy the heavens, of course."
Keith Ohagi frowned. He had no idea what that meant, but it sounded like an insult. When Keith next spoke his voice was carried through the stadium's speakers, delivering the gym's practiced line without any of its usual theatrics that his siblings would have put on. "I am Keith Ohagi, one of three Gym Leaders of the Jubilife Gym, and I will test if you are worthy of the Survey Badge."
Not all the speakers were active and the audio levels were kept fairly toned down, but it was more than enough for those present to hear.
A male referee wearing the gym's uniform stepped up to the side of the field, his own voice carrying through the speakers as well. "This will be a zero-badge battle between the challenger Longwei Sun and the defender Keith Ohagi of the Jubilife Gym. Standard rules apply. Trainers, send out your pokémon!"
Longwei nodded to Luxio, and she walked to her side of the field. Meanwhile, Keith Ohagi unclipped a standard pokéball and released a quilava onto his side of the field.
The fire-badger scanned the area for a brief moment before it locked eyes with Luxio, who looked back at it with a blank expression. Luxio's usual cheery and mischievous demeanor was gone. Her nerves were too fried, and she sensed a pressure in the air. All she could do was focus on the coming battle. All she could do was her best.
Unheard by those on the field, the crowd murmured to each other. Speculations and assumptions passed through them, and even those who only came to hang out became enraptured by what was transpiring.
"Did they say this was a zero-badge battle? I thought the old guy was an ace!"
"Is he from a different region?"
"Why'd Keith send out a quilava? Aint this a zero-badger?"
A thin translucent barrier shimmered into existence around the smaller field before fading into almost complete transparency. The referee raised a small flag. "The battle begins…" he swung the flag down. "now!"
"Qui—"
Keith's voice transmitted over the stadium's speakers, but before he could get even a single word out Luxio had already fired a weak Thunder Shock and jumped back. The thin bolt of lightning arced across the field in an instant and struck Quilava's nose. It stung, but didn't do much other than elicit a twitch.
"—lava, Ember!"
A stream of embers shot across the field, but compared to lightning they were slow. Luxio hyperfocused on the battle, everything else fading to nothing, and moved sideways to evade the attack's path. She kept her ears attentive for an order from Longwei, but since no order came she stuck to the plan.
"Quilava! Use—" a weak Thunder Shock struck Quilava on the head, "Flame Wheel!"
Quilava engulfed itself in a ring of fire and charged forwards. Another weak Thunder Shock was fired, but it failed to penetrate the barrier of flames. Luxio remembered what to do next and prepared herself.
Longwei observed the battle calmly. Things were going as planned.
The crowd's murmuring re-ignited. Flame Wheel wasn't a move they often saw in zero-badge battles, especially not so early. Keith was taking the match much more seriously than he should against a zero-badger. More of them began to believe that maybe this trainer really was a foreign ace.
Keith narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Why hadn't Longwei given an order? Was this guy really trying to win without giving a single one? Keith had half a mind to raise the bar again just to spite him, but knew he was already pushing his luck in this zero-badge match as-is.
Quilava drew closer and Keith saw Luxio's stance go wide as she bared her teeth and prepared another Thunder Shock. It was pointless, they'd already shown that her control of ranged Electricity was too weak to pierce the Flame Wheel, and Quilava wouldn't be completely stopped by her Intimidation. Maybe this trainer really was a rookie.
"…!" Keith's eyes went wide and his pupils constricted. They had never actually prepared a Thunder Shock before; they had always fired without warning! He hadn't been expecting such a trick in a zero badge match!
Keith shouted in alarm for Quilava to abort its direct charge, but it was too late. Quilava was too close, and Luxio had already finished her preparations.
A secretly Charge'd Thunderbolt shot out from Luxio. The thick jagged arc of lightning cut through the veil of flames like a scythe through wheat, then slammed into Quilava with a thunderous boom! Quilava immediately seized up and slid across the floor. Luxio leapt sideways to avoid the still-flaming pokémon.
