CHAPTER 16

A series of ‘Ooooohs’ ran through the crowd after Chase’s challenge. Cecilia simply sighed and shook her head.

“No, thank you,” She said.

“That wasn’t a question. I’m going to put you in the dirt and expose you like the fraud you are!” Chase yelled.

“Watch yourself, low-class trash,” One of Cecilia’s companions said. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that! Don’t you know who I am?!”

“Fuck off, I’m not talking to you. Can’t she speak for herself?”

“I did, and I said I wouldn’t battle you,” Cecilia said, before walking off. Her group followed suit.

“I know what you are! I looked you up! You think you’re so strong when the only reason you’re here is because of your brother and father,” Chase said. She stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh? Did I hit a nerve?” He grinned and turned to the audience. “Everybody acts like this chick having a dragon is some great unimaginable feat, but her brother owns a Hydreigon— which I’m sure most people here know, but connect the dots! They probably gave her its offspring. Not only is that an unfair advantage, but she has the best Deino possible! Good genes, and someone to call for training advice whenever she wants.”

Murmurs ran through the crowd as people began to agree with his points.

“Now, with your father, you get virtually infinite amounts of cash! And not only that,” He paused as he pointed to the biggest kid of the group. “But you’re also engaged to this motherfucker.”

I heard a few people gasp, along with whispers about his name. Bianchi.

“So yes, motherfucker. I do know who you are, and I just can’t be bothered to care. Don’t you people see?!” Chase asked, addressing us. “These rich fucks are pooling their resources together and helping each other even though they already have an unfair advantage to begin with! And I’m going to prove that no matter how much you cheat, you’re still worse than I am,” Chase finally finished. The crowd was now fully on his side, chanting for the girl to go back to Unova. Cecilia’s shoulder were shaking, and she was frozen in place.

“Why are you like this?” I blurted out.

“Huh? Who the hell are you? Some other groupie?!” He asked.

I looked around myself, and my eyes widened. I had just spoken without realizing it, and everyone’s attention was now on me. My breathing quickened and my heart pounded against my ribcage.

“Ah—uh—I mean— There’s no reason to be m—mean, right?” I said, stumbling all over my words. “Let’s all just get along…”

“You add nothing to the conversation. You don’t counter my points. Do us all a favor and stop talking—”

“N—no, look, sure, some of it might be unfair, but it’s not the first time this happened. It’s like this every year!” I said, finding my courage. I remembered that this was the man who had destroyed Denzel’s self-esteem for sport, and now he was trying to do it to someone else? No. “In fact, I think that you’re just mad that her victory overshadowed yours. Am I wrong?”

“Even if you were right, my point still applies.”

“Then complain to the League, don’t make all of these people gang up on her. Ask them to institute some standards! She’s not at fault here, the system is!”

“Why are you fighting so hard for someone who would never give you the time of day? You’re sucking up to them for no reason!” Chase asked me as if he was unable to comprehend my actions.

“Because it isn’t right! We’re all in this together, and fighting because of your small ego won’t make you any better. Try to be a better person for a change, and maybe one day, you’ll have friends to ask for help too if you’re struggling!”

"Graaaah,” Chase groaned. “Fine, you’re off the hook for now, Unovan. You can thank the Legendaries that some bootlicker decided to bat for you— you didn’t even have to defend yourself. But that’s how it always is with you, isn’t it? Always have other people speak for you. Your dad, your brother, and now this random trainer,” He finished. “This city’s fucking mediocre, I’m out.”

The boy shoved his hands in his pockets and stormed off. The crowd dispersed soon afterward, and I noticed that some people had been recording with their Poketch. I hoped nobody would put this online— with these two trainers being the center of attention this year, some would inevitably fall onto me, which was something I didn’t want. Unlike Denzel, I simply wanted to do my own thing without being ‘famous’. I wanted to be able to walk down a street without trainers recognizing me because that could either go well, or really badly— case in point: what just happened to Cecilia.

“You. What’s your name?” Someone asked.

I jumped and turned toward the voice, which was Cecilia and her group.

“M—me?” I asked.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Of course. Who else?”

“Grace Pastel. Why?”

“Well, Grace. Thank you for your help, I appreciate it. I didn’t have it in me to defend myself, but it was nice to have someone willing to do so,” She said in a passive-aggressive tone.

Was she throwing shade at her group, or was I imagining things? Either way, Cecilia was gone as fast as she had come, and I’d probably never see her again. I sighed. I wanted to ask her about how she battled. She was so cool and collected the entire time. And the percentages? What did that even mean? The power of her Pokemon’s attacks, maybe? How did one train a dragon to do something like that, and why would you even do so?

So many questions, and so few answers.

Anyway, that was enough drama for an entire year. It was time to train. I may have disliked Chase and wanted to know more about Cecilia, one thing was for certain: they were way better trainers than I was, and I had to discover what was the difference between us. For now, though, it was time to train.

