One. Two. Three. Rest. Four, five, six. Rest. Seven. Eight. Nine. Rest.
On and on, the words repeated in her head as she swung her weapon through the air, climbing up to eighteen before falling back to one. Few sounds arose besides the whistling air parted by her blade and soft, indistinct conversation drifting in from adjacent rooms.
"Very good," the teacher said, his voice stern but not loud. "You will do well when you decide to take your assessment."
She continued, the counting in her mind timing her movements as she conversed with her teacher. "What was that?" She could have sworn he'd muttered something.
"Oh, nothing," he said lightly. She suppressed the urge to snort as she continued, backing away as she shifted her grip on her weapon. "Well," she said, "I should hope I will, especially since I might finally-"
A flash of light and the telltale sound of a Poke Ball bursting open echoed through the room. Keeping a swear behind her grit teeth, she immediately abandoned her katas and hurried towards her bag.
She'd told him to stay in his ball. It was unfortunate she couldn't expect him to understand that she'd punish him if he decided to ignore her. "I'm sorry, Master Ikube-"
"Dri bee ill!" her Pokemon cried, and she had to suppress the urge to either berate her Pokemon or smack it with her weapon. His evolution yesterday had cured him of his attitude problem, to her relief.
That relief was small compared to the consternation at how his Evolution had also acted as gasoline for the curiosity he'd exhibited as a Weedle… among other character traits.
A finger of her outstretched hand unfolded as she prepared to rebuke him for coming out, but her teacher gave a hearty laugh. "I do not mind if your Pokemon watches us, Tanya."
He was too polite to ask about where her hesitance surrounding Pokemon had gone, nor whether this was what all her questions had culminated in.
More accurately, his politeness, as well as a desire to keep earning money from teaching her, were what kept him from needling her too harshly as humor shined in his eyes. He stood, straight backed, and pressed his arm across his chest. "I am Master Kiei Ikube, your trainer's Naginatajutsu teacher. Who are you?"
Her Pokemon's head turned towards her as it stood, large, red eyes unblinking. She waved the back of her hand at him, signaling her ambivalence.
"Beedrill," the Pokemon said, raising a 'hand' to his chest in a clear show of mirroring the actions of the human speaking to him. Ikube bowed his head to him and turned back to her. "Your Pokemon seems to be a fine specimen. With this interruption, I hope you wouldn't mind if you take your break a bit early?"
"No, teacher," she replied immediately, uncrossing her arms and bowing slightly. She walked towards her bag to get her water, while Beedrill began to walk through the room exploring. She was glad he wasn't flying around and disturbing everyone else's classes, at the very least.
"When did you capture Beedrill?" he asked as he took a seat on the ground, waiting for her to finish her drink of water and mid-exercise stretches.
She took a moment to formulate her answer. "Well, he'd been living in my apartment for over a month when the incursion happened and I decided to capture him." Beedrill was inspecting the walls, tilting his head this way and that as he leaned forward and pressed his antennae against the paper. Tanya kept a close eye on him, to ensure he didn't cause any damage. She continued, "It was a hard battle, but I emerged victorious in the end."
Ikube nodded. "I see. And your other Pokemon?" he asked, curious, "Did you perhaps qualify for the Professor-Provided Primary Partner Program?"
She didn't have to know whatever that program was to answer negatively. She shook her head… and then paused, briefly worried.
Then, she dismissed the worry. The laws surrounding human-Pokemon interaction had to strike a balance between morality and a Pokemon's need for conflict; they were vague enough that her actions would just be seen as part of her effort to capture her Pokemon.
"I apologize for not being more clear, teacher. I fought Weedle, hand-to-hand." Well, broom-to-stinger, fist-to-fist, but that was just semantical.
He choked on seemingly nothing, and Tanya fought to hide a scowl. Was she perceived as that weak? Was it that unbelievable?
He looked over at Beedrill, who she'd been watching attempt to slide open one of the doors by laying one of his conical spears flat against the wall and pushing. He was seemingly enamored with it.
Ikube looked back at her. "You had to fight him?" She nodded. "Indeed. He's quite scrappy, when he wants to be-"
Her Pokemon flew through the air. She tried to reach for her naginata.
Her Pokemon had already succeeded.
She was…
"Beebeebeebee!" Her Pokemon said while clinging onto her, wrapping his arms around her while nuzzling the top of his head into her. The cold chitin of his spears pressed into her back. She sighed hopelessly, looking from her Pokemon to her teacher… who was snickering at her.
One of her eyes twitched.
"Regardless," she said, steadfastly ignoring the insect nuzzling her chest, "I wanted to capture him as soon as possible and only had a single Poke Ball. I knew there were other ways I could have gone about capturing him, but fighting him seemed to be the fastest way."
After a moment, Ikube nodded slowly. "I understand. However, while the, ah, fire of youth might push one to seek expediency through battle, one often finds that discussion and compromise can be even faster." Concern was written across his face.
She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Another bit of advice she already wholeheartedly agreed with, given to her as if she didn't already know! "I understand, teacher. Whenever possible, I strive for peace," she replied evenly, despite her indignation. Obviously, she would have preferred to solve her issue through dialogue, but Pokemon were animals.
Finally, her Pokemon's nuzzling got just a touch more insistent, and she caved. "Yes, yes. You are a cute three-foot-tall bee," she said while scratching the top of his head. He buzzed in contentment, and she refused to look at Ikube. She could hear his chuckling just fine without looking at him.
"Well, if it wasn't already obvious, I'd like to have a Gym battle with Leader Takenori soon. I know it's a bit short-notice, but do you know if he will have any openings this Saturday?"
"Let me see," he said, strolling past her to look at the monitor standing on the cubby holes.
They quickly hashed out the times, her Beedrill leaning against her as her scratching continued, though her next statement and question gave him pause.
"Really? You seemed so set on learning about swords," he said. Tanya nodded. "Yes, I was, but I've changed my mind."
As useful as learning swordplay would be in possible future lives, the necessity of defending herself in this one meant learning how to wield weapons she could actually obtain. Like all weapons in modern Japan, obtaining a sword was a laborious, red-tape filled process her non-citizen status would only further complicate. Knives, whether for hunting or cooking, were far more common and obtainable.
Her teacher's lips thinned. Undoubtedly, his mind had connected the same dots Tanya had, if he hadn't already had this situation happen in the past. "Understood. You recall the laws surrounding a person's intent to harm?" he asked, voice mild and expectant.
She recited the relevant laws for him, her hand never straying from her Pokemon and her eyes not straying from her teacher; her words didn't seem to assuage his apprehension, oddly enough. "Alright. Would you like to have your naginatajutsu assessment on the same day as your gym battle?"
