The New Normal – 14-4 – Interlude – Whitney
She had nearly spent a whole year at the Saffron Gym, and if she was ever asked (and she frequently was), then she could wholeheartedly say that she greatly enjoyed her time here.
There was much that she had learned, and was still learning, and she was very thankful for Gym Leader Samson for being so accommodating with her. Especially because she knew that the Saffron Gym already had plenty of competent trainers filling its ranks. Gym Leader Samson had a good system already in place, and if she wasn't a good friend of Sabrina's, she knew that there was little chance that she could have taken up a position as a Gym Trainer in the first place.
That wasn't to say that she wasn't doing a good job – even the Head Gym Trainer at the Gym had given her praise for her performance – but she knew that she could never realistically ascend any higher than a Gym Trainer if she stayed at the Gym.
Honestly, that didn't bother her too much. She was happy where she was.
However, as per the original promise that she had with her two closest friends, she was going to be spending an equal amount of time in both Saffron and Fuschia. And given that it was nearing a full year that she had spent at Saffron, it was about time she honoured her side of the agreement and move over to Fuschia.
So, despite greatly enjoying her time at Saffron, she was equally as excited to move on to the Fuschia Gym. Not only because she got to spend more time with Janine, who she had admittedly slightly neglected due to their respective duties, but also because it would actually be a benefit for her career.
As Samson pointed out to her, "As much as I'd like you to stay, moving over to Fuschia would be good for you. I've spoken to Koga, and I know that his Gym Trainers are all getting on in years. They're absurdly competent, but they might be looking to retire fairly soon. That might give you the chance to replace them once they do – who knows, maybe you'll even become a Head Gym Trainer in a few years' time or so."
She felt that he was being a bit too optimistic, but she still hoped it would be true.
Preparations were currently being made to accommodate her. Janine was welcoming her with open arms, and her regent and Head Gym Trainer had no problem with it either, given that she was quite the reputable trainer in her own right.
However, it seemed like not everyone was so content with such a transfer. Apparently, one of the newer Gym Trainer recruits had found out about her transfer (it wasn't a secret anyways) and had verbally disagreed with the decision.
"He argued that it was unfair that you didn't have to pass the respective tests to earn the position." Janine previously told her over the phone, "We tried to tell him that your list of achievements would have allowed you to skip over them anyways, but he wouldn't hear it. He challenged you to a fight, claiming that you were only as successful as you were because of your reliance on your older brother."
"…He didn't actually word it that way, did he?" She asked slowly.
"…No." Janine admitted, "He was much more crass about it. I was merely paraphrasing."
"I see — well, in that case, tell him that I accept." She replied, "Just give me a time and place, and I'll be there."
"We'll make the arrangements." Janine nodded, "But just to warn you – he's also made quite the successful run in this year's Indigo Circuit. He went further than we did, in fact. So he isn't some pushover."
"Oh, that won't matter." She responded, feeling a smile creep up on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes, "I'll see him in the arena."
They ended up meeting in two days' time. She had explained the situation to Samson and Sabrina, who were willing to give her some time off to handle the battle. Sabrina was also allowed to accompany her.
Right now, they were in the private training grounds of the Fuschia Gym, where the only spectators were the other Gym Trainers, and Janine and Sabrina. Of course, considering the few phones being held out, she knew that the battle would be on the Pokénet soon enough.
The fight would be a 3v3 fight, with one switch allowed, as was standard practice.
It didn't take long her opponent to come swaggering out, with that confident gait in his step that she recognised from her research into his past battles. Despite the outward look of confidence, she knew that it was merely a façade to hide his nervousness, as betrayed by the occasional tapping of his finger.
He was right to be nervous.
"You know, I thought you wouldn't even accept my challenge." He taunted her, "I thought you would just ask our Gym Leader to 'solve your problem' for you and have me kicked out. It'd fit the nepotism that you're so used to."
Instead of acknowledging his insult, she instead asked a different question.
"May I have your name?" She asked calmly.
"It's Kayden." He replied with a confident smirk, putting his hands in his pocket, "Remember it."
"I shall." She nodded, "Thank you."
He looked puzzled at her sudden thanks, but she didn't elaborate as the referee made themselves known.
"TRAINERS! ENOUGH CHATTER! ARE YOU READY?!" They both nodded.
"THREE!... TWO!... ONE!... GO!"
"Come out, Arbok!"
"Miltank!"
Her Miltank came tumbling out of her Pokéball in her signature Rollout, already speeding across the battlefield towards Arbok. Arbok responded by belching out a wave of deadly poison while also chucking out many Toxic Spikes that littered across the battlefield.
However, that was when her Miltank bounced into the air, uncurling out of her Rollout, before taking Arbok by surprise as she suddenly transitioned into a Giga Impact and performed a lightning fast mid-air dive that sent the Normal type rocketing through the air like a missile.
Completely unprepared, Arbok wasn't able to slither away in time before the meteor that was Miltank came brutally crashing down on it. The Poison type let out a pained gasp as Miltank crushed it underneath her full weight, before delivering a devastating Zen Headbutt that smashed into Arbok's face.
Arbok tried desperately to fight back, spitting out a globule of poison at Miltank, but she remained unfazed as she kept Arbok pinned beneath her as she began to savage and pummel it with a series of ruthless Mega Punches.
Realising his Arbok was completely screwed, Kayden had no choice but to recall it before it was beaten into unconsciousness.
Seeing her prey being sent away, Miltank took the opportunity to heal herself up with a Heal Bell, purging it of the poison that she had been inflicted with when she came into contact with the Toxic Spikes.
"Come out, Nidoking!"
