Novels2Search
A Region Not My Own - A Pokemon Story
Chapter 19: Resolute Rivals

Chapter 19: Resolute Rivals

Yuji went next.

He was standing at the edge of the tunnel as I walked back with my flag over my shoulder, still preening from my win.

"Hey, man," I half-shouted with happiness. "I did it!"

Yuji didn't look up at me, instead nodding to the ground.

"Yes, you did," he said.

He sounded distracted.

I frowned, taking a closer look at my friend. He was normally pretty pale, but his face was almost sheet white. His knuckles were white from how hard he was clenching his hands.

"Are you okay, bud?" I glanced over at him, thinking about what could be causing this. He'd never been nervous before, and the vibes were wrong for anxiety. it was almost more... frustrated?

He gave me a tired smile. "Yes, Derek. I'm feeling all right. Just some nerves before the battle begins."

I gave him an understanding smile, though I didn't quite believe him. "You got this, man," I put a hand on his shoulder, and he leaned into my palm. "You're my rival, dude. If I kicked his ass, so can you."

Yuji's eyes went wide, and his lips upturned into a vicious grin.

While it had been a slow onset, I meant what I said. Yuji had become my rival since we decided to fight for who would battle Brock first. When I thought about improving to overcome others, his face was the first one I thought of. There was a reason I'd argued so hard to get him the same challenge as me.

Yuji nodded, turning his eyes out of the tunnel and toward the stadium. He let out a deep breath, but he never released the tension in his hands. Instead, he held them tighter.

"They're waiting for you," I said, releasing his shoulder. "You got this."

As he walked out into the spotlights, I got to see his full battle outfit for the first time.

Yuji wore a traditional white gi, like one would wear when practicing martial arts, but he'd covered his shoulders with a wispy black shawl that flowed over his body like silk. His hair was let down, letting his white hair streak contrast across the black of his cloak. The front of his gi was left open, showing off his toned chest and pectoral scars.

The man radiated martial prowess, and I smirked as I thought about the team that he had behind him.

I almost stood there and watched the entire battle from the tunnel, but I desperately wanted to celebrate with the rest of my friends and my... ...girlfriend?

Weird.

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I quickly changed out of my battle outfit, slipping on a set of sweatpants and a comfortable hoodie, and took a moment to congratulate Artis in the locker room. I kneeled down to his height before I released him. Wisp slipped out of my shadow and nuzzled the side of my head before taking her spot by my shoulder.

A flash of red light and my first Pokemon materialized in front of me. He still had bruises from his fight, but that didn't impact his energy at all.

"Spheal Pheal!" he barked as he jumped into my arms, licking my face with his wide tongue.

"pfft! Bud!" I spat, giggling like a kid. "You gotta stop kissing me like that, Daisy's gonna get jealous."

I hugged him anyway. We'd just done something that I'd been dreaming about my whole life, I wasn't gonna let a little Spheal spit get in the way of us celebrating. Wisp slipped into the hug, and I held both of my Pokemon.

"We did it, guys."

All three of us sat in that sentiment for a bit. We weren't anywhere near our actual goal, but we'd taken a huge step today.

It was a moment that deserved to be lived in.

After we separated, I gave them both treats that I'd picked up a few days ago on a shopping trip. Wisp even got one, even though she hadn't taken part in the actual battle. That had been my intention the whole time. Even though she would've had an easy time against Brock's physical moves, Artis had been working toward our first badge for over a month. Between his training and the trauma he'd been put through, he'd earned today's win all on his own. Wisp would get her time to shine in the future, so it wasn't her fault she hadn't been in the battle.

Today had been about Artis.

We hugged a little bit more, and then I returned Artis and headed up into the stands. I flipped my hood up so that most onlookers wouldn't be able to tell that it was me. I didn't want to distract from the ongoing fight.

Yuji was still going strong in his battle. Brock was pulling no punches, just like he'd promised, and had out an actual fossil Pokemon in the form of an Omanyte. The shelled squid-like creature was facing down Despereaux, and the Rattata was winning. He was weaving around the water/rock type using his far superior speed, striking quickly and retreating with every move. Despereaux canceled out his ineffective normal typing by relying on his dark type moves, like Bite and Assurance.

I shuffled through the bleachers, making my way to my friends. Amy looked green from the sheer amount of people in the crowd, but they gave me a smile and a hug as I passed by. Hana squealed in excitement, hugging me but never tearing her eyes from Yuji's battle. In her lap was her laptop, Brock's second badge roster pulled up on the screen. Daisy scooted over to make room for me, and I happily sat down between her and Hana. She immediately intertwined our fingers, and I squeezed her hand.

"You did amazing," Daisy said, leaning into my ear so I could hear her. "Artis is really coming along, and your entrance was almost Contest-worthy."

I grinned, genuinely feeling touched. From a former-Grand Festival champion, that was high praise. I leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek, the same she'd done to me this morning. She smiled even wider.

"Thanks, Daisy," I said, "That means a lot. I only hope Terry got it all on video."

We both glanced up a few rows deeper into the stands. Terry was still wielding my camera with the enthusiasm of an independent journalist.