She nodded emphatically.
The motion, or maybe just the word, jostled Beedrill, who spun around as fast as it was able to take in the room and jab his spears a few times. Tanya just sighed in response. "We're battling tomorrow Must you be so eager to fight?" she asked rhetorically. She looked at her teacher…
He looked intrigued.
"Would you like to battle, Beedrill?" the man asked. Whirling around, her Pokemon was in the air, buzzing, the moment the words had left his mouth. Smiling, he looked to Tanya and raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
After a moment's consideration, she extracted a concession. "I'm not paying full price today." He waved his hand in response as he headed towards his own bag. "Of course, of course."
After a quick agreement to fight with the simple ruleset, her Beedrill was soon arrayed against Ikube's Machop, who stood with her arms akimbo. She stood behind her Pokemon, one arm behind her back and her legs at parade rest while her other hand held her phone, which scanned her opponents Pokemon after a few moments. She was level twenty, a full ten levels above her own Pokemon.
Obviously, her Pokemon would lose and would gain no progress towards leveling up. Tanya knew that, and her teacher undoubtedly knew that, which meant the battle was for another purpose.
While there were a number of possible benefits to fighting such a battle regardless of the outcome, her teacher's tone and the competitive smile on his aging face that his Machop mirrored, she was almost certain he just wanted to battle for fun.
"Let's start with your newest move, Machop!"
"Fury Attack," she called in response. Her Pokemon launched himself across the room, the buzz of his wings and battle-cry ringing as he readied his attack.
He slowed considerably when Machop snarled at him. "Ma CHOP!" The whites of her eyes glowed red as her lips pulled back, showing off gleaming white teeth. The incessant buzz of his wings slowed, quieting.
He nearly missed his first jab, grazing the stationary Machop's chest. His arm withdrew, and the second scored a hit against the Machop's collarbone. With a meaty TWACK, the right arm slammed down into the Machop's shoulder. His other arm followed suit with the other shoulder.
If her Pokemon used that attack on Tanya, she would die. The jabs would leave gaping holes in her body that would ensure she bled out, even if they missed any vital organs, while the blows against her shoulders would have broken bones.
Even if he was affectionate and agreeable and had shown a surprising amount of care in ensuring he did not accidentally hurt her, he could kill her easily if he so desired. She kept that fact in mind whenever he sped towards her, whenever her hand rested on his Poke ball, and when she'd purchased that can of Repel.
From blows that would have shattered and perforated Tanya's body, the Machop didn't react. Dismissive, the Pokemon brushed off her shoulders. The skin on her face wrinkled, and if she'd had any eyebrows, her right one would have been raised mockingly.
Beedrill hissed furiously. "Poison Sting," she called. The tip of his thorax glowed a sick purple.
One of her opponent's arms unfolded from where it had been crossed. "Bullet Punch," Ikube called, pointing a finger forward. His Machop's fists began shining, suddenly reflecting far more of the lights given off by the ceiling fixtures. She rained a flurry of blows onto her Pokemon's abdomen and thorax.
She gave her Pokemon credit: he cried out his name as he was battered, but he did complete her order, lashing out with his glowing stinger at Machop's stomach. The Machop jumped back, suddenly cautious… until it snorted and raised her fists once more, smirking. She could not fault his Pokemon for her confidence; Tanya wasn't going to win this.
Tanya did not like to lose, but she was also both realistic and aware that 'winning' could be separate from defeating an enemy. In this situation, since 'having fun' was the goal, she hardly cared… though she doubted her own Pokemon would feel quite the same.
If that was the case…
"Hey," she called to Ikube. "Why not change the rules? You'll probably knock him out with your next move, so why don't we try to play keep away instead?"
Ikube stroked his non-existent beard. "Hmm. Well, Machop? Do you think that might be more interesting?"
Her own Pokemon turned back to her, staring. She continued speaking to Ikube. "We'll get a bit of evasion training out of this, if nothing else."
The Machop, after imitating her trainer, gave her Beedrill a grin. "Mah Mah!" she barked affirmatively.
"Alright," Ikube declared, "Try to land a Knock Off, Machop!"
"String shot, fly to me," she commanded. Beedrill did just that… though not in the way Tanya had imagined.
String sprayed from the tip of her Pokemon's stinger, then he turned around and flew towards her. The Machop charged through the string, her left hand splayed above her head as it began to darken, seemingly sucking in the light around it.
"Dodge right!" she shouted, "Don't take your eyes off the enemy."
Her Pokemon sped to the right of the room, and the Machop tripped on the string stuck to her legs. She growled, and from her closer vantage point, Tanya could see a knot of purple skin centered on her stomach. Tanya raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her.
"Cho chop!" she griped, looking up at Tanya. She jumped back to her feet, shaking off some of the torn string as Beedrill backed away towards Ikube. Perhaps she could win after-
"Rush him down, Machop!" Ikube shouted, and Machop was back on her feet, sprinting towards Beedrill. "Up," Tanya called, "String Shot again."
He did as ordered. Ikube adapted. His Pokemon listened. "Dodge right, then jump up!"
Tanya blinked. The room wasn't large, but Beedrill was flying near the top. Could the two-foot tall humanoid really-
She could. She jumped right, avoiding the initial burst of String Shot. Beedrill tried to track her, but she jumped, landed on the cubbies Tanya put her bag in every day, and then up towards Beedrill. "Back," she barked.
"Too late!" Ikube declared in time with his Pokemon's cry of "Op CHOP!"
The Pokemon sailed through the air and slapped her hand against her Pokemon's abdomen. Immediately, his wings began to stutter to a halt as he crashed into the ground, right in front of Ikube. He grinned, victorious.
With a sigh, Tanya said, "I concede." She returned Beedrill quickly. Machop pumped her fists, while Ikube simply nodded, eyes closed, with a smile. "You did well, Machop, and you, Tanya. Thank you for the battle." He dipped his head in respect.
She returned his thanks. Then, pressing her opportunity, she asked, "Do you think I will be ready for my assessments, teacher?"
He posed again, stroking his chin. His Machop mirrored him. After a moment, he nodded authoritatively. "Certainly, you will succeed with flying colors in regards to your capabilities with the naginata. As for the Gym Battle," he said, trailing off at the end, "perhaps. Beedrill is an excellent partner to have for this Gym, though I feel that you will struggle to win with just him. You could reschedule if you'd like to wait until you obtain another Pokemon?" he offered.
She shook her head. "No. Even if I have to struggle, if I can win, I'll find a way," she declared. He chuckled in response. "Very good. Now," he turned towards his own bag.
He quickly set about healing his Pokemon of her injuries and the poisoning Beedrill had managed to land, and they continued her class.
