“Sonali was my best friend,” Lara explained, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “Well…still is, really. Both of her parents have really high positions in Silph Co., but still not on the level of my family. We met, became fast friends, and then my parents found out. I won’t say they have control over Sonali, ‘cause they don’t, but they’ll probably have her sending them updates on me so I don’t wreck their reputation. She’s…a lot like you, really.”
Maeve’s eyes widened before she jumped to her feet victoriously. “Let’s go! A second me! Besides,” she said, settling down again, “your parents can’t do anything if you don’t do anything wrong. And I’m sure Sonali isn’t exactly eager to report your each and every move.”
Lara sighed, but her mood had noticeably cleared. “I’d have thought you’d be offended to know you’re not my best friend.”
Maeve’s eyes widened innocently. “Me? Lara, seriously? I’ve known you for a total of, what, three days? I can’t remember. Anyways, you think that I would be jealous of your lifelong friend from Kanto?” She shook her head sadly. “Who do you think I am?”
She’s not wrong, Blue said as he and Afi returned from their race with Lizzie in tow. Afi had a grumpy sort of slouch to his posture, but he immediately loped over when he noticed his trainer’s mood. Letting out an inquisitive sort of noise, Afi squatted down next to Lara and nudged her on the shoulder. With a sigh, Lara pulled her Pokémon into a hug. Maeve stayed quiet, letting them have their moment, and Blue nodded appreciatively. Please tell me you’ve learned common sense, he half-begged her. You’re twelve. Start maturing a little.
Maeve patted Blue on the shoulder. I’ve seen your type before, sir. You must accept the reality of who I am in the deepest facets of my personality before you can be truly happy.
Blue grumbled something incomprehensible, even in his mind. Your maturity may not have developed, but your vocabulary sure has.
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Lara retreated back to her inn to let Afi rest and process the message from her mother while Maeve found the same meadow she had trained in before and pulled out her notebook, sitting cross-legged on a flat gray boulder that was slightly warm to the touch. “Let’s see…” she muttered to herself. “Schedule, schedule, schedule…aha! So…rescheduled match is tomorrow, meaning we can shove in an extra bit of training today. I have maybe four hours before I gotta be back for dinner. Let’s do this.”
In a flash of light, Ally’s Pokéball popped open to reveal the Galarian Articuno floating in the air, wings folded in front of him and his signature look of disdain on his face. Ally’s ribbon-like tail swayed in hypnotic waves, and the Pokémon’s entire body emanated a regal, poised aura. Blue, who had somewhat acknowledged the fact that the Psychic Pokémon was most likely going to be a permanent addition to the team, started warming up and stretching. Ally tore the nearby boulder from the ground and started spinning it in dizzying circles. Lizzie started warming up her fire, creating little Embers that spun around in the air.
After a few minutes, Maeve had a half-baked plan in her mind and her Pokémon were finished warming up in their own individual ways. “Alrighty, guys, here’s the plan. So, I know Moves are super important and all that, but I know for a fact that your physical abilities are incredibly important as well. First up—speed!”
A minute later, Maeve was watching two blurs flash by her eyes. Blue and Ally raced around the meadow with the Articuno at a disadvantage. Ally was flying low to the ground, slowing down ever-so-slightly when he was forced to turn on the corners around the meadow. Blue was able to kick off along the tree trunks, and after Maeve banned that, he still managed to make cutting-edge turns that the Psychic-Flying type was hard-pressed to match.
Not quite so new to his body like the recently evolved Blue, Ally’s speed when fully allowed to stretch his wings would surpass Blue’s by quite a bit. However, when forced to make sharp turns without using his Psychic abilities to aid him, Ally’s speed lagged behind enough that Blue could stand a chance in a race.
Behind them while behind by quite a bit, a thin trail of angry smoke followed Lizzie as she attempted, valiantly, to catch up to her fellow Pokémon. When Blue was about to lap her for the second time, she angrily shot a mild spray of toxic gas at his face. It missed both him and Ally completely, and annoyed beyond words, Lizzie regally scampered over to Maeve for a round of reassuring head pats. Maeve obliged before sending Lizzie back into the race with a flurry of encouraging feelings.
After just a minute of racing around the meadow, Maeve could already see improvement as her Pokémon put their stellar minds to work. Blue’s razor-sharp mind, coupled with his natural ability to control his body, was already showing its worth as his body motions turned more efficient, his turns becoming sharper, as he pushed his muscles to their limits.
Ally was showing noticeable improvement as well. Maeve had a sneaking feeling he was smarter than seven of her combined as every beat of his wings was measured, and soon his turns were just as sharp as Blue’s and then some.