"Is that..." Daisy asked slowly, looking at his other hand.

"Yeah..." I laughed. "That's his streaming phone."

Terry had a second device in his other hand. It looked like a giant fork holding both a second camera and an extra Pokegear, mounted so that he could see both at the same time. I could see a wire snaking up his sleeve to a lapel microphone on his shirt. The guy was streaming the entire battle, with commentary, while recording all the matches.

I shook my head while Daisy giggled at his antics. That guy has more talent and commitment to content than I will ever have.

We turned back to the fight.

Despereaux had struck the Omanyte several times now and you'd think that he'd still have the advantage, but I winced when I saw what was actually happening. The shellfish's shell had cracked in several places, and that seemed to have freed up more of its legs for movement. It zoomed around the field with almost as much speed as Despereaux, matching the Rattata hit-for-hit.

"Weak Armor," Daisy confirmed my suspicions when I glanced her way. "Admittedly a rare ability for Omanyte, but it's raising its speed every time it takes a physical hit."

"But it's got the trade-off of weaker defense, right?"

She nodded but also shrugged. "It's still going to be hardier than Despereaux, no matter how much Yuji has been training him. He needs to pull out a singular powerful hit before this gets too bad."

I frowned.

Despereaux didn't have a single big hit, at least that I knew of. Yuji had focused him on skirmish-style tactics and left the big hits to Achilles.

He was apparently thinking along the same lines. Yuji announced his only swap of the match, letting him return Despereaux and send out his Heracross. I grinned when Achilles slammed his fist into the ground upon release, arriving in a superhero three-point landing.

While I cheered at that, I was upset to find that most people were watching the battle with middling interest. Several rows of people who had come to watch my match were starting to clear out of the arena, and almost all of the signs had come down. Even though his increased challenge still had people in their seats, they hadn't come to see him.

"This isn't gonna work for me," I muttered.

"Hmm," Daisy said, looking around. "Oh..."

I stood up from my seat, pulling my hood back so that people could see it was me. I took a deep breath, pushing down the second-hand embarrassment for what I was about to do.

"Oh, my legends!" I yelled, projecting my voice to the people around me. "That's my rival! He's using the Heracross that beat me in a battle?"

My words had the intended effect. People in my immediate vicinity perked up, and a few people started to shuffle in their seats toward me. I shooed them away but grinned as they started whispering among themselves. Pokegear and other phones started popping up around the crowd, and the crowd took a lot more of an active interest in the fight. I heard a pair of trainers whispering near me.

"Oh wow," one said. "That's the Heracross from the battle vid with Wisp!"

"Yeah!" the other whispered back. "And Tracy's saying it beat him? They must've had a rematch."

As I sat down, Daisy laughed into her palm at how red my face was. Hana leaned over and patted my forearm, giving me a grateful look. The wave of interest was spreading from our immediate area and a wave of murmurs was overtaking the crowd. When Achilles rushed in with an Aerial Ace, slamming his wing into the Omanyte's shattered shell, there was a collective impressed groan from the crowd.

I'd given Yuji the crowd, and he had their full and undivided attention.

Achilles followed up his Aerial Ace with a Brick Break, dealing super effective fighting type damage with a flat palm strike to Omanyte's side. The crowd cheered as the water/rock type went down, fainted.

Brock released his next Pokemon, and I felt a chill go up my spine with excitement. When he'd promised not to go easy on my friends, he'd decided to pull out all the stops.

Standing there on the field was another fossil Pokemon, one that Wisp had made me get intimately familiar with. Standing almost two meters tall, with rough slatelike skin and a wide draconic snout, was an Aerodactyl. It spread its purple wings and took to the skies, filling the stadium with this presence that I could only explain because I'd felt it before.

My dad had an extremely rare Pokemon on his team, one that was feared in our homeland as the 'Disaster Pokemon'. Brimscythe the Absol had the same ability as this Aerodactyl, one that put a weight on the shoulders of the Pokemon that face it in battle, that drove the air from your lungs and made it just that much harder to breathe.

"Pressure," I choked out. Daisy nodded while Hana's eyes widened in panic.

Pressure was an extremely rare and powerful ability that exerted the user's enemies, forcing them to use twice as much energy in their moves as they normally would. For example, if Achilles could normally Brick Break four times before he had to rest, he'd only be able to use it twice before being exhausted against a Pokemon with Pressure.

Brock must have realized that Achilles was one step above the rest of the Pokemon in our group. I'd had to surprise Yuji with a Pokemon that was immune to most of Achilles' attacks to scrape by with a win.

The referee called for the battle to resume, and the crowd stiffened with anticipation.

Achilles rose into the air, matching Aerodactyl's height, and a battle in the skies began.

Aerodactyl was faster, dropping through the air like a bullet and reopening its wings just centimeters from the ground, skimming the surface of the dirt and leaving a cloud behind it. A purple glow emanated from its head, and small chunks of stone and boulders from my earlier fight responded in kind, floating off the ground and following behind Aerodactyl. The ancient flier swooped back into the sky, a flying battalion of boulders trailing behind it. His control over Ancient Power was insane.