-OxOxO-
He ignored his room. He hardly disliked it, but he'd been gone for over a year. Even in that short amount of time, when compared to the life he could already see ahead of him, he'd outgrown almost everything he'd left behind.
Unfortunately, having outgrown his old room meant that while he was home he didn't have anything to do.
"Markus, I'm bored," he complained. "Can we battle, Markus? I thought you said the last three gyms would be hard, Markus, but I beat them! Maybe not easily, but I still won. Sure, the fighting and water-type gyms were pretty hard, but Kayano's Ice-types were all pushovers, Markus! Markus, battle me again! I know you said one a day, but that's not enooooough! Markus, please, please can we battle again? Or can we go out and battle? I can't take being inside anymore! Why can't the World Tournament be now! Markuuuuus!"
Markus Vazil, champion-tier trainer, current trainer of ten champion-tier and eight soon-to-be champion-tier Pokemon, world-renowned for helping institute the 'Regno d'Italia' by dominating European tournaments with the help of the legendary Master-tier trainer Lucash Graccha for ten years a few decades ago, looked over the top of his phone and under the fringe of gray yet full hair covering half of his aging face to pierce him with a withering glare. "Aeon."
"Uuuugh," Aeon Bishuma complained. It wasn't his fault that there wasn't anything to do! Why did his butler – or, his 'attendant' as his father had put it – understand that?
"Have you tried getting another hobby like I suggested, kid?" his Japanese was unaccented, a testament to all the time he'd spent in Japan. Aeon just frowned sadly at the man. "But nothing else is as fun as-"
He sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose with his weathered, scared hand. "I get it, kid, but what else do you want? August is months away."
"Can we go out? Can we? Can we? Can-"
"Kid." His tone brokered no argument. "That's not why your dad hired me."
He pouted. "I didn't ask for a butler."
"Yeah, well, your Dad didn't either. He hired me to make sure you didn't get in over your head while you went on your journey, which I have," he griped. Aeon pouted again. Most of the trouble they'd gotten mixed up in hadn't even been his fault!
If people were mistreating Pokemon, they were asking to get beaten.
Sullen, he looked at his own phone, staring listlessly at the portal for applying to the Amateur Tournament. It asked for quite a lot of information, but one neat intricacy was that he could have his name hidden from the judges.
He knew if it was hidden, his results weren't good enough to get in. If they saw it, however, he might have a chance.
No. Realistically, he'd get in for sure. His Dad had money, and connections, and he'd promise that if he wanted to get into the Pokemon World Tournament, then he'd move Heaven and Earth to do it. Dad was really reliable like that.
He was also super annoying!
He wanted to get in the right way! If he was going to compete, then he was going to do it on his own merits! Or, as close as he could get.
His Dad had agreed that that was a grand idea and that he should do that if he wanted, which, again, was a nice thought, but his Dad wasn't the most… grounded person, so he didn't seem to realize that that wasn't really feasible. Not when looking up his name on Chatter would pull up a picture of him, next to his father, next to people worth quadrillions of yen.
Aeon was aware of the wealth of his family. He knew he'd had a great life so far, and that his life would continue to be great thanks to his father's work.
Not everyone was on their journey in order to find themselves; a lot of people began battling out of a sometimes desperate desire to improve their lot in life.
He shook his head and refocused on the blank webpage. "D'you think I could pull it off?" he asked his attendant quietly. It was a question he'd often asked the man his father had paid millions to mentor and protect him.
The man shifted. He didn't have to look to know the man was giving him that same, piercing, scrutinizing gaze he'd leveled at him almost a year ago when he'd started. The man breathed in a deep sigh.
"You've got about four and a half months until they stop accepting applications. You might meet the minimum requirements to apply right now, but Japan is pretty competitive and is guaranteed to have a lot of international competitors. There's no way they'll let anyone with less than three sets of badges in without bribes or corruption." he said, voice monotone. Aeon sighed sadly. He had no idea where the next one would-
"It'll be hellish… but if you manage a badge a week with plenty of battles in between, you might just make it."
Pride rang in the man's voice, and Aeon whirled around, his mouth opened slightly. His brooding visage twisted with a smirk and mirth. "You've come a very long way, kid."
Aeon grinned. Markus sighed, resigned to his fate.
"Thank you! You know I appreciate you, right? You better. Or, I hope you do. Really really hope. Because I really do appreciate you a lot! Anyway. Uh, where do we go? We could go for two from Japan, or somewhere else in Asia, or anywhere, really, as long as we can walk from one region to another. I guess that means a country that has more than one region, which rules out Galar. I've always wanted to go to Europe. Would you recommend anywhere in Italy? Poland? France? Well? C'mon, we don't have all day. Oh, wait!"
Rarely, Aeon would cut off his own trains of thought when a particularly interesting idea occurred to him.
"Do you remember that girl I told you about? Who taught me all of those interesting words? I wonder if she has any suggestions. Do you think she'd suggest Europe, or somewhere closer? Oh, what about Sinnoh? I could fight Cynthia-"
"Aeon."
Markus cut him off, eyes staring down at his phone. The steel in his tone meant he wasn't actually looking at anything on the device. His unused hand was resting in his lap, slightly tense without his ever-present companion, who was likely outside with all their other Pokemon playing in his father's mansion's estate.
"You're not beating Cynthia. Unless you're no longer interested in 'real' fights anymore?" he asked, speculative.
Aeon was quiet, for a moment. He was still interested in fighting people at their strongest, and he did have to admit that he wouldn't win that.
Cynthia was Cynthia, after all, and if anyone knew whether Aeon was ready to fight her at her strongest, then someone who'd spent years attempting to do the same would obviously know.
"You're right, I couldn't beat her. Probably couldn't even beat the League at that level. Going abroad could be a good idea though, right? Battling people with different mindsets, adding to my skill set, maybe capturing some rare or foreign Pokemon. Hey, maybe if we schedule our stuff online, we could even compete in a few tournaments wherever we go. Tourists have to want to battle too, right? Ooh, I could even find some Pokemon to trade, maybe."
Aeon words washed over them both as Markus went back to scrolling, an eye looking towards the large windows every now and then.
"Language could be a problem. If we're going somewhere, we should go with a local – I'm not a geeb with more money than sense, after all, so I should try my best not to come off that way. Well,I guess I sort of am, but not because of a lack of sense, but because of the money, but still! Not a geeb! Maybe…"
"The girl?" Markus prompted.
Aeon's face lit up. "Right! Where was she from? I don't think she mentioned it. I guess I could call her, but I wouldn't want to be rude, and she seemed like a proper sort of person, even if she did know all of those words. She didn't seem to appreciate all my questions. Just another thing to work on, I guess. I wonder what her life's like? I couldn't find much on Chatter, besides a very proper looking account she doesn't do much with. There's absolutely nothing about her Weedle on there!"
