Caught in the Whirlpool
Part XI
Kushina hunched forward on the edge of her seat and chewed at the inside of her cheek as she watched Tank try to block Hana's punishing petal dance with a freezing ice beam. So far the blastoise was holding off the blizzard of pink petals, but it couldn't last much longer. If the ice beam ran out before the petal dance, Tank would take a punishing hit.
I knew Daddy's pokémon were strong, but now that I have something to compare them to… She fisted her hands so tightly that her short nails dug painfully into her palms. Minato's going to have to work for this win. He still has to face down Nautilus and Ryuujin.
Gah! This is awful! Who am I supposed to cheer for?
There hadn't been many opportunities for her to watch her father battle with his pokémon, but when she'd caught a chance to watch she had always cheered for him, even when she'd been annoyed with him. He was her father and he was family and most of the time (before Aunt Asuka and Akane had moved in, at least) she'd thought he was really cool. Habit itched at her to throw her silent support behind her father, even though she was exceptionally irritated with him over the way he dealt with her letters.
Minato, on the other hand, had always been easy to cheer for. He was free of most of the silly ideas that Uzu men seemed to have about women. He was her friend, her lover, the father of her child, and her fiancé. And she was probably the only "local" who would be rooting for him for purely positive reasons.
It's not like I can cheer for both of them to win—
Hana's dense petal dance overwhelmed Tank's ice beam defense and the turtle briefly disappeared from sight in a tempest of pink. The blossom storm petered out and one of Hana's vines groped around the base of her plant, retrieved a little persim berry, and shoved it in her wide mouth before fatigue-induced confusion set in. Tank had been bowled over by the petal dance and was busy swinging his limbs and withdrawing and extending his cannons to build up enough rocking motion to get back on his feet.
The blastoise had just rolled forward to his feet—
"Hana," Minato called, "power whip."
The venusaur twined two of her six vines together into a doubly-thick lash that glowed with power and she cracked it like a massive whip, striking Tank straight between the eyes in a clear critical hit. Tank stood stock still for a tense moment before his eyes rolled back in his head and he toppled forward with a crash. A move like that in one of Minato's usual matches would've elicited excited cheers, or maybe even boos if his opponent was a crowd favorite, but aside from the dull chatter of the reporters and commentators, the spectators were silent.
"Tank is unable to battle," Kenshin declared.
So will it be Ryuujin next, or…
The reporter briefly fell silent at the sight of her father's next pokémon before redoubling their half-whispered commentaries into their microphones or recording devices.
…Nautilus.
Minato eyed the omastar rather curiously. It seemed to be an odd choice since both its types were weak to Hana's grass power. Perhaps Kenjiro had hoped to startle him with the extremely rare pokémon that even trainers such as himself had difficulty acquiring, or he had some secret strategy tucked up his sleeve. If he'd hoped to intimidate Minato, he would've been better off using a kabutops since he was intimately familiar of what that species was capable of…
I wonder where exactly he got that, though.
"Nautilus, blizzard," Kenjiro commanded.
The ancient cephalopod stretched its tentacles wide, spread the for parts of its beak-like mouth open, an exhaled a frigid blast of howling wind full of stinging chunks of ice. The concrete island was the largest solid part of the battlefield, but there still wasn't much room to dodge the powerful attack and the omastar happened to be blocking the closest of the floating platforms. Hana managed to avoid taking the full force of the blizzard but the glancing blow hurt enough and left a few chunks of ice on her left flank and left-most fern frond.
"Shake it off, Hana!" Minato called out. "Razor leaf."
"Protect," the gym leader countered.
Hana gave a shake to knock off the bits of snow and ice as well as fire a swarm of razor-sharp leaves at her foe. But the omastar had withdrawn into its spiked spiral shell, protecting it from any damage. Once the leaf assault was over, it popped back out and clacked its sharp beak menacingly.
"Nautilus, ancient power."
The central island was decorated with a few small piles of rocks and the omastar plucked a small boulder from one with its tentacles, infused it with a bit of rock energy, and hurled it into the trunk-like stem of Hana's flower. Excess energy that hadn't gone into the boulder washed over the squid-like monster, boosting its speed, strength, special powers, and defensive capabilities.
