CHAPTER 181

People thought I was good at Pokemon Battling, and these days I tended to agree. I had grown past being a meek girl with no confidence in my skill even though I did keep that confidence level-headed. Maylene Suzuki? She was a prodigy. She was fifteen now, but she'd been a gym leader since the last Circuit, and even if the rumors about her being a puppet that simply did whatever her handlers told her to were anywhere near true, that didn't stop the fact that her true team was good enough for her to be a Gym Leader at her age.

It hadn't been by luck, either. Maylene's father— the old Gym Leader had tutored her in Pokemon Battling from the day she could speak. The ways that she was trained were pretty hush-hush and were a tightly held secret by the Suzuki family, but I was sure that it involved some physical training. The story went that Maylene's father retired after remarrying and left the gym to her with the government's approval thanks to her incredible skill. She'd been raised with the role in mind and had no interest in actually journeying like the majority of Gym Leaders did at least once.

Another special thing about Maylene? She was an Aura user.

I remembered from history class that Aura users had been plentiful in ancient history from the many texts and primary sources from the time, which was a big part of how humanity managed to survive in olden times when there weren't that many trainers, but these days? There were barely any left and the gene came completely randomly. Her father or mother hadn't been one, and neither had her grandparents. She was unique, and the only Aura user Gym Leader. No one in Elite Four or even Cynthia could draw on that power.

Not that it meant much anyway. Despite the stories about some humans slinging Aura Spheres or standing toe-to-toe with Pokemon thanks to Aura in ancient times, we couldn't do anything with it these days. It just wasn't concentrated enough in a body to use it for anything substantial, but it was common knowledge that Maylene did strengthen her body with it. Not enough to face down a wild Pokemon, but enough to pretty much manhandle any human facing her without breaking a sweat.

She could also do some funny light tricks with it if that counted for anything.

Princess called out to me, causing me to lift my head just in time to see a Moonblast crash into a boulder she'd raised.

"Good job, baby! Keep going!" I praised.

She chirped and excitedly flew in a loop. Training was going well, even if it had only been twenty minutes. No one was struggling with what they had to do. Angel was practicing the range of his powder moves, Buddy was trying to figure out how to forcefully expunge the huge amount of water needed for Hydro Pump or Water Spout. Honey was already panting, having released an incredible amount of electricity.

Uh, Sweetheart was trying to ram into Sunshine further down the route and he was easily avoiding her antics by turning and exploding on impact. I'd grown so used to the explosions at this point that they didn't really bother me either, but trainers nearby might think differently. Hopefully they wouldn't investigate and bother them.

Maylene's threats were plenty, but the ones who caught my eye immediately was Lucario. At first, I thought that she'd been using her ace and starter against some poor guy with four badges, but as it turned out, she owned two. This one had recently evolved at the start of this year and knew Vacuum Wave, so I had jinxed myself and Angel.

I groaned, putting a palm against my forehead.

"Just my luck."

If I had to place Lucario somewhere, it'd be slightly better than Chase's. Having evolved months ago meant that it was a lot more confident with its movements in battle than Ri had been, and it was also slightly stronger across the board with a wider variety of moves like the elemental punches— and kicks. I thought Buddy or Princess would be a good match here, but I'd have to study up what a vacuum would do to a being made out of water. I was so tired of that damned move. I already thought that I wouldn't have to face it again until a rematch against Ri, but alas.

Or maybe she wouldn't use Lucario against me! That'd be great.

"Might have jinxed myself again," I muttered.

Lucario was probably what most trainers like me would consider the biggest threat, but what worried the crap out of me was actually her Falinks. It'd be like battling six Pokemon while you only had one, and each one of them could use moves independently. Even if they were weaker than when they combined their strengths for a move, it'd be a lot to keep track of. Luckily for me, there was a trick to beating them. Take down the leading Falinks, and the rest would forgo all strategy and start panicking, even with their trainer's orders. Maylene had trained hers to keep that panic at a manageable level, but the advantage was still there.

But then, something else began to catch my eye.

Machoke, Mienshao, Sawk, Throh, Medicham… they all had a similar way of fighting with some quirks, like Mienshao's weird whip-things and elegant demeanor. It was as if they all trained together as a unit rather than as individuals. On one hand, it made studying for most fights easier, but on the other, I was just getting into what made Maylene special as a battler.

First, most of her Pokemon at my level could use Aura to some extent. Medicham and Lucario were known aura users, but Machoke? Throh? That was new, and I bet that she and her ace Lucario had something to do with that. For example, her Mienshao could coat its whips with Aura to increase how powerful its hits were, and Hariyama's Force Palm also used Aura. Normally, for Pokemon that weren't Lucario or other known Aura users, Force Palm was just a powerful shock wave, so it was a pretty mediocre move.