Luxio waited. She needed to see if Quilava could keep fighting or not, and she also needed those flames away to keep "harassing". She could prepare another Charge'd Thunderbolt and hit Quilava while they were still recovering, but her human had warned her against overexerting herself.
Keith's heart pumped and his face warmed up in furious embarrassment. How dare this old man make a mockery of him?! Keith noticed Quilava's flames were still up, which meant his pokémon hadn't fainted yet. He still had a chance! "Quilava, use Bulldoze!"
Longwei scoffed and gave his first order of the match. His tone was level and calm, but also carried an immensity to it. With a single word, everyone could feel his authority through the stadium's speakers. "Bite!"
The flames around Quilava dispersed, revealing it shakily trying to right itself. A light-brown sheen encompassed its paws and formed over its front like a shield—but Luxio pounced onto it from the side and bit down with her mouth coated in darkness, making the energy around Quilava shatter!
Keith saw his chance. "Overheat!"
The crowd were shocked to hear Keith order such a powerful move in a zero badge match… But it was for nothing. There was no response from his pokémon. Quilava had already fainted in Luxio's jaws.
Luxio released her grip on Quilava and moved away, happy but a bit overwhelmed by everything.
The referee blew his whistle and raised a flag to pause the match since a pokémon had fainted. He then looked to Keith, waiting for him to signal the end to the match. The challenger had more than demonstrated that they were deserving of their first badge already.
Keith's only response was to glare at Longwei and return Quilava. He then unhooked another pokéball, releasing a dewott onto the field. Luxio shook her rising nervousness away and prepared for round two.
The referee failed to hide his grimace. That was one of the dewott that Keith had been personally training for a while. It definitely wasn't suited for a zero-badge challenge! But the referee had no say in this matter, so he did his job. "The battle will resume… now!"
"A—" just as had happened in the first round, a weak Thunder Shock immediately found it's way onto Dewott's face. The super effective move bothered him much more than it had against Quilava, but he didn't let it show. "—qua Jet!"
A startled yelp slipped from Luxio as Dewott shot towards her much faster than Quilava had. In her panic she forgot what she had been told to do when this happened, so instead she did what came natural to her line.
She wreathed herself in electricity to meet the attack head on.
Dewott's heart skipped a beat when his much-larger opponent bared her fangs and leapt at him, crackling with electricity and exuding an aura of terror. But, thankfully for him, he never planned to meet her head on.
Instead he changed direction to narrowly avoid Luxio's pre-emptive leap, touched his feet to the ground, and threw out his scallop shells that were now cloaked in Water energy. The two Razor Shell attacks shot forward in an arc like two halves of a circle and bit into Luxio's side, then quickly flew back to his waiting hands. Such a move was only feasible thanks to the short distance between them.
"Maintain your distance!" Longwei shouted sternly, prompting Luxio to rush away from Dewott. "Do not forget what I have taught you!" He scolded.
Keith knew what would come next. But Dewott only had a handful of ranged option. Not willing to just let it happen and not having time to deliberate further, Keith came to a quick conclusion. "Water Pulse!"
Dewott quickly spun his water-cloaked hands in front of himself and thrust a thick ring of water forward right as Luxio fired another Thundershock, but the lightning was just small enough to fit within the ring. It struck his extended hand, which he reflexively pulled back and soothed with his other hand. Luxio, meanwhile, avoided his Water Pulse entirely.
Dewott paused for some guidance, but in the mere seconds of waiting another small Thunder Shock was fired and poked into his chin. Dewott was becoming aggravated.
Keith was already aggravated. "Aqua Jet!"
The scene from before replayed, but this time Luxio did not move to intercept and instead remained facing Dewott. Dewott touched down a few feet away and threw out two Razor Shells in an arc. At the same time, Luxio fired a Thunderwave. The slower wave of electricity caught the scallop shells in the air, destabilizing the Water energy coating them and making them drop to the ground like pigeons that had a sudden heart attack mid-flight.
Dewott tried to jump away but the net was too wide. His leg got caught by the edge, and with contact made the rest of the Thunder Wave folded in around him. It danced about his form wildly, sending his body into uncontrolled spasms.