"You sure you want a girl with a Weedle coming with us?" Markus said.
"C'mon, they aren't always completely horrible. If she can find a Mega Stone or buy one or have one made, then-"
"If she has the money."
He paused. "Oh. Right."
He was quiet, and then Markus smirked. Not in the proud way, but in the way that promised he'd come up with something to tease Aeon about. "You gotta crush?"
Aeon glowered. "Markus! Ew! Quit saying that about every person around my age I talk about for a bit! Although, with how she kept trying to get rid of me, maybe you could tease her instead? I bet you two could connect. You really do need some more friends, Markus."
The sixty-year-old attendant rolled his eyes at the twelve-year-old. "That's very rich coming from you, Aeon."
"I'm working on it," he refuted. "Again, Tanya. She was kinda fun to talk with. She taught me those words, and I have a feeling she'll be a good trainer."
Markus looked over the edge of his phone. "She has a Weedle, kid."
He shrugged. He knew that, obviously. He was the one who'd told Markus about her, and he knew that not everyone wanted to be good at Pokemon battling.
He had a feeling about her, though.
-OxOxO-
With some training after her lessons with Ikube, she'd managed to get Beedrill to level eleven. Today was the last before the end of her mandated time off, which meant she would be headed in first thing tomorrow for work. Today would be the last day she had an appreciable amount of time to train before the gym battle; she expected whatever she could squeeze in after work tomorrow and Friday would not be a lot.
Her goal for the moment wasn't to raise her Pokemon's level, but to obtain more money. She was loath to take out a payday loan in order to obtain the funds required for her victory, and she had most of what she needed… if she dipped into her savings.
Subsequently, she'd signed up for an incredibly low-level, low-skill tournament set up by the IPLF's Pokemon World Tournament Association for up-and-coming trainers to drum up hype for the main tournaments taking place in a few months. For this tournament, they were basically paying a bunch of teenagers and children to battle, which would give them a wide variety of b-roll footage they could use in commercials for the event.
Ichigo had directed her to the sign-up page after she'd asked him for advice.
Despite the sunny, clear day that made the noon-time park look bright and picturesque, it was also cold. Tanya sniffled but did no more. Compared to winters on the eastern front, Japan was almost balmy, especially with her warm, clean clothes.
There were very few organizers present; the low-level and cheap nature of the event meant that the table where she checked in seated the cameraman, the referee, the medic, and the three other organizational staff personally before walking to her assigned field. She watched as the cameraman directed a swarm of automated drones, as well as his own Pokemon, around the field to capture what was happening.
She tilted her head. Were the cameras also automated, or had he somehow trained his Pokemon to use them? They were some of the more anthropomorphic ones – she recognized a Machoke and a Tyrogue, but not the other three – so perhaps they could press a button or two.
Making a mental note to get some treats for Beedrill in case she needed to induce compliance, she turned back to the field and took out her Poke Ball, staring down at it. She sniffed again at the cold. Tanya wasn't one to endlessly consider counterfactuals, but a small part of her wished she'd taken Arceus's offer to go to a safe world instead of one similar to her first. She gripped the ball-
"Are you Tanya von, uh, Deguruchaf?" asked an unsure, nasal voice that stumbled over her last name. She looked up.
A flicker of pity surged through her, but she quashed it. Judging the nervous child in front of her based on his bowl-cut black hair, thick glasses, and ill-fitting clothes would be foolish. For all she knew, the child was attempting to lull her into a false sense of security.
She glanced down at her phone to learn the name of her opponent. "Yes. You are Kazuya Koji?" she asked. He nodded, and she extended a hand for him to shake.
His palms were sweaty and his grip weak, but she shook his hand like a consummate professional. His nervousness seemed to only increase as he interacted with her. She wouldn't underestimate an opponent, and while she would like to assume his state of mind would reflect an increase in her odds to win, he was not the one who was fighting.
No matter how insecure he was, if he had a Pokemon that matched well against Beedrill, he would probably win. With only a single Pokemon each, the simplified ruleset just didn't allow for enough expression of a trainer's ability to coach or command for his nervousness to determine the outcome.
"I don't suppose you'd like to bet a bit of extra cash?" she asked. He flinched bodily and then stammered out a negative response. She contemplated trying to goad him with backhanded compliments or petty insults, but he could simply concede without fighting.
Tanya's victory would mean nothing without providing the organizers with some footage, so she held back her words as they separated to opposite sides of a small battlefield. A camera, held aloft in the psychic grip of a yellow humanoid Pokemon with vulpine features, circled around them.
Tanya stood at parade rest in the square opposite of the boy and waited. He had several Poke balls on his belt. Nervously, he looked down at his belt, wringing his hands. "Um, do you want to-"
"You may choose first," she conceded, though really she was putting him at a disadvantage. She only had Beedrill; sending him out first would give her opponent a chance to counter-pick her choice. She wondered why they hadn't instituted rules regarding the simultaneous release of Pokemon.
He opened his mouth, perhaps aware of the disadvantage, but when his eyes met her unrelenting gaze, he wilted and swiped a ball from his belt. "L- Let's do this, Psyduck!"
Without waiting for his Pokemon to finish materializing, she acted. In one smooth motion, her hand moved from behind her back, swiped her ball from her belt, depressed the button, and returned to waiting behind her back, ball in hand. She did not announce her Pokemon's name, her eyes staring at the card held in the hands of the Pokemon filming them.
When the two Pokemon finished materializing, it flipped the card from the red side to the green, and Tanya's eyes snapped back to the battle. Somehow, her opponent looked even more dejected and pathetic.
"Fury Cutter," she called. Beedrill surged forward, his spears enveloped in a mottled, pale-green sheen. She hadn't yet encountered a Psyduck, so she knew nothing about its capabilities. Again, the simplified ruleset restricted what strategies could be expressed, especially when their Pokemon were as low level as they were.
The Psyduck froze as Beedrill barreled towards it, and its trainer did little better, trying to stutter out a move. "W- Water Gun!" he cried.
The tips of Beedrill's spears tore across Psyduck's stomach, and it cried out in pain, despite the lack of a visible wound. Attacking with both spears at once wouldn't do more damage, from what she'd observed, but it would allow Beedrill a higher chance of hitting an opponent trying to dodge or impart more force if he hit with both.
The Psyduck was sent tumbling backwards. Shocked, Koji cried its name. Tanya ordered, "Fury Cutter."
