CHAPTER 191
"See? She likes you!"
Pauline stared at Emilia's Fennekin with a grimace. The small fire type's ears twitched as she rubbed up on her leg. Her fur was deceptively hot, but it was still a comfortable warmth. Fennekin was what could be considered cute, but Pauline didn't see the appeal in owning such a Pokemon. Where was the fierceness? That twinkle in her eye that was enough to understand that crossing her once would have dire consequences? Maybe it was because Fennekin was still a baby. She raised an eyebrow and turned toward Emilia.
"Yeah, she does."
"You're the first one she's approached willingly so far. She can't stand the others to the point of running away from them if they try to touch her. Although I guess she hasn't hung out with Grace or Cece yet."
Fennekin let out a high-pitched bark and strutted toward Lycanroc, who began to lick her forehead.
"Isn't it time for you to get to your first flying lesson, by the way? You don't want to be late," Emilia said.
Pauline grabbed her Poketch and her eyes widened. She had five minutes to arrive! Where had the time gone?
"Fuck. I'll see you later babe. You can show me more of those contest videos," Pauline said as she grabbed her backpack. "Don't get too bored while I'm gone!"
"I'll live. I'll probably go see Denzel to ask him about the Game Corner. He went last night with Mira."
Denzel's name made Pauline freeze for a split second, but Emilia didn't notice it, having already turned toward Fennekin and Lycanroc. All this time, she'd tried to bury the fact that she was in love with two people, and it had been easy when she'd only been with one of them at a time. Her mother had told her to try. To say something— anything, instead of just hoping for it to go away, but how to even begin? Sitting down with them was a good start, but what if the right way to approach this was to talk with one of them at a time? What if they thought her to be a freak? What if it unraveled all of their relationships?
"What's wrong? You look nervous."
Pauline's fingers quivered when Emilia cupped her cheek. It wasn't like her to be like this.
"Emi. What do you think about Denzel?" She asked, her jaw tight.
"What do you mean? I think he's a great friend. One of my best. Why?"
I love him. And you. And it's fucking killing me inside.
"No reason," she smirked. "See you later!"
"You know that you saying 'no reason' like that just makes me sus—"
Pauline closed the door and ran down the Pokemon Center stairs. It wasn't fair to either of them to treat them like this. Stringing Emilia along while she didn't know that Pauline looked at someone else the same way she looked at her. And then, to completely freak out at Denzel every time he befriended another girl…
It was different with him. Pauline was already dating Emilia, and she didn't care about her getting close to others. Her coordinator friend Vincent had been proof enough, even if she still didn't trust him completely. But with Denzel? He was single. Free to date anyone he wanted, and that meant that she could potentially lose him. Just thinking about it angered her, and that anger was a great help to cover up the feeling of distress that Pauline felt whenever she heard him talk about messaging some of his fans online— and it was almost always a girl.
Flight School was twenty minutes by foot from the Pokemon Center, so getting there in time would be impossible. She could have broken the law and flown on Charizard like she'd done plenty of times already to practice, but they'd never give her a license if they caught her. She bumped into an older-looking trainer as she ran across the street and felt his hand on her shoulder. She tried to yank it away, but he wasn't budging."
"Hey. You bumped into me, shouldn't you apologi—"
"I'm not in the mood for your fuckery. I have somewhere to be," she snapped.
"Just a simple apology—"
"I'm sorry you're so unaware of where you're going that you'd bump into me. Maybe get your eyes fixed," she said.
He scoffed but let go of her. "You need help. You're fucking crazy."
"It's people like you that make me crazy."
She gave him the finger and kept running, shaking her head to dispel the doubt that crept up inside of her. She'd been a bitch just now for no reason, hadn't she? Taking her anger out on the world when she was too scared to have a conversation with someone, and for what? Pauline could have apologized. It wasn't like she was ever going to see him again anyway, so why? Why was she so angry all the time?
Pauline had grown. She had gotten better at being nice to people compared to how she'd been in the past, but she knew damn well she didn't behave normally. She wanted to keep her edge, she thought. To trust no one and to keep her tongue sharp like her mother had taught her to be. Yet, there was another reason. The stress of her damn complicated relationship was piling up, and Pauline knew that it was all going to burst out eventually.