Unfortunately, Maylene wasn't normal. I'd have to do some more studying on Aura after figuring out her shtick. She was a very intense trainer. Yelled out all of her orders like it was the last one of the battle and didn't take well to 'dishonorable' tactics, so there was a dash of Pauline there. The problem was that she'd actually start to go harder in the battle if she felt like you used too many dirty tricks. A proper Gym Leader could stay impartial, but she was a teenager, which meant that she got emotional easily.

Ugh, look at me, psychoanalyzing her, I groaned.

It seemed that like Chase, she was a fast-paced battler that was quick to punish any mistakes, but her Pokemon also knew human fighting techniques. Before going on this journey, I'd had this image in my mind about fighting types being Pokemon that just hit things hard, but it was apparent that all of her humanoid Pokemon had been personally trained by her, or her father before her. I licked my dry lips when a video of a Zebstrika struggling in Machoke's clinch played. The poor electric type had been locked up and the life out of it squeezed until it fainted. Its trainer had been out of switches.

If I ever let one of her Pokemon approach mine, the battle was over. Only Jellicent, who was able to liquefy his body would be safe.

A single sound escaped from my lips.

"Ah."

I felt a fire ignite in my heart and clenched a fist. I could already tell that this wasn't going to be like the Fantina battle. This was going to be incredibly difficult and one mistake could cost me the entire battle.

Maylene was a prodigy.

—

"Gonna have to watch for Stone Edge… ugh, this sucks. I think Princess can stop that attack…" I muttered as I chewed on my nails.

Maylene was a real tough nut to crack. Whereas with previous Gym Leaders, I'd been able to naturally create a plan for every Pokemon, there was just no way to be sure what I was doing would work here— well, I'd never been sure about these gym battles, but the scaffolding for my plans felt a lot shakier here than what I'd done against Gardenia, Candice and Fantina. Hopefully I'd be able to remedy that with how much I'd improved at improvisation.

Denzel would definitely have an easier time in this gym than Cece or I thanks to Froslass and Sylveon's ribbons. Zweilous and Golett would be at a heavy disadvantage, the former because of the type disadvantage and the latter because of how slow and unresponsive he was. Maylene also had a few ways to counter psychics like Slowking. Talonflame would be her best bet, being fast enough to dodge counters like Stone Edge or Rock Tomb.

I placed my laptop down and hugged my knees. I missed her.

Chase would struggle as well because of how much focus he'd put on close-ranged battles. I was already starting to feel the excitement build up, but I wouldn't sign up just yet. First, I had to get back to this trainer battle business. There were thousands of responses, and I didn't feel like browsing through them and verifying who was real or not, so I created a new message telling people to DM me pictures of the badges on their trainer ID.

That did the trick, and the thousands of messages suddenly narrowed down to sixteen. Eleven people with six badges and five with seven. It was fun to see the different paths that they'd all taken. Almost all of them were missing Maylene's badge, since they were in Veilstone, but they all had different badges. One of them even beat Candice as their sixth badge.

Now, I could either pick a six-badger or a seven-badger, but I still didn't know what I wanted. On one hand, I didn't really want to get completely dominated, but on the other, I felt like I'd be able to get more valuable advice from someone with seven badges.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Screw it. Seven badges it is."

The person I replied to was a second-year called Zachary Gallagher. My standards may have been screwed by being surrounded by so many talented first-years, but getting that many badges during your second year still meant that you were a very good trainer. I didn't know if I should commit and research everything I could find, try to improvise or do a bit of both.

But if I was trying to get better, it'd be a good idea to come at him at my best. That meant intensive research. I nodded to myself, content with the decision.

Zachary— although he told me to call him Zach— had lost to Maylene for his eighth badge recently. According to him, he'd saved her for last because he thought she'd be the easiest Gym Leader to battle for an eighth badge, but he'd lost 4-6. As a result, he was stuck in Veilstone for the next two weeks. He'd be able to battle me in two days when his team was healed.

Okay, that had been a lot easier to set up than I thought. I messaged Melody to let her know what I was doing and went back to studying. Apparently being suddenly shoved into a vacuum would make Buddy's head expand and boil until a decent bit of his body evaporated, so that was fun.

I hated Vacuum Wave.

—

It was evening when I made my way back to Veilstone. My Pokemon were all exhausted from training and they deserved a good night's rest, so I was planning on going to the Center right away to let them relax there. On my way back, I actually walked across a mansion with dozens of League Trainers guarding the place, and it was only then that I remembered that Cecilia's dad was currently being kept in Veilstone while under house arrest. I felt my lips twist into a smile as I walked past his home.

He got what he deserved.

