The four victorious trainers left Hearthome with their spirits high and their egos just a smidge bigger.
Despite Fantina's insistence, they only stayed in the city for three days, mostly due to the woman's smothering personality and her inability to take a hint that no, none of them with the exception of Percy wanted to appear in commercials or contests with her.
Also smothering was the waves of excited young trainers they kept running into ever since their fight with the Gym leader, asking for photos, autographs and in one special case a date with Niss. Barry was pretty sure he'd never seen his friend turn as red as her coat before, nor stammering so much her speech was comparable to that of a stuttering Spinda.
As such she decided to leave less than an hour later, along with Barry and the experienced Percy and Reiko who promised they could accompany them all the way to Solaceon before heading toward Canalave for their next badge.
Clouds of mist danced at the edge of their vision as they made their way through Route 209, the sun a pale blur of white in the sky. The air became drier and hotter as they kept walking north, to the point where Inyssa had to take off her scarf and tie it around her waist like a makeshift belt.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't as heated as the discussion the four trainers were locked into.
"Does that hat cut off the circulation to your head!?" Reiko threw her hands up in frustration. "What do you mean you don't like Lance?"
Inyssa narrowed her eyes, trying to decide whether to be offended at her comment or not. "I mean that I don't like Lance, I can't make it any simpler. He's even tackier than Fantina."
Reiko closed her hands into fists, the muscles on her arm contracting. "He is… literally the greatest dragon trainer to ever live. And he's objectively hot, you cannot deny that."
"Yeah, I'm not into guys who cosplay as bondage vampires."
Barry and Percy exchanged an amused look as they heard their friends' banter, staying slightly behind them as to not get in the way of their righteous fangirl fury. Next to the older boy floated a tiny Pokemon with a round, friendly face and a thin, plant like body. She curled her hands around a blue flower that was bigger than her, and stared at Reiko with a nervous look as she tried to catch up to her.
"You're making Panacea nervous."
Reiko turned around with a scowl directed at Percy. At the sight of this the Floette scurried behind her trainer, trembling with fear.
"Oh spare me. Like I'd take shit from someone who thinks a wet blanket like Steven is the best Champion." She pointed at him with a finger. "What about you, Barry? You got some good taste unlike these two or what?"
"Liking Alder is good taste," whispered Inyssa.
Barry tilted his head from side to side, pouting, deep in thought.
"I think Ethan's pretty cool," he shrugged.
Reiko huffed as she shook her head, hands on her hips."Ethan is a bit too rebellious for my taste. I don't want someone who's even more of a pain in the ass than I am."
"You know we're talking about how strong they are, right? Not what kind of boyfriend material they'd be." Inyssa shot her a disapproving look.
The discussion continued for a few minutes as the four trainers analyzed every metric they considered important for a Champion to have, while the silhouette of Solaceon grew in the distance.
Above them a large avian Pokemon soared protectively, moving his long neck from side to side as his wide brown wings cast a shadow on top of the route. The Fearow's sharp eyes noticed something in the mist and dropped down with enough speed to break the sound barrier. He disappeared into the robust trees and only a few seconds later emerged again, a Magikarp trapped within his beak. Barry was the only one to notice it, and as subtly as possible he put himself behind Reiko, out of the way of her terrifying Pokemon.
He gulped as he looked away from it, and tried his best to distract himself by talking, "Uh… how about Red? Does he count as a Champion?"
The conversation came to a halt. A hint of a smile appeared on Reiko's face, eyes brightening, and Percy simply looked down, brow furrowed.
Inyssa couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine. Red… just his name held such weight. Not even her unconscious bias against Kanto could deter from the inspiration his image carried with it. The boy of legend; the trainer of few words who dismantled a criminal organization and became Champion at the young age of eleven. Some considered him the greatest trainer to ever exist, and it had been rumored that he had only lost one battle in his entire career.
She smiled to herself as the light of such a person shone on her mind. "Red… well, I don't think anyone here could deny that he's insanely strong, but wasn't he the Champion for like… literally five minutes?"
"He returned the title to Lance as soon as he claimed it," Percy nodded. "It was a very controversial decision at the time, especially right after the end of the war. Practically the entire region begged him to stay in the Indigo Plateau and represent them, but…"
Inyssa clicked her tongue, tasting the aftermath of the syrup on top of the pancakes she'd eaten earlier that morning. "But he decided to fuck off to the top of a mountain for like three years."