“Last five laps!” Maeve informed her Pokémon as Ally crossed the line, gradually surpassing Blue. Lizzie let out an angry hiss, as it meant she still had eleven laps to go.
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When all of her Pokémon had finished their laps, Ally used his Psychic powers to slice a berry into uneven thirds before using telekinesis to lob the smaller pieces towards Blue and Lizzie. While the Legendary Pokémon munched on the largest piece himself, Lizzie hissed furious steam as she ate through her berry in quick, angry bites. Blue, meanwhile, received his with naught but acceptance and a competitive gleam in his eye.
As the berry restored the stamina of Maeve’s Pokémon so they would be ready for another round of training, Maeve opened up her notebook to check her notes from her team’s previous training session.
Blue
Modified moves:
#1: Water Bullets (from Water Gun): Very basic, little bullets that pelt opponents. Perhaps it can be improved in the future?
#2: Spinner (from Water Gun): Improved. A trio of extra-powerful bullets taking from modified move #1. They curve unpredictably in the air, and though its accuracy may not be too good, Blue’s brilliant mind has that under control. Cooking up these moves are so FUN!
Lizzetta
Modified Moves:
#1: Spinner (from Ember): Inspired by Blue’s original Spinner, Lizzie decided to give it a fiery twist. It’s perfectly fine if it’s not original! I’m sure we can come up with an iconic one later. Or maybe improve upon this one? Lizzie LOVES setting things on fire.
Alaphora
Modified moves:
#1: Psycho Rain (from Psycho Cut): So far, Ally’s been able to split a more powerful, single blade into several weaker ones that curve, like a curveball. I believe this can definitely be improved in the future. Perhaps mini explosions upon impact? Can’t wait for opponents to see THAT! (Totally not inspired by Blue’s Spinner.)
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Looking through her notes, Maeve frowned when she realized something. These moves are so unoriginal! I need to come up with some better ones so it doesn’t seem like I’m copying Spinner for all three of my Pokémon. After all, each of my Pokémon is unique, and they deserve rightfully to have the movesets to match.
I need to research Moves more. They don’t teach this stuff in school! But first, I need to get my Pokémon started with something to do, otherwise we’ll have a lot of wasted time.
Clearing her throat, Maeve started giving orders. “Blue, I want you to practice Water Gun. Try to control it until it’s a really thin, condensed beam instead of a wider spray so that it’ll hit harder. And the more you practice it, the longer you can hold it during a battle to really wear opponents down. And once you feel like you’ve worked on Water Gun enough, start on Water Pulse. Really try to make each pulse of water one after the other and try to decrease the time it takes to charge the moves up on both of them.”
Giving a brief nod of understanding, Blue left to find something suitable to practice on as Maeve turned to Lizzie.
“Lizzie, you really like using fire, but we also have to work on the moves that weaken your opponent since you just don’t have the physical defenses needed to withstand full-on attacks, especially from capable opponents like the gym leaders’ Pokémon. I’ll set up a few mock battles for everyone later, but for now work on trying to increase the potency of your moves like Smog and Poison Gas.”
Lizzie hissed in agreement. Fire practice later? the toxic lizard Pokémon asked.
Maeve nodded. “Absolutely,” she agreed. “We need to improve your firepower too.”
Satisfied, Lizzie scuttled off to work on her poison and Maeve turned to her final Pokémon. “Ally, can you just set up a barrier around Lizzie right now so the poison doesn’t leak into the forest?”
The Galarian Articuno swished his tail once. Of course. I am not some common human-bred Abra runt. As a barrier hummed to life in a box around Lizzie who stood in the center of the meadow, Ally turned to Maeve to await further directions. So what do you have planned now, oh great trainer?
Maeve shrugged. “Honestly, you’re the Pokémon I’m the least sure about. For one, I don’t even have a good handle on how powerful you are. You took to Psycho Rain with such ease that I’m completely certain it’s no challenge for you. You have more experience than both Blue and Lizzie combined, and then some, I bet. By extension, you also have more experience than me. I want to improve your moves and create new ones that will add versatility to your move set and improve your skills, but I don’t really know where the line is drawn between a difficult but entirely possible new move and miracles only possible in my wildest dreams.”
Ally was quiet before his resting face of disdain transformed into a smirk for a brief moment. Then try me, oh trainer of mine.
Maeve grinned. Game on. But first, we need research.
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Alaphora floated just over Maeve’s shoulder, eyes skimming through the words on its glowing screen with supernatural speed as his trainer muttered things about cellular and wifi.