Dewott landed and barely managed to remain standing. He couldn't hear his trainer's orders through the electrical crackling of the freshly-applied Thunder Wave so he tried to Aqua Jet away, but with the paralysis so fresh he found he couldn't. Luxio took advantage of his involuntary inaction and pounced on him with Spark, pinning him to the floor and continually surging him with more electricity. His control destabilized even further and fierce pain coursed through his entire being.
Dewott tried to lash out with an Aqua Tail, which surprisingly worked despite how overwhelmed he was by the super-effective Electric energy, but his opponent wasn't dislodged by the attack. A sharp pain dug into his shoulder and yet more electricity coursed through him as Luxio bit down with a Thunder Fang.
He tried once more to break free with Aqua Tail, his shoulder stinging from the motion, and he managed to push her off just enough to slip away. He quickly rose to his feet and tried escaping with a backwards Aqua Jet, but the electricity in his body ran rampant once more and sent him toppling back-first to the floor. His skull hit the ground, discombobulating him for an instant.
He tried to get up, but couldn't. He tried to stop his spasming, but couldn't. He tried to lash out with more attacks, but couldn't.
He couldn't do anything. He was losing. Maybe even already lost. To a trainer with no badges.
Dewott grit his teeth, hatred welling within him. Hatred at his opponent, for taking away his ability to even fight back. Hatred at the other trainer, for letting it happen. Hatred at his own trainer, for sending him against this opponent out of petty revenge instead of just giving them their badge that they'd already earned. And lastly, but most importantly, hatred at himself, for being too weak to overcome this trial and for being just as petty as his trainer by blaming his opponent for his own failures.
Dewott fought back tears as he lay powerless on the floor. He was weak. He was petty. He was a failure.
But then, as if to prove him wrong, his heart began beating strongly and he felt new strength surge through him. He forced himself to roll onto his stomach, shakily moving to his hands and knees as his body shone.
Longwei considered interrupting. The way Dewott shone looked like the prelude to cultivation detonation. Longwei felt it wasn't worth to sacrifice one's own cultivation over a battle as trivial as this one, especially since it wouldn't even cause much harm to his opponent. One needed to be in a much higher realm than this for cultivation detonation to have a significant radius, otherwise it was good enough only to harm those that were already within striking range.
But he did not interrupt for two reasons. One: he had no right to intervene. This was not his disciple nor was it his sect. Two: Longwei could see Keith's mad smile from across the field, so surely it couldn't be that. So, other than a possible attack technique, that left only one thing.
'Breakthrough.'
Within the arena, Dewott's shine became all but blinding. It was difficult to see inside, but the vague outline of Dewott began morphing until finally it took the shape of a samurott. Once his new form stabilized, the light shattered like glass.
Longwei lowered his hand away from his eyes, ignored the twitching and snarling Dark-variant samurott, and looked to the referee. One flag was up, signaling the match was currently paused. He wondered if that was the case from the start. If it were, then he had avoided a major faux pass by choosing not to interrupt and he deeply wished the referee would have audibly announced a pause to the match in some way.
Not all arenas in Yongyu forbade attacking another cultivator who was undergoing a breakthrough or tribulation mid-battle, after all. Longwei himself had even faced a fellow disciple who consumed a multitude of Demon Cores mid-battle in the hopes that a demonic breakthrough would somehow save his life and allow him to end Longwei's instead. It hadn't.
Longwei moved his vocalization device away and spoke in a hushed tone to his disciple, who had reset her position to his end of the arena. "Continue skirmishing as before. They are weakened and still suffering the effects of your paralysis; they will fall shortly. But remain cautious—we do not know their capabilities now."
On the other end of the field Keith was trying, and failing, to get through to his new samurott. They weren't listening to him at all—hell, they were even snarling at him! His only saving grace was that they still seemed determined to see this battle to the end.
Keith looked to the referee and gave a derisive snort. "What are you waiting for? Resume the match!"