"Basically. They then offered the title to Blue who had also held it for about five minutes before Red arrived. He refused too, saying that he'd lost fair and square and his pride wouldn't allow him to. So instead he became a Gym Leader and Lance was stuck again being the Champion until Ethan arrived three years later."
They stayed silent for a few moments, both admiring Percy's ability to summarize such a loaded piece of history and thinking about the ramifications of Red's actions. Inyssa couldn't decide exactly how she felt about the fact he'd given up his title so quickly. On one hand it made sense for someone as quiet and reserved as Red, and it is true that he became a lot stronger due to his endless training at Mt. Silver.
But at the same time, wasn't the title what she wanted most? Would she give it up in the same way if she had a chance to become even stronger? Was there even a point of training after becoming the Champion if that meant that you were above all others?
She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the fact that Reiko hadn't spoken in a while, which surprised her when she heard her voice out of nowhere.
"I… actually met Red, once."
All eyes turned to her, and surprise was clear on Inyssa and Barry's faces, while Percy simply let out a small chuckle.
"She loves this story," he whispered.
Barry's eyes opened wide as his mouth turned into a small O. "You met Red!? Like, in person!? Oh my gosh that's so cool I can't even…" He started jumping in place. "How was it!?"
"Yeah, and how did someone like you run into the most famous trainer of all time?" Inyssa added.
A wistful look appeared on Reiko's eyes. "It happened ten years ago, in Saffron City. I ran into Red and Blue in the headquarters of Silph Co."
Inyssa narrowed her eyes, and only a few seconds later realization hit her. That had to be right around when…
"Wait, you mean that day?" She couldn't help but let her mouth hang open. "The attack on Silph Co.? The fall of Team Rocket? You were actually there?"
"Sure was." The redhead puffed her chest, smiling proudly. "Mom worked at the company, and the attack happened while I was visiting her so I got front row seats when Team Rocket took over the place."
She began to account for what happened that day, and for a while it lined up perfectly with what Inyssa had learned about the incident when she was younger. After gathering intel and allies for months, Team Rocket managed to take over the entire company, with the express purpose of stealing the Master Ball: a Pokeball which could catch any Pokemon without fail, no matter how strong they were.
Reiko told them how the Rocket grunts had thrown her and her mother into one of the vaults of the building, locking it shut and trapping them for what seemed like an eternity. As the hours went by they heard whispers that Team Rocket's leader had managed to capture the president and was interrogating him that very moment. And with all communications down and the entire building sealed shut there didn't seem to be any way to alert the authorities about what was happening. The situation looked hopeless.
Reiko's smile grew bigger and she could even see a hint of wetness in her eyes. "That's when someone opened the door to where we were trapped. A young kid, barely older than me and with a belt full of Pokeballs and a Pikachu standing on his shoulder." She pressed a hand against her chest and let out a sigh. "He smiled and told me everything was going to be fine, that his friend Blue was already making his way towards the top of the building while he tried to free as many scientists as possible."
Inyssa didn't need to be told anything else; she knew very well what had happened afterwards. Both young trainers defeated an entire building full of Rocket grunts and even managed to take down their leader; the fearsome Giovanni. A day later the news spread throughout the entire world as everyone talked about the two prodigies and wondered to themselves what would they do afterwards. And then…
"The next time I saw him was a couple months later, in television," continued Reiko, still smiling. "The sun was barely out when my mom woke me up and told me to come to the living room. That's when I saw him."
"Two months…" Barry knit his eyebrows. "That must've been when he challenged the Elite four."
"Yep. By the time I got to the T.V he'd already beaten Lorelei and Bruno. I had my nose practically glued to the screen as I saw him beat both Agatha and Lance. And that's when he faced against Blue…"
Inyssa didn't realize just how much attention she was paying to Reiko's words. It was true that they'd only known each other for a short time but she'd never heard such a softness in her voice nor seen such a warm smile in her lips.
"It was the most amazing battle I have ever seen in my life. I was practically out of breath by the end of it," she recounted, eyes brightening. "That's the last time I saw him. I tried to run into him a few times since then but I couldn't find him anywhere. I would love to someday thank him for what he did that day and then challenge him to a battle. That's my dream."
A few seconds of silence passed until Percy spoke. "That… might be difficult."
Reiko shrugged. "I got time."