The Psyduck scrambled to its feet and, with a furious cry, gripped the sides of its head as water shot out of its mouth. The deluge barely slowed down Beedrill, who carved through the torrent with one spear. "Dri Bee!" he cried, winding up his other spear behind him, the sheen of glowing green power more complete than the first time.
The move was particularly suited to drawn out battles with limited move options, since the move's Power doubled when it was used consecutively, from forty to eighty to one hundred and sixty Power. It was now by far the most powerful of Beedrill's moves. Tanya had no idea why it worked the way it did and, unfortunately, could not devote any time to trying to understand this world's seemingly nonsensical magic.
Beedrill's telegraphed move descended from where it had been held above Beedrill's head, right into the Psyduck's forehead. Again, the Psyduck was sent reeling, but this time, it did not rise. Tanya's eyes flicked towards the card-holding Pokemon.
The card was red once more.
Again, in one smooth motion, Tanya held out Beedrill's ball from behind her back, called, "Return," and clipped it back to her belt right as the light from Beedrill shrinking faded.
She began logging the results of the match in the portal on her phone. "Thank you for the battle, Kazuya Koji," she said brusquely as she spun on her heel to join the line at the mobile healing station. He responded in kind to her turned back while fussing over his Pokemon.
After twenty minutes of waiting in line, she healed her Pokemon and then walked to her next assigned field. Thankfully, her opponent was already there.
The girl smiled at Tanya, nowhere near as hesitant as her last opponent had been. "I saw the end of your battle. You did great!" she said. Tanya dipped her head politely. "Then you are Frisa Lee?" she asked. The girl curtsied, drawing up the hem of her skirt as she did. "Mmhmm!" she hummed affirmatively with her head bowed. "Let's have a good match, Tanya von Degurechaff!"
They separated quickly, and Tanya sent out her Pokemon. This time, a Tyrogue was the one carrying the camera and the colored card being used to start and end the match. The girl pranced to the other side of the field. Her grin grew into a competitive smirk as she sent out her own Pokemon. "Knock 'em down!"
The light resolved into a red, vulpine form Tanya was more familiar with from seeing it in her Pokedex. Others like it were why she couldn't train Beedrill in the more open areas in and around Autumna, as its fire-type moves were super effective against Beedrill.
Tanya sighed. Another battle she wouldn't be able to win, unless it was several levels weaker than Beedrill. Her opponent would not be nearly as confident if it was.
Still, Tanya had to fight to earn money, and so she would. "Fury Attack," she called. Although Fury Cutter gained an additional boost in damage because Beedrill was a Bug-type Pokemon, and was thus more adept at wielding Bug-type moves, Fire resisted Bug-type moves. Fury Cutter would not do as much as Fury Attack, which meant falling back on the inconsistent Fury Attack.
The girl's confidence morphed into confusion. "Uh, Ember!" she called out.
Beedrill rushed forward, spears glowing white, and a weak, fiery glow burned at the back of the Pokemon's throat. Beedrill continued on, undaunted, and landed the first hit. Her Beedrill rammed his spears into the Pokemon's shoulders, one after the other, sending it skidding back. Unlike the Psyduck, it remained standing.
The flames shot out from its mouth, a fistful of flames sailing through the air. Though she'd obviously seen it coming, she could not command her Pokemon to dodge. The bright ball of burning light impacted Beedrill's abdomen.
He buzzed waspishly at the scorch mark left in the yellow and black fuzz of his body. "Again," Tanya called. "Hit as many as you can."
"You too!" the pink-clad little girl called.
Again, they clashed, Beedrill speeding forward with his spears. This time, he did not try to send his opponent flying back, but slowed as he approached. Once, twice, his spear lanced at the Pokemon, followed by a sweeping blow with the tip of his right spear.
His left copied it as the right reeled back, and Vulpix cried out its name as fire burned at the back of its throat. The spear came forward and landed a final, glancing fifth blow against the Pokemon's side. At that moment, the Vulpix, with a guttural cry of its name, let loose another bright Ember at her Pokemon.
This time, it did not hit his body, but instead right between his eyes. Beedrill reeled back, his wings shuttering slightly as he drifted closer to the ground, wiping at his face with his lances.
"You've got it on the ropes now, Vulpus!" her opponent shouted. Their opponent shook itself as it resumed its fighting posture, though its legs seemed to be shaking slightly.
Beedrill, his antennae held high above his head where the Ember had landed, buzzed, furious. Tanya licked her lips. Could they actually win this? "Fury Attack, one more time," Tanya shouted, her hands held tight against Beedrill's ball behind her back.
"Ember, now!"
Beedrill, his strength flagging, rushed towards the Pokemon. This time, the Vulpix did not remain stationary, but reciprocated Beedrill's charge. Beedrill moved quickly, his spears cloaked in light, managing one, two, three-
Then the burst of flame erupted from the Vulpix, and Beedrill was sent crashing into the ground.
She glanced towards the Tyrogue on the sidelines, which held up its card, and Tanya sighed, resisting the urge to grit her teeth. She didn't know why she'd gotten her hopes up.
Unrealistic expectations would doom her.
"Thank you for the battle, Frisa Lee," she replied as she returned Beedrill. She spun on the spot, intent on getting her money and-
"Hey, wait up!"
Tanya blinked in surprise as the girl rushed up to her and grinned. "We're going to the same place anyway, right?"
Tanya nodded slowly. "I suppose we are." Why did she want to talk though?
She smiled brilliantly. "To tell you the truth, I didn't think you'd use that move. I had a whole plan to counter Fury Cutter, too."
Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why would I want to use that?" Was the girl trying to educate Tanya to feed her ego, or discuss strategies for combating other trainers with-
The girl shrugged. "It's more consistent than Fury Attack," she said simply, her hands held behind her back as they arrived in line. She began to rock on her heels.
"Yes," Tanya said, "but the consistency wouldn't outweigh the type resistance."
She raised an eyebrow, her smile small but victorious. "Are you sure?"
Tanya opened her mouth, a kernel of annoyance budding under her skin, but then she considered the question. Had she?
She ran the numbers in her head. The same-type attack bonus, abbreviated STAB, boosted its power by fifty percent, the type resistance meant cutting the power in half, the power doubled every turn, which meant…
She scowled, but she did not swear – a rule regarding conduct with children around. Depending on how strong the Vulpix was, she could have won with Fury Cutter, if she'd used the move three times in a row. The girl giggled, and Tanya sighed again. "I suppose I shouldn't have resigned myself to defeat, even with the type matchup and my expectations," she admitted.
"Nah," the girl replied. Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
She grinned impishly. "Like I said, I had a plan. Vulpix knows Disable, so you wouldn't have been able to use it after the first one."