"Hana, earthquake," Minato instructed.
His venusaur reared up on her back legs and then crashed down with tremendous force that made the island ripple like water and knocked the omastar over.
"Use muddy water, Nautilus," the gym leader ordered.
The omastar tottered upright and summoned a wave to swamp the island, much like surf, except the water was dark with silt and grit from the bottom of the pool and it didn't crest as high. The water attack didn't do much damage but the dirty water got into Hana's eyes and made her squint and blink a lot, reducing her accuracy.
"Sludge bomb, Hana!"
Her flower twitched then fired a blob of brownish-purple poison several feet into the air before it fell victim to gravity and splattered down on the omastar, and from the sickly sheen its blue skin took on, it was poisoned from the contact. The resilient fossil monster was now wheezing and its thinner tentacles now dragged on the ground. One more solid hit, with the aid of the poison, would probably do it in.
"Nautilus," Kenjiro said, "scald."
The omastar cracked open its beak and fired a narrow, steaming-hot blast of water that struck Hana on the forehead. It didn't do much damage, but the temperature made her bellow in pain. And then, from the way that she flinched and tossed her head, he could tell that she'd developed a burn.
Damn it, Minato cursed as he swallowed a sigh. I thought that only Mei Terumi's monsters could pull off that move.
"Hana," he said aloud, "use vine whip."
All six of the venusaur's vines extended from the flowering plant on her back and delivered stinging lashes to the hard-shelled squid.
"Nautilus, blizzard."
The omastar attempted to produce a second concentrated snowstorm, but the poison overcame it and it sank limply onto its side.
"Nautilus is unable to battle," Kenshin called out, his voice cracking slightly.
Even though he was down to his last pokémon, the gym leader's expression was as neutral and unreadable as ever. His posture was relaxed and when he called out commands to his beasts his tone was steady and strong. It made Minato wonder if the man played poker.
Then Kenjiro's final monster materialized in the pool. A man-sized blue seahorse with twig-like antlers sprouting from its skull bobbed tranquilly in the water. The water dragon studied Hana with a detachment that bordered on boredom.
"Hana, synthesis—"
"Ryuujin, ice beam."
While Hana frantically gathered light energy to replenish some of the health sapped by the omastar and her burn, the kingdra took its time in aiming very carefully. Then, while it was still floating at the far end of the pool, it fired the crackling beam of freezing cold at the venusaur. Hana rocked from the impact and almost collapsed from the tremendous damage.
It looks like that thing has the sniper ability, Minato noted. "Hana, close in and use power whip."
Using the floating platforms like stepping stones, Hana bounded closer to the kingdra, struggling against her fatigue.
"Brine," the gym leader ordered.
The kingdra fired a blast of extremely salty water from its narrow, tube-like mouth just as Hana was close enough to strike with her power whip. Her punishing lash struck at the same time as the brine slammed into her flank. While the kingdra flinched from the strike, Hana collapsed as the salt seeped in through the damaged parts of her skin and did double the damage.
"The venusaur is unable to battle," Kenshin announced.
Hana was so close to the other end of the battle pool that it took a moment for the return laser to lock onto her body and draw her back into her ball.
Well, he mused as he eyed the giant seahorse. The best way to beat a dragon like that…
Minato plucked and ultra-ball from his belt and unleashed his dragonite, Ryuu.
…Is with another dragon!
Kenshin hissed through his teeth at the sight of the mighty dragon as it took flight to hover over the battle pool on wings that seemed too small and flimsy to lift its bulk. This fight was nothing like the challenges that he usually oversaw. His father never lost the first fight, let alone had his line-up whittled down to one.
When a new young trainer would come to the gym, seeking the spiral badge, his father would beat them, give them advice to improve, and invite them back in a few months time. If they were brave and determined enough to come back again, he would again hold nothing back and defeat them once again. Should the trainer showed enough improvement and come back a third time, his father would limit himself to using one or two of his pokémon and should he be defeated, hand over the badge with congratulations.
"It makes the accomplishment really mean something," his father always explained. "This badge is a sign of respect, and respect must be earned. A lazy trainer that quits when he loses or fails to learn and improve from his defeats isn't worthy of recognition. But if a trainer works hard and doesn't give up, that deserves rewarding, don't you think?"