——

I spent the next few days training harder than ever before. With Frillish, we worked on strengthening his Bubblebeam as much as possible, along with attempting to increase his speed. Sure he could float, but he would just be a sitting target for Rock Throws if he wasn’t able to move out of the way. Denzel had told me to go train against the Geodude from Oreburgh cave, although he had warned me explicitly not to underestimate them and take cover whenever I fought one. He didn’t have to tell me twice— I already knew wild Pokemon were extremely dangerous because they wouldn’t hesitate to target the trainer, and had no restraints on their attacks.

Frillish’s training had gone well, and his Bubblebeams were faster, more powerful, and lasted longer, along with Night Shade, although we neglected his other attacks in order to make more time for those two. I just couldn’t see a scenario where Frillish ever got in physical contact with one of Roark’s Pokemon and lived to tell the tale. Unlike Togepi, he was way too frail to take more than one attack. Maybe two, if I felt generous. At the end of every training session, I’d have to go and buy Frillish poffins, which was seriously draining my money reserves.

For Togepi, she was now fully capable of using Fairy Wind. I had to be careful with her, however, because she still couldn’t really control how big it was, which meant that I was forced to stand very far away from her every time she used it and that I couldn’t use it in battles to avoid risking the lives of trainers facing her. I didn’t know what would happen if a human was hit with it, but knowing how strong Pokemon were, I was sure it wouldn’t be pretty.

The second move we worked extensively on was Sweet Kiss. It was faster now, and its confusion effect was more potent. I was confident Roark’s Pokemon would stay confused for at least two of Togepi’s next attacks instead of the one we normally always got. We had also created a signal for it so that it wouldn’t be telegraphed so easily. Whenever I’d tap my foot twice against the ground hard, she would send out a Sweet Kiss. I had already tricked quite a few trainers with it. The only other move we worked on was Rollout, but not as an offensive move. It would do nothing against Roark’s rock types, but it would be useful as a movement-oriented ability. Like Frillish, Togepi was quite slow— obviously, with the size of her stubby little legs. With Rollout, however, she’d be able to relocate anywhere on the field at relatively good speeds, and it would be useful to dodge attacks as well. In the end, we had improved on her maneuverability with the move, and she was able to take sharper turns and stop abruptly more easily.

At last, my battle with the Oreburgh gym trainer had arrived. Denzel’s would be tomorrow, and he had attempted to come to see me, but the battles were meant to be private. I followed the gym trainer deep inside of the gym until we reached a battlefield that was a replica of Roark’s— only one point five times smaller.

“Alright, let’s do it. This’ll be a two-on-two battle with no switching allowed. Obviously no killing, and you have to send out your Pokemon first,” She said in an upbeat voice.

“You seem excited,” I asked as I grabbed my Pokeball with trembling hands. I was trying to distract myself with small talk, but it wasn’t working.

“First time doing one of these, so that means Roark acknowledged my skills,” She said with a smile.

“Cool, cool…” I said.

Enough stalling. I took a deep breath, held it there for a few seconds, and exhaled as I released Frillish. Calm down, Grace, I thought to myself. It’ll be fine. You trained for this.

“You’re up Frillish. This is it. This is what we trained for,” I told him.

He nodded and stared straight ahead.

“A Frillish, huh? Interesting, I haven’t seen many of those before,” The gym trainer said as she sent out her Pokemon. A small tree-like being materialized in front of her, confusing me for a second before I recognized it. It was a Bonsly.

A screen flanking the arena lit up and counted down from three.

I got this.

“Get up high and then Bubblebeam!” I yelled out as soon as the timer hit zero.

Frillish propelled himself upward with his tentacles, and a stream of bubbles rushed toward the Bonsly.

“Jump back, and then Rock Throw!”

Bonsly dodged, but Frillish’s attack hadn’t ended. The Bubblebeam followed it and impacted it directly, causing it to faint.

Yes! I celebrated in my head. I had taken inspiration from Deino’s seemingly endless Dragon Breath and trained Frillish to keep his Bubblebeam going as long as possible. One more.

“Wow, you’re good,” The gym trainer said as she sent out a Geodude.

“I am?” I asked, beaming with a smile.

“Yep. Geodude, Rock Throw!”

Geodude grabbed a rock and threw it upward, but it failed to even reach Frillish because of how high up he was.

“Aw, shucks,” She said.

“B—Bubblebeam?” I ordered, unsure of what was going on. Wasn’t this too easy?

Frillish sent out another Bubblebeam, which Geodude dodged with Rollout. Eventually, however, he tired out, and after two hits, he went down.

“Congratulations, challenger! You’re now allowed to battle Roark. Head down to the lobby, and we’ll tell you the date and time of your battle,” She said, returning her fainted Pokemon. After a pause, she spoke again. “I can see the look on your face. You’re good, but you’re not that good— no offense. This is just the only check we have to regulate the amount of trainers taking up Roark’s time. Beating the Pokemon we use is the bare minimum level of skill someone should be at before challenging him, and if you struggled, the odds are you’d never beat him. You have a chance, though,” She said with a wink. “Don’t let the win get to your head. I’ve seen it happen, and the consequences could be disastrous.”

I took her advice to heart and made my way back to the lobby. I immediately told Denzel I had won, and he looked ecstatic for me. After a few minutes of waiting, my battle with Roark was scheduled. In three days, at 5:30 pm, my first gym battle would finally take place.