Achilles dropped into an evasive pattern as Aerodactyl blasted by. He weaved between boulders, wincing when one would skim his wings or bounce off his armor. He avoided the large ones on the first pass, but Aerodactyl looped around for another pass. As he dodged this time, Achilles started to vibrate his wings to activate his Bug Buzz. My hands snapped to my ears when I recognized the move, and I beat the deafening sound by half a second.

The vibrations cracked and shattered the boulders as they flew by. The lack of actual mass ripped them away from Aerodactyl's control and they floated harmlessly by as a cloud of dust. The fossil wasn't done, though. It circled the cloud, shaping it with the air from its wings into a whirling Sandstorm. The razor-sharp sand clacked against Achilles' armor, stinging the fighting type's exposed eyes and wings.

Achilles took advantage of Aerodactyl's distracted flying, dropping like a stone from above and landing a strike with the flat of his palm.

Crack!

A massive impact rippled through the sandstorm as the Aerodactyl took the first real blow of the fight. It didn't let it go unpunished. The fossil Pokemon whipped its head around, gripping its jagged teeth around Achilles' leg and crunching downward. The shattering of his exoskeleton following the crack of Aerodactyl's own injury.

"Hera!" Achilles yelled in pain.

He ripped his leg away from the fossil, separating the two and letting them split off in the air. It was going to have to stay an aerial battle, as Achilles' leg hung limply and trailed behind him. He was panting hard, too. The Pressure was already exhausting him.

I glanced at Yuji in worry, but I grinned when I saw his face.

Aerodactyl was relentless, diving back toward the Heracross, not letting him have a moment's peace. Both its wings glowed with white light, and several of the trainers in the crowd cried out in recognition. It was charging a Wing Attack, a move that was super effective against both of Achilles' types. It was going to be devastating if it hit.

It is going to be devastating. I smirked

Right before the Aerodactyl hit, I saw Achilles tense in a way that Despereaux had done against Artis dozens of times.

The attack slammed into Achilles, striking him directly across the midriff and cracking his armor all across that chest piece with a critical hit. The impact was so strong that it dissipated the Sandstorm around them, leaving both Pokemon floating in the air.

Achilles grunted, his Endure having successfully allowed him to tank the hit on the edges of unconsciousness. He twisted in the air, performing a practiced technique that I knew Yuji had been drilling into him all week. The Heracross used Counter, a move that returned a hit with double the force that the user had just been struck with.

It sent to ancient flier plummeting straight down into the battlefield, cratering the stone and dirt floor with its fainted body.

We had to wait ten minutes for the gym trainers to dig Aerodactyl out enough for Brock to return his Pokemon.

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I went with Amy to the locker room so that I could congratulate Yuji. We met him right inside the tunnel.

I ran up to him, tossing him over my shoulder and chanting "Yuji fucking did it! Yuji fucking did it!"

Amy cackled, still sweating from their exertion from being in the crowd. They cheered when Yuji laughed from over my shoulder. I spun him in a circle once more before putting him down. He scooped up Amy in a hug before they started getting ready for their own fight.

I kneeled down next to Amy as they started pulling on their costume. I was excited about Yuji's win, but I'd talk to him in a second. I needed to make sure all my friends got a pep-talk, after all.

"Hey, Ames," I said. "How are we feeling about our chances?"

They shoved their oversized sock hat over their hair, letting out a deep breath.

"I'm gonna be honest, Derek," Amy said. "I feel way more nervous now that I've seen what Brock is willing to use against us."

"The Aerodactyl?" I asked. When they nodded, I shook my head. "Nah, that's not going to happen. This is going to be tough, but Brock has been entirely fair in his choices. Since you're only signed up to use one Pokemon, he's definitely not bringing out a beast like that."

"I believe it was even above the challenge we were supposed to be fighting at, even after the battle elevation," Yuji chimed up from behind me. "The Leader must have recognized Achilles' natural strength."

Amy didn't seem quite convinced, but they nodded anyway.

I took them by the arm, and Yuji grabbed them by the other. We brought them to the tunnel. Amy gulped as they looked out at the crowd. The majority of people had stayed after Yuji's fight. Now that they'd had two amazing matches, they weren't leaving without seeing what the rest of the elevated challenges would look like.

I patted Amy on the back, pushing them forward. They glared at me but gave me a determined nod. Amy picked up one foot and took a stiff step forward. And that's how they walked, one foot in front of the other every step of the way. Amy physically recoiled when the energy of the crowd hit them.

I had an idea.

"Wisp," I said quietly. Yuji's head glanced over at me, and I knew that he could hear. "Can you go hide in Amy's shadow and try to dampen their powers a bit? No pranks or anything. If you're nice to them like this, I'll make them buy you some sweets."

I should've led with the first bit. Before you could say 'Misdreavous', Wisp had stretched my shadow forward, barely connecting it to Amy's before they were out of range of each other. She vanished without another trace.