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Inyssa stared forward contemplatively as she thought about her words. At her side Barry couldn't stop jumping in place as he assaulted the poor Reiko with a million questions about how Red looked like and how he acted.
It only took her a few moments to come up with the question she wanted to ask. "So… if you love Red so much why don't you choose him as your favorite Champion?"
The question seemed to catch her off guard, but by the smile she showed afterwards she figured the girl had heard that question before.
"I don't really see him as a Champion," she shrugged. "To me he's something much more than that."
Inyssa lowered her head as they got even closer to Solaceon, the small town now only a couple minutes away. She played back Reiko's answer inside her mind, trying to decipher just exactly what she meant by that.
"Something more than a Champion…"
She whispered low enough for only herself to listen, the words sounding so out of place and illogical she had trouble piecing them together inside her head.
There couldn't be such a thing, could it?
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They hadn't taken more than a few steps into the city when the noise reached them. A loud, all encompassing cacophony of laughter, yelling and general sounds of excitement and joviality mixed with fireworks.
Inyssa's eye twitched. That was not what she wanted to hear after escaping Hearthome.
The entrance to the town opened up to a wide street with plenty of trees and vegetation covering the sides and obscuring part of the houses up ahead. No feats of impressive architecture or tall buildings adorned the horizon as they walked forward, taking in the pleasant sunlight which made everything glisten. A few blocks ahead laid the source of all the commotion. The street took two sudden turns in opposite directions as it surrounded the biggest park Inyssa had ever seen. It stretched towards almost the edge of the horizon and seemed to serve as the core of the town itself.
Thin lines of cement curved themselves through the entirety of it and formed the paths at which sides lied what seemed to be a multitude of business stands and tables surrounded by young and old people alike. A white, perfectly decorated sign met them at the entrance of the park, its words forming a knot in Inyssa's stomach.
Solaceon's Solstice Festival! Buy, play, win prizes and enjoy a beautiful day under the sunlight!
Barry and Reiko's faces brightened simultaneously as they read the words, and both Inyssa and Percy noticed the change in their expressions immediately.
"No," both of them said simultaneously.
"It's a festival!" Barry complained, as if those three words were enough explanation. "Niss, when was the last time we even had a festival in Twinleaf!?"
"Uh… the pine-tree festival four years ago? The one where you tried to climb to the highest one and broke your arm?"
"Exactly! Where else am I gonna find fun like that?" he pointed at the waterfalls of people flowing from every corner of the park. "Come on, we gotta see it."
Percy pinched the bridge of his nose. "We've been walking for hours. The festival won't be gone if we rest in the Pokemon Center for a few-"
"I'm going in."
And with just those words Reiko passed them and headed towards the festival, her long red ponytail moving behind her. Percy closed his eyes and let out a sigh that contained all the exhaustion in the world, and followed suit. Barry was the next one, skipping excitedly as he ran behind his new friends.
Inyssa rested a hand on her hip and shook her head, feeling the sweat and tiredness clinging to her body.
"Oh fuck it, it might be fun," she whispered to herself after a few seconds of consideration. "Should be a good opportunity to get my team to relax, too."
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Inyssa studied the pamphlet she was given as they slithered their way through the sea of people flooding the park.
"Looks like the main attraction are all the games the town has set up," Percy read it aloud, his voice barely managing to reach them. "All the biggest gamemakers of Sinnoh gather here every year and offer rare prizes to those who win the most points."
"Du therg harb anrybrbh inthrbistg?" Reiko muttered through the cotton candy inside her mouth.
"I… What?" Percy narrowed his eyes. "Did you just insult my mother?"
She swallowed hard before speaking again. "I said, do they have anything interesting?"
"Oh. Well…" he almost buried his nose in the plastic paper, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration. "Looks like they have a few rare items for trainers at the northeast corner of the park. Battle helpers, evolutionary stones and even Pokemon eggs, courtesy of the local Daycare center."
That caught Inyssa and Barry's attention, who looked expectantly towards Percy. The latter spoke. "I wanna go there."
"It could be interesting," Inyssa conceded. "We can at least try to get something out of this place."
"What's wrong, hat girl? Don't like festivals?" asked Reiko. "Too much happiness and fun for your taste?"
"Too loud more like it," she replied, gracefully ignoring the offense. "Lots of noise and color, reminds me of a clown. This city is the clown of Sinnoh."