Ever since Kenshin had been old enough and experienced enough to serve as a referee that was how gym challenges worked. He had never seen his father's back pushed up against the wall like this. And it baffled him how his father could appear to be so calm and collected in such a dire situation.
"Ryuujin, ice beam," his father commanded.
His father's kingdra took careful aim, seeking another critical hit that would be boosted by his sniper power—
"Ryuu, draco meteor," the challenger ordered.
A rippling glow spread over the dragonite's orange scales and flowed towards the dragon's mouth where a glowing orb of concentrated power grew. Just as Ryuujin fired his ice beam attack, the dragonite loosed its own. The glowing orb rocketed over the battle pool and at the halfway point shattered into a dozen fiery little meteors that rained down on the far end of the pool, smashing a few floating platforms, kicking up tons of spray, and pounding the kingdra under the water. It completely spoiled Ryuujin's aim and the ice beam barely grazed the dragonite's flank before it hit the ceiling and left a clump of icicles behind.
Kenshin gaped at the awesome display like a green trainer that had never left home before. What the heck was that? Not even the Kurohi have pulled off an attack like that one before!
The churning water eventually calmed, but Ryuujin remained out of sight. Kenshin was about to reluctantly disqualify him when the kingdra leapt from the water almost directly behind the hovering dragonite and fired a fresh ice beam right into the flying dragon's spine. The dragonite dove for the central island with a startled cry, clawing bits of ice of its torso, while a battered and infuriated Ryuujin hissed in triumph.
I think I can see why Dad never uses Ryuujin when he's ready to fight for a badge. Ryuujin can't stand losing. This could get ugly…
"Ryuujin, another ice beam."
"Ryuu, thunder wave," the challenger responded.
The kingdra fired another frozen bolt from his tube-like mouth, but the beating he'd taken from the dragon-powered meteor shower and his boiling rage made his aim sloppy. The dragonite was able to duck under it and, before Ryuujin could correct his aim, it fired blast of static from its antennae. Ryuujin's paralysis was instant and his ice beam abruptly cut off without finding its mark.
"Ryuu, dragon rush."
"Ryuujin, dive."
His father's pokémon started to sink under the water, but Ryuujin was just too slow. The dragonite surrounded itself in a blue-green aura of dragon power and darted just over the surface of the pool where it just caught the tips of Ryuujin's horns. The force of the glancing blow tore Ryuujin out of the water and cast him onto one of the still-intact floating platforms.
Dazed and paralyzed, Ryuujin still struggled to push itself upright and balance on its curled tail. The kingdra clearly didn't have much health left so the challenger held his dragon back. And his father stood back and watched, unwilling to call back his sea dragon while it still had the spirit and the drive to keep fighting.
Even if Ryuujin is lucky enough to pull off one last sniper-boosted ice beam, he still loses, Kenshin knew. The challenger still has one completely fresh pokémon in reserve that we haven't seen yet. And even if it's only half as strong as the rest of this guy's monsters, it'll still be able to knock out Ryuujin in the state that he's in.
With a final effort, Ryuujin was able to get up and balance on his tail, and the challenging trainer acted.
"Ryuu, twister."
The dragonite howled and summoned a small waterspout that completely enveloped the battered kingdra. The shredding twister reached all the way up to the towering ceiling and lasted for what felt like an eternity before it faded away. When Ryuujin was visible once more, the kingdra was laid out cold, half-on half-off the platform.
"…Ryuujin is unable to continue," Kenshin announced, amazing himself with his level tone of voice. "The gym leader is out of pokémon. The challenger wins."
The silly reporters kept on muttering into their microphones and recording devices, but the people who really knew what was going on were silent. His family members and neighbors knew what they'd witnessed. Even those who'd come in hoping to gloat over his father's defeat didn't seem to know what to do with it now that they had what they wanted.
Kenshin sighed and looked to his father, numbly amazed to see that his impenetrable mask was still firmly in place, revealing not a hint of what he was thinking or feeling.