She had to speak to them both, and soon.
"Fucking finally. Damn Flight School," she huffed.
When Pauline had come here yesterday to sign up, there had been no huge yard to give students and teachers space to practice flying as she'd expected. Instead, it was just another nondescript building made out of bricks and concrete like the other thousand that littered Veilstone. Pauline wasn't much of an architect, but by the Legendaries, this city just looked boring. As it turned out, there were classes that she had to attend before practical lessons started. Five of them, where they'd go over the rules of flying and Sinnoh's different laws. When she turned the corner, someone she knew did the same thing. They both looked at each other with a deep frown, and Pauline felt a surge of displeasure by just being near him.
"Chase fucking Karlson," she said. "What are you doing here? Do you even have a flying Pokemon?"
"To get my license, why do you think?" he deadpanned. "Why are you here so late?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
"Yeah, I probably wouldn't care anyway," he shrugged as he entered the building.
He didn't hold the door for her and it almost closed on her face. Well, luckily he'd be in another class. Thousands of trainers learned to fly every year, and they had to be divided into different classes to keep up with the demand. Pauline's smug smile slowly disappeared as they both climbed up the same stairs, turned down the same hallway and reached the same classroom.
"What the hell?" Chase muttered. "Did you follow me here? First Mira, now you—"
"The world doesn't revolve around you, so check that ego. It's an unfortunate coincidence, that's all."
"Don't sit near me."
"I won't. Why would you even think I'd sit near you?" She sighed exasperatedly. "We might have friends in common, but we're just acquaintances."
"Acquaintances? I sure as hell am not acquainted with you—"
"Just open the damn door, dipshit!" She fumed.
Chase and Pauline entered the classroom, and twenty heads turned to them, including the teacher, who was tasked with getting them to know everything about the rules of flying before the official government-mandated written exam. Only after passing that would they be allowed to actually fly, which meant she had completely misunderstood what the teacher with the Charizard had said when they had spoken. An image was being projected onto the whiteboard labeled 'CITIES: DO'S AND DON'T'S'
"Ah, our two final attendees have deigned to show up. Pauline King and Chase Karlson, I presume?" She said. "Sit."
They both groaned when they saw that only two seats were free.
Not only were they next to each other, they would also have to share a table.
Chase glared at her, and she glared back. Was this piece of shit blaming her for this? Another word from the professor, this time more stringent, made them shuffle to their seats in defeat. She stared at them for another few seconds and scoffed when she saw that neither of them was taking out anything to take notes with. Chase leaned back against his chair and placed his feet on the table while Pauline dragged her seat further away. The professor muttered something under her breath and continued.
"So, as I was saying, you aren't allowed to land outside cities' designated zones unless you are a member of the League, otherwise you will disrupt pedestrian and vehicular traffic. These zones are easy to see up in the sky, but they look like this—" She said, tapping the picture on her whiteboard. It looked like a Helipad, but with a Pokeball instead of an H. Pauline had seen a few in her life. "You can also land outside of city limits and go through the gate, and some Pokemon are not allowed to land inside of cities, even on the zones designated for landing. We'll get into the list at a later date. You must also maintain an altitude of at least one hundred feet at all times unless you plan to land, but you should preferably go higher."
She clicked on a small remote and switched images.
"Now, regarding speed limit, out in the wild, you can go as quick as your body allows, which tends to be around 53 meters per second or 120 miles an hour. Faster than that, and you go faster than terminal velocity. You start to feel pain and discomfort because air resistance pushes back and turbulence starts to really be felt. Go fast enough, and you will sustain permanent or lethal injury by potentially falling if you don't use a saddle. Even if you do, going faster is unwise. Of course, people have been known to push past that limit for extended periods of time. Champion Cynthia and her Garchomp is just one example, but you aren't professional fliers with decades of experience, you are children with bodies that are still growing. Do I make myself clear?"
Grumbles ran through the classroom, and she continued.