It took them ten minutes to walk from one end of the park to the other, mostly due to rubbing elbows and crashing against people left and right. Inyssa would've never admitted it to the others but she was starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable and claustrophobic, her breathing becoming harsher with every step and sweat running down the edges of her hat.
Luckily the square of the park designated to trainers looked a tad more peaceful, with only a handful of teenagers and young adults crowding the stands. She even got the chance to buy a soda and some cheese bread without having to wait fifteen minutes, which worked wonders for raising her spirits.
She absentmindedly broke the bread in five pieces and gave four of them to her Pokemon who finally had enough space to come out and stretch their legs. Steven took hold of his favorite resting spot atop her hat while Kuro and Shadi ran ahead and looked excitedly at anything that grabbed their attention for more than a few seconds. But the worst of all was Bret, whose eyes were still glued to the floating flower Pokemon Percy carried with him. The usually outgoing and happy Roselia grabbed onto her leg as they walked, a deep green blush covering his cheeks.
Enma, as usual, was nowhere to be seen. As soon as she released him he'd ignored her words and gone wandering somewhere else, a shadow of discomfort over his eyes and his flame burning a dark red. And Hao didn't even consider the option of coming out, in fact she hadn't seen him at all since her fight with Fantina, which she considered odd.
Whatever, she'd deal with those two later. Least she could do right now was try to have fun.
"Look, they even have an obstacle course and a Pokemon race!" Reiko shouted as her eyes moved from one stand to another. "Oh, do you think there's a martial arts tournament?"
"For the sake of everyone in this park let's hope not," Percy answered, hands in his pockets.
Inyssa made a mental checklist of everything she came across as Barry blabbered on about games and prizes and such. Go karts? No, both her and her Pokemon would look stupid using those. Throwing balls? Too simple, and her aim was abysmal. Hundred meter dash? She was pretty sure her body would fucking explode before it could run that much.
Her eyes caught a glimpse of black and white squares, and her walking came to a halt.
"Is that…"
Her lips curled upwards as she laid eyes on one of the smallest attractions, which consisted of three small tables with two chairs opposite of each other, and a beautiful chess board on top of each. The dark wood pieces were delicately carved with different patterns and each one seemed to be made by hand.
She didn't even notice her feet carrying her toward one of the tables, nor the longing and somewhat eager look she gave the board she came across first.
"Hello? Earth to Niss!"
Barry's face made her jump as it appeared in front of her.
She crossed her arms and tried to look casual. "I think I'll try this one."
"Me too," Percy said, his eyes as focused on the pieces as hers were a few seconds ago.
Both trainers locked eyes, and if she didn't know any better she would've sworn she saw sparks clashing between them. A wide grin formed on her face.
"Up for a match, fancy boy?"
His expression turned downright sinister as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Sure, sounds fun."
While they both tried to make each other back off with their gaze alone, Reiko walked behind Barry and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, while you two nerds enjoy you passionate nerd fight, Barry and I will go have some real fun."
"Are we!?" Barry turned towards the girl with eyes shining, a huge smile on his face. "Come on, we gotta try the shooting range!"
The young lady at the booth kindly explained to them how this particular game of chess worked. Most of the same rules applied, but the main twist was that each contender could choose one of their pieces and give it a special trait. Said piece would be able to move twice per turn, but its second move would be restricted to one square in every direction, just like that of the king.
Each player would also have to wear a funny hat shaped like the piece they chose for the entire match, which was the only part of the whole ordeal she didn't like. But still, she decided to swallow her pride for this rare chance to rub victory all over Percy's smug face.
"This game is supposed to emulate the ever changing conditions in a Pokemon fight," the owner explained. "And as a reward, the prize for the winner will be a beautiful Shiny Stone, recently mined from Oreburgh!"
That last part certainly got their attention. Both trainers turned their heads to one of their Pokemon, Inyssa to Bret and Percy to Panacea. They needed that Shiny Stone if they ever wanted to evolve them.
"That stone is mine," Inyssa whispered, voice full of menace. "I choose my queen as my special piece."
"I choose my knight."
Percy grabbed the beret shaped like a horse and put it above his head. He then looked at Inyssa and expected her to take off her usual hat to put on the new one. Instead she grabbed her Starly with one hand, put the new hat on top of the old one and then placed the flying Pokemon on top of both of them.
His expression at that was priceless.
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"How much for the Damp Rock over there?"