I really need to learn how to do that, he thought as he watched the challenger and his father walk towards each other to exchange a final sportsman-like handshake. A stone face like that makes all the little tyke trainers freak out…
Minato smiled politely as he repeated the handshake that had opened the match with the gym leader, Kenjiro Uzumaki. The grip was the same as before—not harder or softer. The only difference that Minato could tell was that the nod that Kenjiro gave him was slower.
The battle had been tough; the toughest battle that he could remember having against a gym leader. The lingering adrenalin rush made his skin tingle and it was difficult to keep his polite smile from stretching into a silly grin over his accomplishment in winning. The man's clear strength and experience made him wonder…
"Thank you for the excellent battle, Mr. Uzumaki," Minato said. "Have you ever considered seeking the championship of your league? I hear that the position is open."
"I'm a gym leader," was Kenjiro's matter-of-fact response.
Minato cocked his head slightly. "There's no one who could take your place here?"
"My son will take my place one day," Kenjiro replied and let go of Minato's hand. He gestured towards a small door at the end of the chamber where he'd battled from. "The healing machine is back that way."
The blond wanted to follow, but from the corner of his vision he could see the reporters ready to pounce on him, eager for his opinions and thoughts on the battle. If he didn't give them a few comments they'd hang around in the gym for hours instead of leaving in a timely manner. So he gathered his nerve and hoped that he wouldn't end up with a headache.
"I'll see if I can't get rid of the media first," he told the older man.
Kenjiro nodded once and then left to take care of his fainted creatures, completely ignoring a few greeting from reporters that he passed by.
Okay, Minato mentally sighed as he faced the bleachers as reporters started picking their way down to him. Hopefully this won't be too awful…
Kushina squeezed her still-damp braid with her hands and imagined that it was Minato's neck.
No, don't talk to the reporters! she mentally growled. Go somewhere quiet where I can corner you and yell at you for not telling me that you were coming here! Rah!
"He…beat Uncle Kenjiro," Akane breathed. "He's amazing."
Kushina's irritation sharpened and shifted targets. She clenched her teeth tightly as she watched her fluff-brained cousin drool over her fiancé. She was sorely tempted to do something stupid like snarl: "Quit staring at him, he's mine!" But that wouldn't do her any good.
"Aw man," Arata sighed. "I put my money on Kenjiro. Oh well…"
"That's what you get for judging a book by its cover," Daichi snorted.
Arata pouted. "Yeah, yeah, shut up!"
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Arashi cursed from his seat a few feet to Kushina's right.
"I wonder how much he bet on Kenjiro," Daichi remarked quietly.
"Too much," Arata sighed. "That guy doesn't know when to quit."
"I'm going to ask Mother if we can invite him over for lunch," Akane decided and shuffled back to where Aunt Asuka was sitting with the rest of the family.
"What?" Kushina squawked, feeling a stab of panic. That's a terrible idea!
But Akane was already whispering excitedly to her mother and dread started churning in Kushina's gut. Her hope to introduce Minato to her family (if she ever did) after they'd married looked like it was going down in flames. And since they weren't married yet, and if her father and brothers decided that they didn't like the idea of Minato becoming her husband, they could try and run him off. Nightmare scenarios started swirling in her brain and she clutched at her braid so tightly that her knuckles bleached white.
"Are you alright?" Shun asked her, jolting her from her panicky thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kushina grumbled.
"You look upset," Shun remarked.
Kushina scowled at him. "I'm fine."
"Okay," he said dubiously. "If you're sure…"
"It looks like someone's finally put old Kenjiro in his place. It's too bad that it had to be a girly outsider that managed it, though…"
Kushina immediately started scanning the locals at the top level of the bleachers in search of the speaker.
"Yeah, man, this comeuppance was long overdue."
Her eyes landed on a pair of men, one with brown hair and the other with silvery hair, sitting two rows down from her and a few feet to the left.
"Hey!" she snapped at them. "What's your problem?"
The pair turned around and glared up at her. Neither of them was particularly familiar, but if they'd just been acquaintances of hers before she'd left it was entirely possible that she wouldn't know their faces now that they were all grown up. It didn't look like either of them recognized her but they got up and walked closer to answer her anyway.
"Kenjiro Uzumaki is a high-and-mighty tyrant," the brown-haired man informed her. "He'll beat a young trainer a dozen times before deigning to let them win a badge from him. He's needed his butt kicked for years."