Prodigious Trainer and Ace Alakazam Deliver Jaw-Dropping Battle Against Crasher Wake’s Gyarados!
2 months ago
On Friday, up-and-coming 16-year-old trainer Link Tourburg faced off against Crasher Wake in a highly anticipated battle. After blowing through four gym leaders easily in the weeks before, Link was expected to win, but by just how much was the question. Before the eyes of a jam-packed arena, none of his Pokémon failed to disappoint, but Alakazam’s battle against Gyarados will have battle fanatics talking for ages to come. Watch the video below!
As Maeve clicked on the video, Ally felt a dim sense of uninterest. Abras and Kadabras were a dime a dozen. He had met Alakazams before, and they had posed no significant challenge. Even combined with a human’s help, what could an Alakazam possibly do to help him improve?
As the camera focused on the two Pokémon standing opposite each other in a sandy arena, Ally focused on the two opponents nevertheless. As the camera focused on each Pokémon in turn, he would admit that they both looked experienced. Alakazam held each of its spoons in three-fingered hands with a misleadingly calm pose, the Psychic Pokémon grinned at its opponent. Despite the Alakazam seeming overconfident, Ally could see the Alakazam’s every move was subtly gaining it a better position before the battle even started. Subtly noticeable facial expressions flashed across its face — mocking, overconfident, superior, all of it and more moved across the Psychic Pokémon’s face.
The Gyarados across from it saw it as well, its red eyes narrowing as its emotions were riled up. The gym leader’s Pokémon was no slouch from the looks of it, either. It was huge, even by the enormous Pokémon’s standards, and a medley of scars were visible across its vibrant blue scales.
Then the battle started, and Alakazam moved from its starting position, leaving after images like lightning itself.
Gyarados’s Hydro Pump, condensed to a thin beam of water, hit nothing but empty slammed against the barrier protecting the arena, which let out a groan as if to showcase the pure power of the move. In response, two Psycho Cuts hurtled towards Gyarados consecutively, timed precisely so the Dual-type Pokémon would have no choice but to take one of them.
Commands flew from both trainers, but they seemed muted and in the backdrop as Ally focused on the fight itself — more specifically, the Alakazam. It kept Gyarados a beat behind the rhythm with a steady stream of small attacks that were always aimed to hit.
Gyarados roared in rage, the very sound causing the arena barrier to flicker, and was enveloped in the purple glow of Dragon Dance. Now even angrier than before, Gyarados roared, a thunderous sound, as winds began to pick up around the arena and Twister swept across the arena. Closing its eyes, Alakazam was enveloped in Protect as Twister fell upon the Psychic Pokémon without mercy. Then, with a final roar of wind, Twister was dispelled and Alakazam stood there, the white light of Protect flickering away. Gyarados snarled, but Alakazam simply grinned, a cold smile that had Ally floating forward an inch, more interested than he had ever been before.
As a Legendary Pokémon, he held his pride close to his heart, but all Pokémon had to recognize potential when they saw it.
The Alakazam closed its eyes in Calm Mind, and when they opened again, they gleamed with a faint pink sheen and increased clarity. The Gyarados’s Aqua Tail was countered with Psycho Cut, and a second Psycho Cut just behind the first pressed the attack. Cuts opened along the Gyarados’s blue scales and blood dripped to the sand as Alakazam became a whirlwind of attacks. Gyarados opened its jaws in preparation, and… what?
Albeit far weaker than usual, Ally recognized the burning light of Hyper Beam when he saw it. It was immediate, with nearly no charge-up at all.
Could he do that?
Instantaneous power.
Gyarados was thrown back against the barrier with a pained roar, showcasing just how destructive the move was, even at a weakened scale. Alakazam knew it, too, and pressed the attack. Three more weakened Hyper Beams hit the Gyarados once, twice, three times, and then Gyarados slumped to the ground with a low groan before passing out.
After just that one move, the course of the match was decided for good, with the battle ending three attacks later.
Maeve stopped the video with one press of a key and let out a sigh. “Wow,” she said, awe apparent in her voice. “I can see why that guy’s a favorite to win this thing.”
Ally didn’t respond, busy in his own thoughts. It was an Alakazam. Surely, that was nearing the peak of the Psychic-type’s potential. Surely, I could do better. Of course I could.
But could he right now? He would never admit it of course, but a Legendary Pokémon had been inspired that day, and quite frankly Alaphora found no shame in it. After all, I didn’t get to the level I am at today through pride and ego. I’ve stagnated. I know it now. I see it.
Maeve flipped through a few more articles, and Ally paid devout attention to every single one of them. His eyes had been opened for the first time in a long, long while.