Barry stood behind Reiko as she interrogated the owner of one of the games. She'd put both hands on the counter and was leaning forward, eyebrows knit together. Above her stood a sign that read: Shooting Range! Win Battle Items from all around the world!
The dark-skinned man on the other side of the table tipped his hat up and gave the girl a coy smile. "A Kantonian, eh? We don't get many of you folks 'round here."
Reiko tried to form a polite smile. "Yeah, well…"
"You folks are always pretty scary," the man continued. "But still, I doubt you'll be able to beat my game."
Reiko's smile froze, and her expression turned dark. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, nothing. The Damp Rock is fifty points."
The look she gave the man sent a shiver down Barry's spine. Without breaking eye contact she took a single twenty bill from her pocket and slapped it on his hand, her lips curling into a devious smile.
He couldn't blame her for reacting that way. He remembered all the times he'd heard people say that those from Kanto were violent and impulsive, how it turned into a pretty ugly stereotype that had lingered for a long time after the war. How it had been thrown around by the military as propaganda, and how those families who were adamant about what they wrongly considered patriotism had spread it around like wildfire.
"Barry, I'm about to teach both of you a lesson," Reiko told him as she held one of her Pokeballs. "Look closely."
Light exploded from the ball as a tall, blue figure materialized in front of her. Nakuru the Golduck kneeled slightly with one leg and extended both arms to the side, flexing as he shot everyone around a coy smile.
The Pokédex in his pocket came to life with a beep:
Golduck: The Swimmer Pokemon - Water Type. Its aerodynamic fins and powerful legs allow it to swim faster than any other creature. It is able to use powerful psychic energy when the gem on its forehead starts glowing.
"Alright showoff, let's try getting your skills on the same level as your ego." Reiko pointed at the colorful targets hanging from the wall in the back. "Hit those and I'll get you a cool gift."
The Golduck gave her a thumbs up. The man at the other side of the counter rolled his eyes and smiled as he went to the back and pushed a button, bringing the game to life and making the targets move wildly in all directions.
To say that Reiko's Pokemon completely crushed it would've been putting it lightly. Nakuru shot torrent after torrent of water which cut each target by the exact middle. Barry couldn't help but feel amused as he saw the man's shoulders drop and his expression turn to one of disbelief.
But there was something strange about Nakuru's attacks, something that Barry first thought was simply his eyes playing tricks on him. The streams of water seemed to be curving slightly as they approached the targets, though that could've been explained as a visual effect caused by the movement of the cardboard cutouts. However by the fourth and fifth time it was unmistakable.
Reiko took a look at him and smiled. "You noticed already? You have good eyes."
"How is he doing that? It kinda looks like…"
"Like the trajectory changes? That's because it does." She crossed her arms. "Nakuru is using both Water Gun and Psychic."
He opened his eyes wide as he felt a spark of excitement run through him. "What!? Really? How is he…"
"Remember what we did at the end of the trial in that tower?" she cut him off. "That combined attack? It's kind of like that."
"Yeah I… I mean, I understand the idea." He scratched his head, confused. "But how can he use two attacks at the same time?"
Reiko shrugged. "Lots of practice. Most Pokemon have the potential to use more than one attack at once, as long as they're compatible and require different parts of the body. I learned that from Misty, the Gym Leader of Cerulean City."
He stood speechless as thousands of possibilities raced through his head. The idea that a Pokemon could do more than just shoot one attack after the other… it seemed obvious in hindsight, but it was a huge discovery.
"I gotta tell Niss," he whispered to himself.
The game ended then, and with sweat dropping from his face the Golduck put both hands on his hips and laughed, which produced something akin to the sound of a cicada underwater. At the other side of the counter the man stood still, eyes wide in shock.
"Now, I'm sure you think we Kantonians aren't very good at math either," she said with an unmistakable smug tone as her hand rested on the counter. "But that sure seems like a hundred points to me. I think I'll take both the Damp Rock and that Focus Sash, thank you very much."
With a scowl the man dropped both prizes on the table, avoiding the girl's gaze.
"See? I even got a nice gift for Percy," she said as the red and yellow sash spun in her fingers. "I knew coming here was a good idea."
An idea formed itself in Barry's mind then, and he couldn't help but shake as he grabbed his starter's Pokeball from his belt.
"I wanna try it too," he declared, his voice booming. "That Choice Scarf is mine."