"In cities, there is an actual legal limit which is 30 miles per hour. Unlike in the wild, you cannot go over that speed no matter how experienced you are— unless again, you are a member of the League. Cities have a much higher density of fliers and going too fast makes collisions much more likely. I know these numbers can seem confusing, but you'll get a feel of what that feels like during practical lessons. For now, just write them down and commit them to memory. And if your Pokemon are skilled enough to dodge suddenly with tight maneuvers, the forces applied to your body will not feel pleasant and can potentially make you black out. For those of you who plan to ride without a saddle, that means falling to your death. Do not think that it can't happen to you, because I've seen it."
She paused and switched slides again.
"Now that we've gone over all of the rules—"
Pauline winced at the fact that she'd missed almost everything. Maybe it'd be better to take notes after all. It wouldn't do good to flunk the exam, especially since she'd have to retake these classes again and they were each three hours long. Pauline just wanted to get her license to be done with this bullshit so that she could fly off wherever she wanted on Charizard's back. The few times she had done so had felt so freeing that she'd been compelled to smile and giggle like a little girl. She grabbed a notebook she'd hurriedly snatched while leaving, and Chase's eyes drifted toward her.
'"—let me tell you about consequences. If you get caught breaking them— and yes, you will get caught. Rangers often fly on the routes and in the cities and ask you to stop routinely to ask for your license. I've seen plenty of trainers thinking that the odds of them being found out were so minuscule that they didn't listen to the rules. Some also died, but I've hammered on that point enough already. There is a zero-tolerance policy. This isn't like driving a car. There are no points that can be taken off your license. You break the rules once, you lose it. Understand? Then you have to wait five years to get another one. Now, let's go over Pokemon's body types and what that entails…"
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Psssst."
Pauline rolled her eyes and ignored the annoyance to her left.
"Hey. Hey! Do you have a pen and paper?"
"I don't."
"You do! It's literally right there!" Chase exclaimed.
"Do you have something to share with the class, you two?" The teacher asked with her arms crossed. She irritatingly tapped her foot against the ground.
"I was just asking her for a piece of paper and a pen," he announced loudly to the class.
Pauline clenched her teeth, ripped out a page from her notebook and handed Chase a pen. She would have looked like a bitch if she hadn't, and despite her bravado, Pauline didn't want to be known as one these days. The professor began speaking again and Pauline stewed in her anger as Chase offered her a smug 'thanks'.
They'd been put in the same group, so she'd have to spend five classes with this prick until they went their separate ways for practical classes, and that was only if their fliers had a different body type. There was no way to know, since he wanted to be sooooo mysterious. Pauline clenched at her forehead and groaned.
Five straight days of this. This week couldn't go by quickly enough.
—
Louis had never felt this nervous about a gym battle before. Roark and Gardenia had been him at his worst with no self-awareness. Back then, he thought himself to be the best first year. He chuckled at that. Now that he'd seen what his more-talented friends could do, it was almost comical that he'd ever thought that way.
"Why're you laughing?" Maeve playfully said with her hands behind her back.
"At my old self."
"They say you haven't grown until you're able to make fun of how you used to be," she said. "You've changed for the better, Louis."
Seeing the dichotomy between Maeve with the rest of the group and her when it was just them or her with Mira was something he was still getting used to. She was much more outgoing and outspoken with them than she was with the others. Maeve liked to let people speak and listen, but getting a word in was difficult when everyone had such strong characters. He felt the same, these days. He still thought them to be close friends, but he felt much more at home with Mira and Maeve despite how they'd basically hitched themselves onto him. Only Mira could stand up to how… socially powerful everyone else was. Even Emilia had grown leaps and bounds in that regard.
Louis used to be like them. No longer.
"Ready for more training?" He asked. They were in one of the many arenas in Veilstone, although this one was open-air.
"So long as it's with you," she quietly said, twirling her hair.
He raised an eyebrow at that. She'd been much more persistent about spending time alone these days, but Louis didn't make for a great training partner. Sure, they were close in strength, although Gible's recent evolution during training had propelled him a little bit further than she was. Monferno was still stuck in his second stage, but she hoped to evolve him before their gym battle with Maylene next Tuesday.