If it had been any other psychic, I would've worried about Amy's telepathic communication with their Pokemon being interfered with by Wisp's presence, but Amy wasn't your normal psychic. Because they didn't have enough control yet to speak with their mind, it just meant that the emotions they were getting were just noise. Since Wisp was just a ghost, and not something like a dark type, her presence should just quiet that noise a bit instead of shutting it off. Sure enough, the moment Wisp entered Amy's shadow, I saw them straighten their shoulders and even out their gait.

"That was nice of you," Yuji said. "It's something I wouldn't even have considered."

"Yeah, I wish I'd thought of it earlier. It would've saved them so many headaches at the Center."

Yuji grunted in agreement. We both watched Amy walk up to the podium but glanced at each other as the referee started the opening spiel.

I grinned at him, unable to contain my excitement now that Amy had been taken care of. "Dude, you fucking did it."

Yuji smiled back, unable to keep the self-satisfaction off his face. As much as he would loathe to admit it, Yuji was just as prideful as the rest of us. Even if he was quiet about it, he was practically preening.

"I did," he agreed.

We both started laughing, and I pulled him into a big hug. He squeezed me tight, letting me go with a pat on the back. For someone who didn't normally like physical contact, this was downright giddy for him.

He did look abashed when he pulled back. "Derek, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about," he said. "In the tunnel earlier-"

I held up my hand. "The whole thing about the challenges? Dude, that's fine."

Yuji turned bright red. "Was I that obvious about it?"

"I never seen you upset like that. I figured it could only be one thing."

He nodded, but he looked unsatisfied. "Actually, it's not just one thing," Yuji hesitated. When I nodded for him to go on, he continued. "I just- Given everything you've gone through- I mean-"

Yuji closed his eyes, taking a moment to collect himself. He started again. "I felt as though, perhaps, with all of the success you've garnered recently, that I, and by extension the rest of the group, were falling behind."

I wanted to immediately shoot it down, but I had to remind myself to actually listen to what my friend was saying. In the last week, I'd survived an unreasonable task, defeated Yuji to a crowd of thousands of digital viewers, and gotten more social media attention than the rest of the group combined. When you took into account the fact that Amy, Hana, and Yuji had helped train me, it was really obvious where Yuji's feelings were coming from.

"And Brock's challenge," I said aloud. "Was just the final straw?"

He nodded, looking at the ground. "When I saw that, it felt like the League themselves were saying that we weren't as competent as you were."

I put my hand on his shoulder, and he stiffened. It was almost like he was waiting for me to tell him he was right.

"You're a fucking idiot."

Yuji sputtered at my response, staring at me in confusion. I laughed, shaking my head at him.

I don't know who beat this guy down, but he was way too ready to be put down.

"Yuji, you just fought a better battle than I could have dreamed of. People are going to be playing clips of Achilles beating Aerodactyl for the rest of your career. There's no way that the guy who soundly beat my ass and then rocked up to take on Brock is even a single step behind me."

Yuji didn't look up. "But- I-," he stuttered. "Brock only wanted to fight you-"

"And I set him straight," I said firmly. "Even he had to admit that you guys were ready for the challenge when I laid it all out for him. I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier, but do you know what actually convinced him?"

He met my gaze, but he shook his head.

"It was when I talked about how well you were training Achilles. You got a fighting type ready to easily take down a ghost in less than a week. That's not nothing, bud."

Yuji's gaze softened, and I thought I saw a glimmer in the corner of his stoic eye. "You really said that?"

"Yeah, bud," I held out my hand to him. "I meant it earlier when I called you my rival. That's not going to change just because I quadrupled your Pokegram followers."

He laughed, grasping my hand. Yuji shook it, looking a lot more satisfied with his win. I pulled him behind me and started heading back to the stands. We wanted to see Amy's fight from a good spot, after all.

Yuji frowned as we were walking. "You haven't quadrupled my followers."

"No, you're right," I glanced at my Pokenav+. "I just didn't know the word for multiplying something by six."

He laughed, socking me in the arm.

I did have an extra digit on my followers over him. I might fully believe in my friend's capabilities, but somebody had to keep 'em humble.

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Mine and Yuji's promise to Amy had held true. Brock hadn't pulled out another beast like Aerodactyl against them, but he had released a beast into the arena.

Pennywise the Mime Jr. was up against a Rhyhorn.

The tiny psychic raised both of his hands, creating a bright pink shield of transparent energy just in time to stop the stone rhino's rampaging charge. It slammed into the Barrier, bouncing off like a bullet deflecting off a brick wall. Pennywise grit his teeth, barely able to hold it back. He dropped the Barrier, pulling back his head and flaring his eyes pink.

The Rhyhorn shook its head, completely ignoring the Hypnosis. Even though it was a rhino, it was acting like a rampaging bull with Pennywise as the matador. It looped around the arena, gathering momentum to attack again. It was everything Pennywise could do to get his Barrier back up.

Yuji winced. He had taken Amy's seat on the other side of Hana.

"This is a 'hammer and anvil' situation," he said. "I only hope that Pennywise can last longer than the Rhyhorn's boosted attacks."

"Boosted?" I frowned at that word.