"Shut up, Kasshoku," Arata frowned. "You're just sore that you were never able to get a badge from him when you picked up the other three gym badges so easily. Did you ever go back for a rematch after he kicked your behind the first time?"
"You shut up," Kasshoku hissed. "You've never even tried to get the spiral badge!"
"I know my limits," Arata shrugged.
"You're just a coward," the silver-haired man sniffed. "I fought Kenjiro three times and never got the badge. It's really sort of insulting that some foreign male model managed to do what no decent, hard-working citizen of Uzu no Kuni has done in decades."
"Hey, Gin, has anyone told you that you're a douche bag?" Daichi scowled.
"He's not a male model, he's the champion of the Land of Fire," Kushina glared. "And if you're so insulted by his win, why don't you two morons challenge him?"
"Who the hell are you?" Gin demanded coldly. "Some foreign fan-girl of goldilocks down there?"
"I'm Kushina Uzumaki and I've lived in Hi no Kuni for years," she snapped back.
"Uzumaki?" Gin frowned.
"Oh, I remember you," Kasshoku smiled nastily. "The little runaway finally comes home. I didn't recognize you; you actually look female now. Imagine that!"
Daichi and Arata managed to grab her arms before she could stand and take a swing at him. "Go screw a sharpedo!"
"No thanks," Kasshoku replied. "I'll pass. I'll leave Golden Boy to enjoy the reporters; I'm not going to bother with him."
"Yeah," Gin nodded. "Why waste time fighting some flashy foreigner that everyone's going to forget in about a month?"
"Cowards," Kushina sneered. "I bet you're afraid that you can't beat Minato, even if you double-team him."
Before their argument could continue and get loud enough to draw the reporters' attention, Arashi and the Tora-Tora twins walked over with expressions full of warning.
"Buzz off, Biyokuchi," one twin said.
"Run home, Retsukai," the other added.
"If you don't knock it off, we'll drag the both of you out on your asses," Arashi growled.
"Remind your sister that women are supposed to be the honorable hidden ones," Kasshoku replied, poking Arashi in the chest with his finger. "Also, my cousin is getting tired of your excuses. You'd better square away your debts with him soon."
"I've got it under control," Arashi snapped. "Beat it!"
With a parting sneer the pair departed, stumping all the way down the bleachers and skulking off towards the gym's exit.
"I hate sore losers like them," Arata complained.
Kushina just glared at their backs and seethed.
I hope that they work up the guts to challenge Minato to a battle so that he can wipe the floor with them!
In the back room, the healing machine finished its cycle and Kenjiro slowly removed his monster capsules from it and replaced them on his belt. It had been a very long time since he'd faced an opponent that was truly on his level, and he was admittedly surprised that someone so young had gotten the best of him. But every now and then it was important to lose; it reminded him of the truth that there will always be someone out in the world that was more powerful, more skilled, or luckier than he was.
And he found himself rather impressed by his young opponent. The blond man gave no impression of arrogance, nor had he rubbed in his victory, and so far had been perfectly polite and respectful. He was someone that Kenjiro felt was worthy of respect and an excellent example of what young pokémon trainers should aspire to be.
I'll offer him my badge, he decided as he headed to the small, velvet-lined box where they were kept. He's worthy of it.
"Uncle Kenjiro?"
He paused and turned back towards the door and saw his niece standing a few feet behind him with her hands clasped under her chin in her classic begging posture.
"I hope that you're not upset at losing, but I asked Mother if I could, and she said to ask you, because it's your house, and—"
"What is it, Akane?"
"Can we invite him over for lunch or dinner?" she asked with pink cheeks and glowing eyes. "If you don't want to because he beat you I understand, but I really, really, really want to meet him."
"I don't see why not," Kenjiro shrugged. "I'll have Kenshin pass along the invitation after he's finished talking to the media that followed him here."
"Thank you!" Akane cried in delight, hugged him, and kissed his cheek before scampering out of the room.
It's good that she's finally become attracted to a man that seems decent, he thought, returning to his small chest of badges. If he proves to be as good as I think he is, and if they hit it off…
He smiled faintly.