The referee, shocked, looked to Longwei, who simply nodded back. The referee didn't know what to think of this. This was insane! The Gym Leader was treating this match way too seriously, had a pokémon that looked like it wasn't obeying orders, and was using a fully evolved pokémon in a zero-badge challenge match! And the challenger was okay with it?!
He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He no longer cared if it cost him his job anymore. "I am declar—"
Keith quickly but subtly tapped a device on his waist, and the referee's voice was cut off from the speakers. "I declare the match resumes now." Samurott snarled while facing Luxio, but it didn't seem directed at her. "Samurott, Ceaseless Edge!"
Samurott charged forward clumsily, unfamiliar with its new form and fighting through lingering paralysis. The blades sheathed within the shells on its arm shone black and red. Luxio, to her credit, was undaunted by the larger opponent and fired a weak Thundershock while backpedaling away, easily keeping her distance from the charging Samurott.
"Sucker Punch!"
The eerie glow from Samurott's sheathed swords faded and one of his hands shone darkly instead. Longwei raised a brow and tried to puzzle what Keith was thinking. Sure, Luxio was nearing the corner and will need to get a bit closer to stay within bounds, but even still she'd be too far for a melee strike. He knew there had to be something else.
Longwei narrowed his eyes and looked with his spirit sight. At his current cultivation level his spirit sight could only comfortably extend its range to the space immediately around him. Attempting to observe anything beyond that would put incredible pressure on his spirit.
He observed the energies surrounding Samurott, who was much further than his range could comfortably reach. His spiritual system strained greatly, but he ignored that and kept observing. He saw that Samurott's clawed hand shone with a Dark aura much like it had shone in the real world, but there was also a dark translucent coating around Samurott's whole form. Longwei knew it couldn't be a protective barrier since it was far too thin for that. It had to be something else, but what?
The next thing he saw was a thin line of intent that appeared from Luxio's position that came into contact with the thin coating. A new line of intent immediately appeared from Samurott that overlapped with Luxio's intent, tracing back directly to her. Along that line was a quick stream of Dark energy that was invisible to the mortal eye.
Longwei immediately realized what it was. 'A movement technique!'
Before he could voice a warning, his spirit suddenly shook from the strain placed upon it. He quickly shut off his spirit sight, but not before there was physical damage: his right eye became bloodshot and his nose began to bleed. Some of it spilled back into his throat, making him cough up blood! He barely managed to raise his sleeve in time to catch the blood and stem the bleeding. In his current state he would be unable to warn Luxio.
All of this took many words to describe, but actually only happened within the space of a single breath.
Luxio moved along the arena's edge, unaware of Longwei's discovery. She fired another quick Thundershock as she moved, but was herself shocked when Samurott suddenly shot towards her with a readied fist! The punch impact her side and sent her airborne a short distance, slamming her against the transparent wall which shimmered on impact. She landed on her feet and quickly sped away before there was chance for a follow-up attack, ignoring the lingering pain in her side.
Longwei's bleeding stopped. He carefully wiped the blood away and held his now-bloody sleeve flat against his side, hiding any evidence of what had happened to him.
'So they had another means to close short distances… It seems this opponent has many unknown variables to them.' He cursed himself for not doing more research on each of the possible opponents. A zero-badge challenge only required that you prove basic competence, so he had neglected further preparation. Who could have possibly expected that he would be faced with an arrogant young master? If only he had delayed his challenge for the next day, he could have prepared for this!
Regardless of his haste allowing fate to create problems, he needed to end the battle quickly before other unknown variables could prove decisive.
Longwei knew what had to be done. "Max distance. Prepare the Long Spark technique."
Some young members of the crowd began snickering loud enough for Longwei to hear. He smirked. This was the only 'technique' he had taught Luxio. It was a simple but effective maneuver. The only downside was that it only really worked once.
Keith smirked. Getting into melee was exactly what he wanted. All he needed was one decisive blow! "Ceaseless Edge! Meet them head on!"