Hana nodded while writing new notes on her laptop. "Look at how the Rhyhorn is using Take Down over and over again? It's super aggressive which is a big indicator of the Reckless ability. It's hitting those self-damaging attacks way harder than other Pokemon would."

"I hope Mime Jr. can pull through," Daisy said, frowning with worry. "My friend's Mom has a Mr. Mime and he's an absolute sweetheart."

Pennywise deflected another Take Down, and the Rhyhorn bounced off again like clockwork. I happened to glance over at Brock, and my eyes widened with realization.

"He's doing it on purpose..." I mumbled.

When none of my friends heard me over the crowd, I let it go. I kind of wanted to see if anyone else was going to pick up on it.

Brock was standing with his arms crossed in his default pose, not giving Rhyhorn orders. He wasn't even watching his Pokemon.

He was watching Amy.

Brock was doing the 'Gym' part of being a Gym Leader. He was testing their boundaries, showing them the extent of what Pennywise could do. He had actually left an opening in his strategy with Rhyhorn, but you'd only see it if you stopped focusing on defending.

Anybody watching this fight would see Pennywise on the defensive, with an angry quarter-ton rock monster barring down on him. That was because Amy wasn't attacking. I might've missed it in our walk up to the bleachers, but Amy hadn't had Pennywise throw a single offensive move yet. They'd been focusing on their Barrier control and status moves, exactly what they'd shown off in their trainer battle yesterday.

Whenever Rhyhorn looped around to get momentum, that was the perfect time to strike. If Amy chose to hit there, though, they'd be unable to command Pennywise to get his Barrier back up.

They needed to risk it, to stop playing safely, and to actually get a hit in. Brock was purposefully letting his Pokemon wear itself out. It was hurting itself every time it used Take Down. If Amy just chose to call for an attack, they'd win this fight.

"Come on, Ames," I whispered under my breath. "Look past it. You'll see it."

Amy winced as Pennywise's Barrier finally cracked under another hit from Rhyhorn. Shards of pink energy went spinning off into the air before dissipating. Pennywise squealed under the strain, crying out.

"Oh!" Hana exclaimed next to me. I met her eyes and she nodded. She'd figured it out too.

The Barrier cracked and flickered. It shrunk from the size of a door to maybe that of a bin lid. Amy was running out of time. Their eyes were wide with fear.

Another hit.

It shrunk again.

Hit. Again.

Again.

The Barrier was on its last legs, looking pathetic. It was barely enough to cover Pennywise's tiny frame. The tiny psychic was exhausted.

What Amy couldn't see was that Rhyhorn didn't look any better. When you were just looking down at its charging horn, you couldn't see that its legs were trembling and its eyes were clenched in pain. Both Pokemon were on the end of their ropes.

I saw the moment Amy snapped into recognition. Their brow furrowed, and they stomped their foot.

I don't know what had given it away, but Amy had figured out what Brock was doing.

I grinned, and Hana sat back in relief.

"I should go get ready for my match," said Hana, closing her laptop.

Yuji didn't take his eyes off the field. "The fights not over yet?"

I shook my head. "Yes, it is."

I pointed at Amy as they rose their hand, calling out for Pennywise to drop his Barrier and put everything he had into a Confusion.

The match was called seconds later.

I cackled at Yuji's face as Hana left for her match.

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Amy came back to us right before Hana's fight. They were flushed and out of breath, but smiling wide.

Wisp slyly slid from Amy's shadow into mine. I wasn't sure if Amy would be super okay with Wisp being in their shadow, so I left it on the down low for now. I saw the moment the overwhelming emotions hit them again, but even the rush of new information couldn't stop their smile.

"Ha!" They cheered when they plopped down between me and Yuji. "I won!"

I grinned at them. "Never had any doubt. Pennywise was pretty badass out there."

Yuji nodded. "I'm glad you were able to spot the Rhyhorn's vulnerability. It would have been very unfortunate if you'd been defeated by it."

Amy preened under my praise but puffed up their cheeks when Yuj gave his opinion. "I wouldn't have lost. I just... ...maybe just not won on my first try," They groaned, putting their head in their hands as they started whining. "Ugh, Yuji! I was so close to losing for the second time in a row."

I gave Yuji a pointed look, which he looked confused by. I hoped he understood that maybe right after that close of a call wasn't the best time to point out the flaws in somebody's battle. We had training time for that.

I rubbed Amy's head. "It's okay, Ames. You got through it. We'll just have to train you a bunch before Cerulean."

The tiny psychic pressed their head into my palm gratefully before sitting back. "Yeah, I guess. Well, we just need Hana to sweep Brock and then all four of us will at least have a badge."

We all nodded, even Daisy. As much as I considered Yuji to be my rival, there was no question as to who the smartest battler in our group was. Now that Hana had an evolution and a week of power training under her belt, and her type advantage over Brock, she was a shoo-in to win this fight. The cards had all lined up to give her an easy win.

When she stepped out of the tunnel, you could feel her confidence. Hana had been researching and researching for weeks for this fight. Even if I'd thrown her exact strategy down the drain by elevating her challenge, it was obvious that she'd built something from her leftover plans and whatever research she could do in the last hour.