Jellicent shadowed me the entire way back, his form loose as he lazily floated behind me. He had used a lot of water, and the route wasn't exactly close to any rivers or the sea, so he'd have to wait to regenerate on his own. He had come to a decision and opted to learn Hydro Pump, though. Water Spout proved too difficult and erratic to work on while he at least knew how to wrangle with Hydro Pump, although at this point, the move was more of a glorified Water Gun since we'd only had one afternoon to work on it.

"I know, I'll draw you a bath in the shower," I said as I turned a corner. His misshapen form caused some poor civilian to almost jump out of his skin. After apologizing, I turned back to him and walked backwards. "Cold, just like you like it. You can sink into it and dissolve all night if you want."

Buddy let out a pleasant whistle in agreement.

"Gotcha. You'll have to let me shower first though. And I also have to wash Honey and Princess today. Sweetheart is gonna complain, but she's too heavy and too big to get into the shower."

The water type boomed, and I nodded.

"I guess I could just drag the showerhead out and wash her that way, but the entire bathroom's going to get so wet… ah, I'll do it anyway. She deserves it."

I grabbed some food from the cafeteria to go and then got to taking care of my team. Honey hated showering so much that I had to help him do it even though he was capable of doing so himself while Princess just enjoyed the whole process. Sweetheart, though? She went crazy for water, and showers were no different. She finally finished molting while I washed her and partially inundated our bathroom, revealing a resplendent new cocoon.

I had to throw the slimy remains of her disheveled shell in the trash. Trainers never told you this when they brandished their Tyranitar.

Today had felt like an entire week, and after chatting with my friends through text, I eventually drifted off to sleep to the soft sound of Turtonator speaking to Jellicent through the bathroom door, bragging about the fact that he was technically still in his prime and that he'd only grow from there.

He was such a kid sometimes.

—

I was horribly thirsty when I woke up.

I let my Pokemon sleep as I grabbed some bottled water from the fridge and calmly opened up my laptop. Nothing could escape Jellicent, however, and he quickly dripped under the bathroom door. A cool gust of air softly blew on my hair as he reformed behind me.

"That's new," I whispered.

The water type didn't answer. He wasn't that talkative in the morning, not because he was tired but because he was scared of waking up everyone else. He'd been quiet as a Frillish, but he was loud now, even when he didn't want to be. Today, I'd study up more on Aura and how it interacted with type energy and Pokemon in general, but first, I wanted to at least get research done on Zachary. I knew I'd lose, but I wanted to at least put up a fight. Finding his team was pretty easy. He was sponsored by a few companies and was pretty famous name around Floaroma— his hometown. He was the best trainer from there in decades, and it felt good to see a change from the usual Sunyshore, Hearthome or Jubilife natives.

"Guilty as charged," I mumbled. Maybe Denzel would eventually become a household name in Twinleaf too, although he wasn't the only rising star from there. There was that Barry kid people couldn't stop talking about.

Either he'd never told me about him, or they hadn't exactly known each other, which would be strange in a small town like Twinleaf. I hadn't really pushed for information though.

I whistled as I browsed through Zach's team. He had seven Pokemon and they were obviously all fully evolved. I blinked when I saw Vespiquen, though. Those were rather rare with how weak Combee was, but I took note to ask him for tips on raising one for Louis. Today was going to be quite busy with all the studying I'd need to do, but I was still excited. It had been a while since I had researched trainers so in-depth.

The morning flew by, and I only took a break to eat. While I analyzed more of Machoke's battle to make sure that I wasn't missing moves available on video, I heard an irritated knock at my door.

It was Chase… and Mira, although I was pretty sure she was just along for the ride.

"Hi?" I frowned.

Mira beamed. "Chasey and I were just swinging by—"

"Pastel. Nice seeing you," Chase said dryly. He was annoyed as hell, and I didn't even bother asking him how Mira had found him. His eyes settled on my desk full of notes and he dipped his head. "I'll swing by later."

"Wait, you can stay," I said, recalling my Pokemon to give them space. "What's up?"

"He's salty he lost to that Lauren chick," Mira smugly said. "Should have seen him after the battle. He almost turned completely red."

"Is that how you found him?" I asked.

"I was just doing some investigating and I noticed that one of the arenas was packed. I haven't left his side since."

"I hate you. And the battle was close, you asshole."

"You've stopped insulting me every sentence. It's only every other sentence now, and I consider that a win," she cheered.

"Go back to school, grow a few inches and I'll start swinging."

"Hold on, hold on," I interrupted. "You lost to Lauren Goodwill?"

"Yeah. Now my team is all screwed up and I won't be able to attend my gym battle in time tomorrow, so that's two extra weeks in here for me."

"Yay!" Mira laughed.

"Fuck you."

"What was the score?" I asked, shivering in anticipation.

"5-6. Like I said, close," he shrugged.

"Well, her Sceptile barely took any damage, so you're inflating the numbers," Mira added.