Tanya hummed in understanding. "Then," she continued, "if I'd known your Pokemon knew Disable, my best strategy would be to gamble on Fury Attack anyway." The girl looked stupefied and Tanya allowed herself a smile of her own. "Which, if you had assumed I knew, you would have anticipated and won by a wider margin."
She held up her screen. "You're right. Vulpus only had one HP left, after all!" She showed off that fact on the screen of her phone.
Tanya was quiet, for a moment, and then asked, "Would you perhaps like to exchange numbers? I've only gotten into battling recently, and my friends and colleagues all have stronger Pokemon."
"Colleagues?" she asked, puzzled. As Tanya explained the basics of her situation, the girl began to gape at her in what Tanya presumed was awe. They began a productive conversation where they exchanged phone numbers, online profiles on Chatter, and a promise to battle in the future.
As Tanya left the line, several thousand yen for the two battles in her account, she waved goodbye to the girl and smiled to herself as she began trekking away from the park.
Once she had her badge, she wouldn't be quite as constrained with her money. Young trainers could earn a small stipend from the government if they were going on their journeys. She could even apply to get a year's worth of her subsidies all at once as long as she could prove she was financially responsible and trustworthy, which could be proven by her records of her rent payments and some testimony from her acquaintances.
While her personal philosophy was against such undoubtedly wasteful and unnecessary government handouts, Tanya wasn't proud (or stupid) enough to turn down free money. If Interpol became suspicious of her, and then slipped up and alerted her to their suspicions, taking a year's worth of money and falling off the grid would be better than the inside of a cell or worse.
As she left the field, with the sun reaching high into the sky, she scowled as a headache began to assault her. "Alright, next is…"
She could always go and purchase Beedrill's TMs, but she wasn't yet set on what strategy she wanted to pursue. She wanted to discuss her possible strategies with Ichigo again, her colleagues, and, if she could stand his rambling, that brat she'd met a few days ago. Perhaps Frisa as well.
Going off-route would be a good idea, but that meant more long battles against Pokemon who resisted Beedrill's moves, unless she wanted to head for fields instead of the forest; as much as she wanted to fight easier battles, fire-types like Growlithe and Vulpix called such biomes home. As her last battle had demonstrated, her Pokemon was not strong enough to win such battles, though perhaps he was closer than she'd assumed-
A flash of light burst from her belt, and she scowled at Beedrill. "What?" she asked, annoyed. "You'll have all the battles you want in a bit."
He continued to hover in the air, tilting his head back and forth, smoothing over the fur on his head and abdomen without looking away from her. She raised an eyebrow. "What, do you want to walk with me?"
He turned away from the direction she'd been walking, away from the train station and towards the nearby edge of the city. His spear pointed in a different direction. Her brows furrowed, for a moment.
"You… want to go home?" she asked, half-incredulous because he'd managed to communicate that much to her and half-incredulous because he didn't want to fight anymore.
He nodded deliberately, and, after a brief moment of motionlessness, Tanya snorted. "No way. You've got more levels to gain. The stronger you are, the safer I am. Let's move out," she said, half to herself and half to the animal, motioning him forward.
She passed by her Pokemon, which hung in the air for a moment before hurrying along with her. Good. It wouldn't do for morale to drop too low, in the face of their opposition.
In order to cheer up her Pokemon, she scratched his head. She had to admit that the buzzing sound he made in response was remarkably cat-like. Had bees in her last world made such sounds? She vaguely recalled something about pheromones being used to communicate in her last life, and she wondered if he was trying to communicate anything deeper than contentment at the physical sensation.
While they walked, she reviewed her plans for the gym so far. Presenting a complete plan to her colleagues – in this case, Ichigo, her coworkers, and perhaps the other child trainers she'd talked with – would help ensure she got the most out of her conversations without having to retread unthoughtful contributions or poorly conceived strategies.
On the day of her gym 'battle,' she would actually be having two fights. Higher level badges often demanded a trainer fight a gauntlet of battles before facing the leader, and they also often contained another, more trainer-focused element related to what was generally expected on a trainer's journey – navigating dangerous terrain or solving puzzles that emulated problems a traveler might encounter in the wild – but for a trainer's first badge, two battles were the only qualification to earn a badge.
The first battle would be against a gym trainer, while the second would be against the leader. From what she'd read online, the gym trainers were hired help that would act as a method to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. As with everyone, a gym leader's time was a valuable resource, and they could only field so many challengers a day. The trainers were paid in both money and a steady stream of fights that would help them hone their own skills, though other systems existed.
She was not overly concerned with the first battle.
Her reconnaissance, gleaned from videos and the gym's webpage, told her that the first battle would be fairly easy for her. For one thing, the gym trainer would only be using a single Pokemon. Given that the gym had a brand to uphold, as both the fighting-type gym and as the premier martial arts dojo in Autumna, type diversity was also not too much of a concern. Almost assuredly, Beedrill's first battle would be against a fighting-type Pokemon.
With her goals and opponent in mind, Tanya was doing what she could to increase her odds of winning.
For instance, a line had to be drawn in order to determine what was appropriate for a battle against a trainer with no badges and a trainer with one. Across various regions, the exact minutia varied with local sensibilities and the wildlife, but Japanese laws and IPLF bylaws wanted gym battles to be fair for all challengers, and that was broadly true of all regions.
A line was drawn, between what was and wasn't allowed. The maximum level one's Pokemon were supposed to be when challenging a gym in Kanto for one's first badge was level fourteen.
Considering the consequences of using Beedrill if he were a level higher, she did not want to exceed the level cap. What a gym and its Leaders would do if a trainer brought a Pokemon above the level cap varied with personal taste and regional guidelines, but this Gym Leader would simply use a Pokemon normally reserved for battles with trainers that already had a badge, close to the next level cap. Tanya had no desire to make the battle any harder than it would already be, so she would ensure Beedrill was level fourteen and not a level higher.
Beedrill began to drift away from her side, curious about the signage on a window. She called his name, exasperated, and he hurried to catch up with her.
By level fourteen, Beedrill would learn two more moves. Bug Bite was stronger than the initial hit of Fury Cutter, though its secondary effect also differed: instead of doubling in power, Bug Bite would allow Beedrill to eat an opponent's berry, assuming they had one and managed to snag the item.
For the first battle, Beedrill would not have an item, while she was planning on giving him one for the battle with the gym leader. He, in turn, could choose to equip one of his Pokemon with an item. At their current level of competition, the items chosen were rarely anything more complicated or expensive than berries… though, with knowledge of the move's secondary effect, the leader might pick a different item.
Regardless, even if fighting-type Pokemon resisted bug-type moves, that didn't mean they couldn't prove useful, given the right circumstance.