Hana had exchanged her battle outfit from Viridian City. Instead of her jean jacket and pants, she'd taken to a loose and billowy green cotton dress that flowed like leaves. It was reminiscent of her dress from the dinner the other night, but much more comfortable and far less formal. The straps of the dress were fashioned to look like vines and hung off her shoulders. Around her neck, she had the scarf I'd bought for her loosely draped over her.

She walked up to the challenger podium with analytical confidence. Brock nodded to her, and Hana responded in kind.

The referee called for them to release their Pokemon and, as was customary, Hana tossed out Paige first. The Weepinbell emerged in a flash of red light, spreading her vines outward to make herself as big as possible.

Brock glanced at the Pokemon, raising an eyebrow at the second stage evolution. He then nodded, pulling a Great Ball from his belt and releasing a Pokemon that I didn't recognize. Hana did though, because she smirked. She'd been expecting it.

"What the hell?" I mumbled. "Why's he using a grass type?"

Daisy shook her head. "That's a rock type," She corrected me.

I narrowed my eyebrows and looked back at the Pokemon. It was about a meter twenty tall, with a willowy brown body and two branch-like hands.

That's definitely a grass type.

I pulled my Pokedex out of my pocket as the referee started announcing the battle rules. I scanned the Pokemon, and my little blue box identified it.

"Sudowoodo," it said. "The Imitation Pokemon. Though it pretends to be a tree, it fails to fool even children. To the touch, its body feels more like rock than tree bark. Sudowoodo’s extreme aversion to water merits special note."

I frowned, not feeling very amused. The 'fails to fool children' part felt really personal.

I clicked my tongue. "I guess it is a rock type."

Daisy gave me a self-satisfied look but said nothing. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she giggled. She leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"Gross," Amy said, bumping my elbow. "Get a room or watch Hana's fight."

I flushed, realizing how caught up in each other we'd been. Daisy was blushing too, and we wordlessly agreed to just watch the match. She did hold my hand again, though.

To be fair to Hana, her battle was worth watching. In the few seconds since the beginning of the fight, she had Paige coat the field in poisonous Acid, cutting off the Sudowoodo from moving closer to her without taking passive damage. The Weepinbell had already Ingrained herself into the dirt field. Because of Paige's increased range from her evolution giving her significantly longer vines, Hana didn't have to worry about enemy Pokemon ever getting out of her range. She had a complete lockdown on the battlefield.

Brock smirked, looking much more excited at the prospect of a challenge. "Sudowoodo! Flip the field!"

The Sudowoodo pressed both of its hands into the ground, eyes alight with brown energy. There was an echoing crack! and the field itself split, pushing spires of earth upward from the ground. Puddles of acid sizzled and crackled as they were disturbed, flowing away from Sudowoodo as the Stone Edge pushed the Pokemon into the air.

In one move, Brock had removed all of Hana's preparation and was presenting an immediate threat, but she was quick on the draw to respond.

"He can't dodge! Stun Spore!" She commanded. "Then Bullet Seed barrage!"

Sudowoodo panicked as it flew through the air. It flailed its arms, trying to avoid the yellow cloud of spores that Weepinbell puffed outward toward him. Hana was right, though, he had no way of controlling himself off the ground.

The fake grass type hurtled directly into the Stun Spore. Its muscles locked up, and it hit the ground in an uncontrolled roll. Paige drew back her pear-shaped body, hurling a barrage of walnut-shaped sized seeds that blasted into Sudowoodo's curled-up form. It pushed itself to its feet and held a branch-shaped hand up in front of its face. The seeds echoed like stone hitting stone across Sudowoodo's body.

Sudowoodo whimpered under the barrage, and it started to tear up. I felt a little bad for it. It looked pretty pathetic against Paige.

Hana had no such feelings.

"Ignore it. It's using Tearful Look!" Hana barked. "Hit it again!"

I was taken aback when Sudowoodo grinned darkly, its ruse now discovered. The little bastard really had been faking it. I felt a little betrayed by the deception.

"Tomb protection and switch!" Brock said, crossing his arms into his default pose.

Paige released another wave of Bullet Seeds as Sudowoodo crossed its arms and glowed blue. Large boulders rose out from the ground behind Sudowoodo, slamming into place around it and embedding themselves deep into the ground. The seeds impacted the boulders instead of Sudowoodo, cracking deep into them. The Rock Tomb wall completely protected Sudowoodo from both Paige's assault and our view.

I mentally took notes. That was the second time Brock had used a normally offensive move as utility to disrupt an opponent's strategy.

Hana commanded Paige to blast through the boulders. but looked suspicious of Brock's motives and his second order. I found myself wondering what 'switch' had meant. Paige's high-powered Bullet Seeds took care of the boulders in moments, sending up a cloud of dirt and dust. Sudowoodo's form was vaguely visible in the smoke.

Hana almost called for another attack, but she hesitated. Her eyes went wide with understanding and she jumped into action.

"He's below you! It's a Substitute!" Hana yelled.