"What was the issue? How'd the battle even happen? Did you record it? What Pokemon was her biggest threat? Rhydon?" I asked in quick succession.

"Calm down, Arceus. I didn't even come here to talk about how mediocre I was, I came here to tell you that she wanted to battle you too along with your pals Williams and Obel. I told her to send a text and stop bothering me, but she said that it was more appropriate this way. Normally I would have told her to fuck off and left, but I knew you'd be interested."

"Not me?" Mira pouted.

"No one cares about you, pest," he waved his hand dismissively. "That Lauren chick is crazy. She's even more obsessed with battles than you," he pointed at me. "She has a one-track mind."

"Cool. Answer my questions, please," I said.

"Meh. Her Rhydon was pretty easy, and she led with it. It's tough, but dumb as hell and Ri easily dealt with it after hitting it enough times. Aggron was a problem, though— actually, all of her Pokemon are problems. I just couldn't compete with the amount of destruction she brought onto the field, it fucking blows. Anyway, I'm off. I have to cancel my flying lessons with Sigilyph. She got pretty beat up. Then I'm gonna blow off some steam by running across the city. Fuckin' Lauren…"

"Okay…? Stay safe—"

"Bye-bye Chasey!" Mira waved.

The fact that she wasn't going to follow him was enough to get him to run out of the room.

"You're not following him?" I asked.

"Nah. It'd be fun, but I'm busy. Hey, listen to this: my League Trainer bodyguard actually had to tell me to stop snooping around so much because it made it hard to protect me," she laughed. "I guess I am kind of annoying."

"You should stop self-destructing. Is Maeve not around?"

"Oh, she's busy training with Louis and trying to lock down where Justin is. I don't want to involve her with this."

"You're involving her by just doing this," I snapped. "Stop acting crazy because you're hurting, it's not good for you."

Mira's eye twitched. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"If you drag us into this and force us to have to save you—"

"You worry too much, Grace. You didn't try to stop me when we were risking our lives in Solaceon. Oh sure, you acted like a good old reasonable gal, straddling the middle ground, but you wanted it just as much as I did."

"What are you implying?" I hissed, biting my lip.

"That you're a hypocrite. I know you want revenge on that fucked up Mars chick too, but you only act like you don't. I know how people like you function. I've seen it."

"You don't know what you're talking about," I mirrored her words. "I think it'd be best if you took a breather and got out of my room. You've offended enough," I said dryly.

"Ah, offended," Mira mused. "You've changed— or at least stopped hiding. I was waiting to see if you'd tell us anything, but hey, to be honest, you don't owe me anything. Funnily enough, you expect to know everything about me while you get to keep your secrets."

"What do you—"

"Kadabra's studying TE, remember? He's taken quite an interest in how it affects humans, and he's close to figuring out everything he wants to. You gave him the breakthrough he needed," she said.

I froze for a split second. "Just go."

"You're the one that started this, but fine, run away from the tough conversation," she said after a short pause. "Remember this, though. I think that out of everyone in the group, we might not know each other the best, but in terms of understanding each other?"

She left the rest of the sentence unsaid.

"Toodles!" Mira waved. "I'll be looking forward to our cooperation in the near future."

I almost expected her to slam my door, but she just closed it gently. I… I didn't know what to make of this. I was angry at her, but I just couldn't even begin to understand how she thought, and I was supposed to be good with people. Nothing she said made any sense— or it did make sense, but why now? Because of the stress she felt due to being close to her uncle? I thought that we'd been on good terms and had gotten closer after the entire Solaceon debacle, but she was acting as if I had wronged her.

And I had told people about Togetic's leakage. I'd told Cecilia about it— but she had no way to know that. Or no, maybe she'd just think the fact that I'd only told her was worse.

Arceus, I couldn't wait for the rest of the group to get here. I just wanted to cuddle with Cecilia right now and for her to comfort me. Even after all my time spent only with Pokemon, I still felt like I needed her. Hopefully, Denzel would get Mira back on track while they did their Game Corner stuff. I sent a text to Maeve asking her to check up on Mira, just in case. I felt like she was just trying to antagonize me for no reason, but maybe it'd be different with her best friend.

I spent the next hour or two studying, but I couldn't get my head in the game. As if the situation couldn't get any worse, the text I got made me feel dread I thought I could only feel when my life was threatened.

Mom

Hi Grace! I know this is sudden, but I'm actually visiting Veilstone with your grandma right now and I heard that you were in town. I was wondering if you were free to meet? It's been a while and I want to try to mend things further, but I feel like that's impossible without meeting again. Let me know!

I was sweating buckets before I even finished reading the entire text. How in the world had she gotten here? Had they fucking walked to Sandgem and taken a plane from there? I just had too much going on for this!