The second move he would learn was called Laser Focus. It guaranteed that if the next move he used and landed was an attacking move, the move would be a critical hit. Such a boost could prove pivotal if things didn't go to plan.
In addition to empowering her Pokemon, her choice of time was also meant to improve her chances of winning. The gym was always inundated with visitors on weekends, mostly from children and adults with weekends off. Some would be there to earn a badge, of course, but plenty would be there just to have a friendly battle with the staff, or even with unaffiliated friends; the gym allowed it because the influx of foot traffic was a great time to advertise the dojo's martial arts training. Her own naginatajutsu assessment would be performed in front of spectators and would undoubtedly serve as a demonstration of what one could learn at the gym in just a few short months.
With so much going on, the gym trainers would be very busy, and the chance that she would be matched with an opponent who was on her exact level were lower.
All of that preparation to ensure her first battle was easier was important. Not for Beedrill's health, which would be restored through the wonders of the modern and semi-magical healing machines between the two battles.
No, she would be relying on the moves Beedrill learned naturally to win the first battle. They were not terrible, but against a fighting-type that resisted his bug-type moves, she would need all the leeway she could get.
Beedrill drifted closer to her, the rapid beating of his wings ruffling her hair. She glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, and he backed away, buzzing to himself.
Tanya was much less certain about her ability to take down the gym leader, and she was almost certain she wouldn't be able to win with his natural learnset. With that in mind, she would teach Beedrill a few moves using Technical Machines.
Using TM-taught moves in the battle would allow her opponent to use similarly taught moves. She had decided giving them that capability was more than offset by the increase in her own capabilities making that choice would entail.
In regards to TMs, she had a surprising number of options; Beedrill as a species had a deep movepool.
Unfortunately, many of her options were not actually viable.
Some of her options just weren't useful against her probable opponents; Thief and Ominous Wind might have niche use cases elsewhere, but not in this battle.
Other options, however, were not viable because of any Pokemon she expected to face, but because of the trainer she would be fighting as well as her own resources.
For herself, she simply didn't have the money for more than two TMs; any strategy that demanded more was a non-starter at the moment.
For the leader, the problem was far more complicated. She had done plenty of reconnaissance, though.
Hammond Takenori, the gym leader of the fighting-type gym, had a wide number of Pokmeon he could choose from to wield against her. Despite this, she'd made a rough outline of the leader's likely team, based on the videos she'd seen, posted online by proud parents or boastful children or the gym itself as promotional material.
He always used a Tyrogue first; the line was something of a personal favorite of the man.
The second Pokemon he used could be any number of things. Most were fighting-type or would evolve to become partially fighting-type, though there were some outliers. In higher-tier battles, non-fighting-type Pokemon were brought explicitly to cover for the type's common weaknesses, though there were some that were used instead because of their 'fighting spirit,' according to the webpage.
That distinction seemed odd to her, considering it seemed all Pokemon had that to some extent. She digressed, because the possible opponents weren't really the problem with choosing which TMs to use.
Instead, decades of reigning as the gym leader of Saffron showed that Hammond Takenori's temperament would be a problem if she acted unwisely. He had a record of calling fouls on challengers for a number of reasons, chief among them the usage of 'unsportsmanlike' or 'dishonorable' tactics. On particularly bad days, he would deny a challenger their badge despite their victory in battle. Some raised a fuss, while others accepted the determination without argument; such determinations were within his rights as a gym leader.
Regardless, the challenger had to come back and fight more honorably. A few hadn't even needed to win to get the badge in the end.
In a sport meant to entertain with a ludicrous amount of money poured into it, Tanya was sure such notions were just as important for keeping ratings up and crowds happy as they were by fitting within the man's particular worldview.
With the man's temperament in mind, she'd discarded plans to use more attritional tactics. Even ignoring that she didn't have the money to purchase more than two TMs, attempting to either stall out the battle with Toxic, Roost, and Protect, or to ensure Beedrill was never hit by using a mixture of Double Team, Flash, Protect, and Attract would be one way tickets to getting the man to disqualify her.
Her embryonic plans for those strategies had frozen there. Perhaps at another gym.
With such directly attritional tactics out of the picture, she'd begun to consider options that would augment Beedrill's offense…which presented another problem.
Something tapped her shoulder, and she looked up. She glanced at her Pokemon. "What?"
He pointed to where she'd been walking, and she realized she'd begun heading the wrong way. She muttered an apology – not that her Pokemon would really understand it – and continued their trek.
Where was she… she glanced at Beedrill's buzzing wings and then nodded to herself.
The first move she was considering was Aerial Ace, a physical flying-type move, which would do super effective damage against fighting-type Pokemon. The move also 'never' missed, and though it was technically possible for a Pokemon to dodge the move, the videos presented in the online catalog she'd found on Silph Co.'s website had demonstrated that the effort needed to dodge the move exceeded inefficient and bordered on ridiculous.
The second move she was considering was Brick Break. While not super effective against fighting-type Pokemon, the fighting-type move would be useful against a few of the gym leader's possible counter-picks to Beedrill.
Furthermore, with both flying and fighting-type moves to supplement his movepool, there was nothing the gym leader would use that would be able to resist the four types of damage Beedrill could output – though Beedrill's Poison Sting almost didn't count with how weak it was.
Unfortunately, picking both attacking moves might leave Beedrill's damage against the gym leader's more defensive counter-picks somewhat lacking, which was where the third move creating the conundrum came into play.
Swords Dance would double the power of Beedrill's physical attacking moves for the rest of the battle. If he was able to use it, she would not have to be concerned about his inability to output enough damage to win.
The problem with picking Swords Dance was two-fold. The first was that the gym leader might not give her the chance to set up – one of Beedrill's advantages was his speed, relative to other Pokemon below level fifteen. Unfortunately, Tyrogue could learn Bulldoze and Bullet Punch as Egg Moves, and neither the leader nor his Pokemon were shy about using them when given the opportunity. Beedrill wasn't weak to ground and steel-type moves, thankfully, but he also didn't resist them either. He might take a lot of damage against the Tyrogue that the gym leader would capitalize on with his second Pokemon, rendering both her decision to purchase that TM and to set up actively detrimental to her chances of winning.
The other problem with choosing to purchase Swords Dance would be her Pokemon's lack of coverage. She needed Aerial Ace to ensure her victory over a majority of the man's possible Pokemon, but she also needed Brick Break in order to cover the minority that Aerial Ace would not help with.
Tanya sighed. In the end, the move she had to choose came down to what he would pick to counter Beedrill. He would know that she had only one Pokemon, while she would be blind as to what his choice was.