My eyes shot open and I sat up in my seat. The Sudowoodo in the smoke got a lot clearer, and I could see it was a hastily made recreation of the Pokemon out of dirt and stone. At its feet, there was a deep and narrow hole where it had dug underground.

How the hell had Hana seen that so quickly?

True to form, Sudowoodo burst upward from the ground behind Paige. What he wasn't expecting, though, was Hana's quick reaction time. Paige slammed her vines into the rock type's head, bringing it back down to the ground. Its muscles spasmed from the Stun Spores that still clung to it.

"Su-" Sudowoodo croaked out, all of the air driven from its lungs.

"Iron Defense!" Brock ordered.

Paige wasn't ready to leave it at one hit. The Weepinbell was relentless, bringing her Vine Whip down over and over again on the paralyzed and winded Pokemon. Though Sudowoodo's skin shimmered silver from the Iron Defense, it wasn't more than a few seconds before it limply collapsed on the ground.

"Yes!" I shouted, standing up from my seat to cheer. All of my friends joined me as we shouted for Hana.

Brock smiled and inclined his head to Hana. She beamed back at him as the referee called the match.

With that, all four of us had cleared our first Gym Battle, even at an elevated challenge level.

Just like I'd told Brock we would.

Hana bowed to the audience, departing for the challenger tunnel, and I felt a tap on my arm. I glanced back and Terry was standing there with my camera.

I grinned at him. "Thanks, man! I really appreciate you videoing our battles!"

He nodded giving me a wide and nervous grin. "Yeah, brother. It was no trouble at all. It's my turn now, though. Do the same for me?"

I took back my camera and gave him a grin. "Anytime, bud. I've been waiting to see what your three Pokemon are. I already know about your Totodile, but I'm excited to see your whole team fight."

Terry shook his head. "Only two today. One's not quite battle ready yet, so I decided to not register him for the fight. Thank you, brother."

I gave him a forearm handshake over a row of bleacher seats and he took off for the tunnel. While it was kind of a bummer that Terry's third Pokemon wouldn't be taking part today, I was excited to see what he was like as a trainer.

Hana passed Terry on her way up the stand. She'd removed her scarf and tossed her jean jacket over her dress. Yuji and Amy both rushed her, congratulating her before she could sit down. I waited, there'd be plenty of time to tell her she'd done a great job.

When they'd all exchanged excitement and hugs, Hana plopped down on the other side of Daisy, the only place where there was a spare spot. She genuinely looked exhausted, but there was a prideful smirk plastered to her face.

I leaned over Daisy and gave Hana a fist bump. She gave me a soft smile and returned it.

"Not bad," I grinned.

Hana's smile told me that she knew I meant so much more than that. After our heart-to-hearts in the Viridian Forest, I knew how important not only winning but dominating this battle had been for her. People were going to underestimate her because she was from the Sevii Islands for the same reason people would look down on me for being from Hoenn. Based on everything she'd said, Kanto people just weren't welcoming to outsiders.

Hana'd had total control for the far majority of the battle, and there was no question that she'd taken down Brock's Pokemon with the most ease of us all.

"Not bad," she agreed. "For an island girl."

We sat back into our seats and Daisy pressed a little tighter into my shoulder. I looked over and she was grinning. I raised an eyebrow, and she leaned in.

"That was really sweet," she whispered. "I'm glad you let me meet your friends."

I nodded to her, squeezing her hand. She'd picked up on my relationships with each member of our group, and Daisy really seemed to get how we meshed.

I was really grateful for my people, and I was so damn proud of everything we'd accomplished. We all had badges now, and we'd earned them more than most people who had them now.

Our journey had taken its first real step forward.

----------------------------------------

Terry and his crew all succeeded in their battles, though only Terry took Brock up on his offer to elevate his challenge. The other two both declined and took normal one-badge challenges.

Terry himself had led with a Diglett named Stoneclaw, a tiny mole that I'd first seen its species in Giovanni's gym. It had gone up against a Graveler and handily defeated it by crisscrossing tunnels underneath the battlefield and trapping the unwieldy rock type with sinkholes. Terry immediately switched his Pokemon for his Totodile, Swipetide. The blue crocodile was a violent little guy, and his jaws were powerful. He fainted Brock's Shuckle in just a few hefty Bites.

I finally had time to learn the names and Pokemon of Terry's two companions, both of whom I'd seen at some point in my time in Pewter.

The blonde boy I'd seen Terry spar against in the park was Jack Faring, a short guy from Viridian City. He wore a linen white button-up under a blue vest, and his blonde hair was wavy like a surfer's. His only Pokemon was the Vulpix that I'd been admiring in his park battle. Her name was Coranna and she had a gentle temperament.

I could immediately tell why Jack had taken the one-badge-level challenge. Not only did he have a major type disadvantage against Brock, but his Pokemon was reticent to actually be aggressive in battle. While she was easily on Pennywise's level in terms of special move control, Coranna really didn't seem like a battler. She did handily beat a Geodude, though.

The third member of Terry's group was a young lady named Cindy Brandt. She was the person who'd asked me about interrupting Mick's interview during my mobbing at the Pokemon Center. While that interaction had rubbed me just a bit the wrong way, she seemed like a nice enough person. She had curly red hair and a mousy smile, wearing big-rimmed glasses and a set of overalls.