Whitney let out a smile as she saw her opponent release his Nidoking. He must have been thinking that he could match Miltank in a battle of strength.
But that was a fatal mistake. Miltank had been trained up using her brother's Pokémon as the standard – in the hopes that one day, she could match her brother as a peer. And unfortunately for Kayden, his Nidoking failed to meet that very high standard.
Therefore, Miltank wasted no time Rolling forwards, dodging past an Earth Power that tried to knock her off balance. Thinking that Miltank was about to crash into him, Nidoking threw himself forwards with a Superpower, trying to match Miltank's strength with his own.
However, instead of going for the direct hit, Miltank swerved on the spot and rolled around the Nidoking, causing his Superpower to go completely wide. Realising this mistake, Nidoking tried to spin around and block the incoming attack, but it was too late.
"Zen Headbutt!"
A savage Zen Headbutt, honed through many long hours of training with Sabrina, came slamming into his head, knocking Nidoking backwards. He instinctively raised both arms to shield himself from another attack, but Miltank had instead used Iron Tail to bounce backwards before unleashing a rippling Earthquake – the supereffective move sending Nidoking falling onto a knee as he lost his balance.
Miltank immediately pounced onto her foe, striking with a ruthless uppercut that struck with an audible SNAP and swiftly causing Nidoking to collapse to the floor.
"Swing around with an Iron Tail, Nidoking!"
Despite his injuries, Nidoking forced itself up and swung around his reinforced tail like a club that was about to hammer into Miltank's side. But Miltank simply caught it her arms, and with a happy grin that was completely out of place in such a savage battle, proceeded to lift the Nidoking by the tail before brutally slamming it back face first into the ground.
"Earthquake, Miltank! Finish him!"
Her Miltank was all too eager to do so, stomping on the ground and causing another explosive Earthquake to rip through the battlefield. Nidoking's body was bounced up and down as the powerful tremors wrecked through his body. And as it laid there groaning in pain, a vicious Ice Punch came slamming into the back of his head and forced him to eat dirt.
Nidoking didn't get back up after that.
Seeing her opponent's Nidoking get knocked out just like that, she was reminded of her lessons with Karen as she proceeded to give her opponent a calm and pitying smile – provoking him with her façade of false kindness. It did the trick, as Kayden almost exploded with anger at the sight.
"GENGAR! GO!"
His Gengar quickly sank into its own shadow, disappearing from sight. It didn't take long for it to reappear behind Miltank, with a Focus Blast charged up in its hands.
However, she already knew how to beat a Gengar. Karen had already given her a trump card to use.
"Taunt, Miltank!"
Kayden's eyes widened with alarm, "No! Gengar! Stay back!"
His orders came far too late, as the shot of Dark energy rapidly enveloped the Gengar. Rage filled its eyes, and it quickly unleashed a barrage of Focus Blasts at Miltank. Lost to its rage as it was, many Focus Blasts went completely wide, leaving only a handful to come Miltank's way.
The supereffective attacks did hurt, but it was far from enough to bring down her starter.
Demonstrating just how much Kayden had neglected his Pokémon's mental training, Gengar didn't even make a move to dodge as Miltank came barrelling into the Ghost type with another powerful Zen Headbutt. Gengar staggered backwards, but still had the wherewithal to unleash a point-blank Sludge Wave at her Miltank – for all the good that it would do.
Her Miltank simply shrugged it off and finished off the Gengar with a Sucker Punch to the gut. The frail Gengar was launched backwards through the air before it fell limply onto the ground.
She deliberately smirked at her opponent. Letting him know that all three of his Pokémon weren't able to inflict anything more than a scratch against her Miltank, who stood there with her arms proudly around her waist.
"Are you going to try your luck with your wounded Arbok too?" She asked, injecting as much false sweetness into her tone, "Or are you willing to accept your defeat? I can assure you that any further defiance will be futile."
She usually wasn't this… hostile against her opponents. However, even though Janine had not relayed the exact words that he used to insult her, she could imagine what they were.
And she knew that she could not let that stand.
She could see that Kayden was struggling to accept his defeat, but eventually he proved himself to be more disciplined than she had expected as he let out a big sigh.
"I forfeit." He announced.
She nodded at his declaration of defeat, and she was tempted to push for an apology. But instead, she knew that she had to be the better person.
"There's no need for you to apologise to me." She said, a little too sweetly, "Your defeat has already been a sufficient enough of an apology, and I look forward to working alongside you as a colleague in the coming future."
That came out a little more mocking than she intended, but she didn't feel like correcting herself as she turned to walk away. However, just before she exited the arena, she couldn't help herself. Borrowing one more lesson from Karen that she was pretty sure that Karen hadn't meant for her to learn, she turned around to face Kayden one last time.
Sometimes, there was a need to just rub salt on the wound.
"Oh, and Kayden?" He looked up at her, "Thank you for being my Shin. I'm glad I was able to follow in my brother's footsteps in this respect as well."
She could almost hear his teeth gnashing together in rage.
A.N. I had this idea for an Interlude, and it wouldn't leave my mind. I wanted Whitney to have her own 'Shin' moment, though obviously with different circumstances. I only felt that it was appropriate. And yes, Shin is now a meme in-universe thanks to his complete humiliation at the hands of John.
Also, one thing that I keep wanting to show with Whitney is how she's been learning from her different mentors, as well as how her Pokémon are progressing. She's not just following in her brother's footsteps, but is also taking notes from various different fighting styles as well. I might show more of this off later, but Whitney's really angling to become a 'pseudo-generalist' Normal specialist. Hope you enjoyed the slightly longer Interlude!
And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!