He wasn't likely to use another pure fighting-type Pokemon if Beedrill took down Tyrogue with Aerial Ace, which ruled out Mankey, Machop, and Makuhita.
He also was unlikely to send something out that was obviously disadvantaged in a fight with a Beedrill. Shroomish, Meditite, and Ralts would not fare well against a bug and poison-type Pokemon with Aerial Ace, so they could also be safely eliminated.
He almost never used the bug and fighting-type Heracross or the rock and fighting-type Alarmoll in a battle for a trainer's first badge, and especially not when they only had a single Pokemon. As single-stage Pokemon, their stats were a cut above most unevolved Pokemon and were deemed too much for someone without any badges… though he had made exceptions for especially promising trainers or to those who requested he pick those Pokemon… as long as they weren't fishing for a type advantage.
She obviously fell into neither of those camps, so she was confident she would face neither of those Pokemon… and even if she did, her two attacking TMs would give her the edge.
In the end, he would most likely choose between one of two Pokemon. Between the two, in battles that were roughly similar to how her own would be, he picked one Pokemon over the other almost ninety percent of the time, from the videos she'd seen.
He would either choose Sandawn or Poliwag. Both were vaguely similar in build and ecological niche to the tadpoles from her first life, though the latter was a water-type the former was a rock-type.
Both posed unique problems.
Sandawn were relatively bulky, which meant trying to defeat it without Brick Break would mean a longer battle. She wasn't confident Beedrill had the stamina to weather a single super effective rock-type move boosted by STAB after fighting Tyrogue, let alone more than one.
The possibility it would land a hit on Beedrill was compounded by one of its abilities, Sturdy. The ability would allow the Pokemon to survive a hit from full health that would normally knock it out. Even if Beedrill used Swords Dance, that ability would ensure a Sandawn would get off at least one attack.
Poliwag, on the other hand, was unlikely to survive more than one or two attacks. If Beedrill used Swords Dance, he might even be able to knock it out in one. Unfortunately, Poliwag, as a species, had a higher base speed stat than Beedrill, which meant it would attack first. Beedrill had a decent special defense base stat, but Poliwag could learn a lot of moves that gave it physical coverage.
Tanya sighed again. At the end of the day, she could always catch another Pokemon. She was certain she would win handily if she did so, but the problems there were both cultural and personal.
Catching and releasing Pokemon was generally frowned upon, unless one was in a few particular professions, and especially if one was attempting to complete the gym challenge. It was possible doing so would lead to harsher treatment at her next gym if she didn't have a good excuse.
The personal problem was that Tanya was not yet sure what other Pokemon she wanted to capture, and her circumstances meant she was wholly unwilling to just 'go with the flow' or 'take what comes' or 'trust in the Force.'
She rolled her eyes in remembrance of that particular forum. Ugh.
"No, my time is better spent ensuring Beedrill is in top form," she said to herself. Suddenly, Beedrill cuddled up to her, and Tanya couldn't help but roll her eyes and scratch the top of her Pokemon's head, a small smile on her face.
Against her will, she was starting to become fond of her pet.
Her thoughts drifted away from the gym challenge.
Her team was meant to help her blend into the general population and, if she were found out, ensure her safety and her ability to escape imprisonment. A virtualmon would certainly be useful for protecting herself online, and since almost everyone had one, obtaining a Porygon or Rotom or Combit would hardly be seen as suspicious. That she didn't have one actually made her stand out more, even if most people didn't use theirs for battle.
Tanya had no desire to obtain a fairy-type that would only serve to reinforce the traits of her appearance that she most despised… though the fact that they were one of the best types for battle meant she would probably have to at some point.
Tanya shuddered. Escaping from Interpol was a daunting prospect. Pokemon would have to be integral to her escape, if she didn't want to draw Being X's gaze. A Pokemon with an ability to ensure she could disengage from battle would be important, unless she wanted to purchase items that mimicked such a capability… but that could leave a paper trail.
Pokemon that could transport her through the air and teleport would also be important, which meant Psychic and Flying types. A Pokemon that she could ride across the land or the ocean would also be appreciated, although at that size, Pokemon became both noticeable, memorable, and resource intensive.
At least her diminutive height was useful for something, in that she could use smaller Pokemon for personal transport than the average adult.
Finally, there were also a number of Pokemon that could utilize illusions that drew her attention, many of which called Kanto home. The idea of training a Pokemon to utilize illusions was intriguing, especially if she found a way to clearly communicate her experience as an Aerial Mage to them. Illusions could be very convincing when they played into people's expectations, and being able to go to a proper hospital with no one the wiser to her Faller origins because all of their screens displayed what they expected from a small prepubescent girl sounded excellent…
Tanya's thoughts trailed off, and she scowled. Puberty. Oh, she was not looking forward to that.
With a shake of her head, she redirected her mind away from concerns that were further afield – could she somehow remove the Ultra Energy from her body or mask it in some way – and refocused on the gym challenge.
She hadn't decided on what other Pokemon she wanted to catch, so she wasn't going to use valuable time she could be training Beedrill with considerations that would get her past this first hurdle.
She glanced at her companion, which seemed to be buzzing quietly to himself. "Well, what about you?" she asked rhetorically. "Does Swords Dance, Aerial Ace, or Brick Break sound good to you?"
He turned to look at her, tilting his head. Then, he sped off into the approaching forest. She watched as he ran his spears against each other menacingly, sped past tree branches and struck them down, and rained hard, two-handed blows down in turn. If the two Pokemon she was most worried about were weak to a shared type, perhaps, with Sunny Day and Solar Beam…
She continued watching her Pokemon frolic about, destroying the poor, innocent foliage. Or, if she needed all three to win, securing the funds to purchase all three was not as much of a non-starter as she'd assumed.
She sighed, resigned. She could technically get a payday loan, but that would not reflect well on her if she tried to get a year's worth of stipends at once. Dipping further into her savings would also not reflect well on her.
She frowned. She'd have to find another source of funding. Her acquaintances came to mind, and her brows furrowed.
Ichigo was way too poor, although maybe he had some TMs from his days as an adolescent. Asking her coworkers was begging to become the butt of jokes, and such actions might end up in a performance review. The girl she'd exchanged numbers with was far too new a friend, and was also a child living with her parents.
Tanya hummed to herself. That babbling child from the Pokemon center, however, had looked fairly well off, now that she thought about it.
Tanya sighed one final time as she set off to reconnect with Beedrill and find some Pokemon to fight. It seemed she'd have to consign a good portion of her time to listening to that child's rambling if she wanted to achieve her victory.
Hopefully, whatever he asked for in return would not be too extravagant, and could also fit into her schedule after work tomorrow or Friday.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily and read chapters a week ahead of time, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.
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