Cindy had a Magnemite named Zappers and had been put up against a Corsola, a small pink coral water and rock type. Even with the type advantage, I was surprised at how quickly Cindy removed Corsola from the field. She was a lot more aggressive than her demure expression would suggest.

After Terry's group finished, we all met up in the lobby instead of staying for the last battle of the day. It was getting late and some of us wanted to celebrate. Terry walked up flanked by his two friends. I gave him a shoulder clasp and he responded in kind, though his strength almost toppled me to the ground from the sheer size difference.

"Whoa, brother," Terry chuckled. He caught me, looking just a bit embarrassed. "Sorry for that."

I waved him off, steadying on my feet. "It's fine. I'm just happy that we all passed our challenges, man." I looked back at my friends, most of whom had at least met Terry by this point. Daisy was off making a call so that just left my trio. Yuji and Hana were both comfortable and smiling, but Amy was noticeably hidden behind Hana's dress. Glancing over at Terry's friends, both of them seemed just as reticent as my trio to initiate actual conversation.

Terry and I are the most social people in either group, I mentally sighed. Looks like it's up to me.

"Cindy, right?" I asked the small ginger-haired lady. "You had a great match! Zappers seems like a really well-trained battler."

She looked surprised that I'd remembered her name, let alone her Pokemon's name. Cindy blushed and shrank a little, hiding behind her oversized glasses.

"Uh- thanks," Cindy stuttered. "Yours was good too?"

"Thanks! We've been training for weeks, and I can tell you guys did too." In an attempt to bring everybody into the conversation, I turned to the last member of Terry's trio. "And you're Jack? Your Vulpix is gorgeous."

The trainer ran his hand through his hair and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that's my Coranna. She's definitely something..."

Jack trailed off, but Terry pulled both Cindy and him forward by slinging his arms over their shoulders. "Thank you, brother, for trying to talk them up, but both of my friends are pretty shy. They could stand to talk to more people."

Both Cindy and Jack went red, stuttering out their own explanations.

I laughed and shook my head. "It's no problem at all, my group is pretty similar." I turned to the other three, plus Daisy, who had walked back up at this point. "This is Hana, Yuji, Amy, and Daisy. You'll recognize three of them from their battles today and Daisy from her work at the Pallet Pokemon Lab."

Daisy bumped me with her elbow, obviously amused at what I had chosen to introduce her as. Cindy and Jack introduced themselves to my group and everyone shook hands and exchanged greetings. Even Amy stepped up to say hi to them, though they did keep out of Terry's direct line of sight. When I gave him a glance, it seemed like he was totally okay to keep up with their charade. Terry just gave me a gentle smile when he saw me looking.

Good, he seems like he's keeping to what he said. He's not trying to make it weird or anything.

"If it's agreeable with everyone," Yuji surprisingly spoke up. "We're planning on heading out for drinks to celebrate our wins after we refresh ourselves. Would you all like to join us?"

Hana, Amy, and I all stared at Yuji. He was by far the least social of the group, so his inviting other people to join us was completely alien to his nature.

Or was it?

Yuji was the biggest fan of karaoke in the group, being the one to have now pulled the group there in two separate cities. Maybe he just needed a social event to bond with new people.

Regardless, I wasn't going to stop him.

"Yeah, are you guys free to come hang in a bit?" I followed up.

Terry almost immediately agreed, but stopped himself and gave the other two a glance. Cindy was gripping her overall straps nervously and Jack was playing with his hair, but both gave him a tentative nod.

"Sure, brother, we'd love to," said Terry, giving me a big grin.

"Sweet!" I pumped my fist, getting a chuckle out of Jack. I like the guy already because he looked like he liked to laugh. "We're all headed to the Center anyway, so we might as well go over together."

Everyone agreed, and our group of eight headed out of the Pewter Gym. Everyone in the group who'd battled today had won their badges. We were exhausted, but there was a general sense of contentment among the party.

Until we stepped outside of the gym.

Lights flashed and camera lenses clicked, bombarding us with visual and auditory stimuli as soon as we stepped out of the front doors. A crowd had formed in front of the Pewter Gym, a mix of fellow trainers, interested citizens, and reporters. The last one of those groups made up the majority of the crowd, and there were easily half a dozen news cameras rolling on us immediately. People shouted questions at us, asking us anything and everything.

"Mr. Tracy, what do you have to say about your unexpected challenge elevation today?"

"What do you kids think about Pewter City's Leader Brock? Would you say he's lost his touch after so many losses today?"

"Mr. Amano! Are the rumors true that you are being provided a powerful Heracross from your family's dojo?"

"Daisy! Ms. Oak! Is Oak Lab going to be sponsoring Trainer Tracy due to your relationship?"

There were too many questions to keep up with, but a myriad of emotions passed through at each one. I wanted to ask Yuji what they meant about a dojo, but I had to turn my attention to the reporter bombarding Daisy about us.

Legends be damned, I mentally sighed. Today is going to be a long day.