Luxio sped away to the furthest end of the field and began to Charge up Electric energy. Samurott waddled across the field, slowed by frequent muscle spasms and unfamiliarity with his new form. He only made it part way to her when Luxio finished Charging and ran forward, electricity chaotically bouncing around her fur.
The two were drawing close. Keith felt like laughing at his opponent for making such a rookie mistake, but his desire to announce his victory was stronger. "Finish it!"
Samurott unsheathed the sword he imbued the Ceaseless Edge in and he mentally prepared himself in case Luxio tried to catch him off guard by speeding up in the last moments. He was not confident in his ability to perform iaijutsu—a quick-draw sword art—yet. His speed slowed as a result of the sword in his hand.
However, in complete defiance of what he had expected, Luxio came to an abrupt stop several feet away. She then spread her stance wide—"NO!" Keith cried out—and shot a Charge'd Thunderbolt. The thick, jagged lightning instantly covered the couple feet remaining and hammered into Samurott's neck with a loud boom! Samurott's forward momentum halted completely from the impact and he fell to the ground in roaring spasms.
"Again!" Longwei commanded with an air of finality. This was a gamble that could determine the match. If the opponent suffered paralysis in this crucial moment, Luxio would win. If the opponent used Aqua Jet successfully or Sucker Punch at the right time successfully, then Luxio would be brought to the brink or possibly faint. He could have told Luxio to retreat and attack from a safe distance, but if the opponent used Aqua jet successfully then it could lead to her taking damage with nothing to show for it. Plus, Longwei was unsure of how much energy Luxio had remaining and of what other techniques Samurott possessed. The absolute worst case scenario would be Luxio running out of energy due to deflected or inaccurate long range attacks, or Samurott somehow recovering or matching her at range.
"Sucker Punch!" Keith cried desperately.
Luxio, still only a short distance away, prepared before making another heavy attack.
At the same time, Samurott fought desperately against the rampaging paralysis to imbue his hand with Dark energy. Miraculously, the move formed. He raised his head, saw Luxio glowing with electricity, and his eyes went wide. He raised his glowing clawed fist and willed himself to attack before he could be struck.
The energy in his hand fizzled away, and his heart skipped a beat. He had moved too quickly; Sucker Punch does not work against non-offensive moves like Charge. Without a line of active hostile intent to travel through, it is useless. His inexperience with the move had led to this mistake. His muscles went slack and his eyes lost focus as he waited for the inevitable.
The electricity shot upwards from Luxio's back a moment afterwards, lighting up the arena with its sheer power. The jagged Thunder continued upwards for several feet before it arced down and struck down onto Samurott, smashing his raised head into the floor with a loud crash and cracking the earth!
The flash of light cleared in an instant as if someone had flicked the stadium's lighting on and off. In the center lay Samurott, motionless save for a few errant twitches, his sword no longer held tightly in his hand. He had fallen unconscious.
Everyone went silent. None could believe their eyes! A mere zero-badge trainer had bested a Gym Leader's fully evolved pokémon that had went all out!
"… Challenger Longwei Sun is the victor!" The referee announced, able to be heard by all despite his radio being cut.
As if a spell had been lifted, the crowd suddenly broke into roaring applause. Onlookers cheered, shouted, and screamed in approval of Longwei Sun and Luxio. Onlookers booed, shouted, and screamed in disapproval of Keith Ohagi.
The loudest among them all were the juniors, who had been the most invested in the match from the very beginning. These juniors had developed a new respect for Longwei, and a new hatred for Keith. Even ones as young as they knew that what had transpired here was not right, but justice had prevailed and they were all the livelier for it!
The tension in Luxio's shoulders vanished as she stared at the fallen Samurott and took in the noises of the crowd, shocked, tired, and happy in equal measures.
Elsewhere, hidden from the sight of all those in the arena, were two powerful trainers who had secretly watched the battle unfold in its entirety. The two nodded their heads, but there was a sadness to their expression. They then spoke with each other on what to do next.
But then something happened. Their decision had made itself, and they had to move.
…
Yet hidden from even them was a third individual. It had carefully observed every detail it could, and had seen things the others hadn't.