"I am ready, then. Another four against four? Or do you want it to be a double battle today?"
Strangely enough, Maeve sighed. "Four-on-four is fine. Still scared of getting Combee into her first real battle, huh? I've seen a video of Grace fighting a Vespiqueen and it's terrifying, let me tell you."
"She's not ready," he said. "She's been through so much already after getting kicked out of her hive, I don't want her to get hurt."
Maeve turned away from him and let out a strange squeal.
"What's wrong? Are you alright? Did you swallow the wrong way? Something scary happen?"
"Y—yeah, I'm good," she said, shaking her hand. "Just nervous about the gym battle."
Louis nodded, paying her no mind and grabbed Vulpix's Pokeball. "Alright then. I'll go to the opposite side—"
"Louis."
He almost didn't recognize the voice. It was the same, but the tone and inflection was nothing like Louis had grown used to. Justin stood there, paler than he used to be. Some muscle had built on his lanky frame and he looked at Louis with… no, it wasn't contempt. It was just nothing. Emptiness. He was neither angry nor happy to see him after so long.
"Justin," Louis stammered. It took a few seconds for him to get his composure back. He hadn't even heard him approach and neither had Maeve. His steps were so quiet. "How are you? It's been so long, we've all been trying to call you—"
"Enough with the pleasantries. I have rebuilt myself, improved my team and I need to see how I currently stand up to you. We used to be of similar skill levels, you and I. I wonder if that's still the case."
"Wait, don't you want to see the others?" Louis asked. "We're all worried sick about you."
"Are we going to battle, or are you going to waste both of our times?"
Louis flinched at the words. The worst part was that there was no animosity in them. Justin hadn't intended to hurt, he was just stating what he truly believed. He maintained eye contact until Louis felt forced to avert his eyes.
"Only if you'll stay to speak with us after," he finally answered.
"Fine, but only if you give me what I seek. Move, Maeve."
The girl meekly nodded and stepped off the platform, leaving space for Justin while Louis went to the other end of the arena. He hadn't expected this at all, and he had no idea how to even react. Justin had been supposed to get better with time, but it was like he'd gotten worse. He needed to tell the others… no, he would battle him first and try to get him to talk with them willingly. An intervention would do nothing when he wasn't capable of feeling anything. In fact, it was more likely to push him away from them.
"How does a six-on-six with three switches sound?" Justin yelled. Even when loud, his voice was unsettlingly calm.
"I can't. The maximum I can do is a four-on-four," Louis answered.
"Disappointing, but very well. Let us do two switches, then. I will send out my Pokemon first."
Louis frowned when a Toxapex appeared on the battlefield. He knew that Justin had been rumored to have six Pokemon now, and there were stories of him relentlessly participating in battles day and night, but actually seeing one of his new teammates felt odd. Like he should have been there to see him get them. The poison type lifted two of its front legs, revealing the gleaming eyes and sharp teeth dripping with poison below. Louis sent out his Pawniard, hoping to take advantage of the poison immunity. He whetted his blades against themselves and grunted.
To Louis, everything wagered on this fight. His friendship with Justin, the guilt he felt for not having been there when he needed it, how lonely it must have felt, hiding in a hole and drowning in dark type energy as everything that made you you dissolved and you slowly became a shell of your former self.
He needed to win.
"Toxic Spikes."
"Metal Sound!" He yelled.
Toxapex shook all of its front legs, and sharpened nails dripping with poison flew forward, littering his side of the field and floating slightly above the ground. Before the entire battlefield could be drowned in poisonous spikes, Pawniard scratched his blades against his torso, creating a sound so torturous that even Louis had to cover his ears. Toxapex felt the pain too, encasing its head in its twelve legs to protect itself from the sound.
Justin did not react. Instead, he grabbed a Pokeball and switched, sending out an Arcanine instead. The majestic beast stood six and a half feet tall at the shoulder, and fire licked his fur as he stepped forward. Arcanine's eyes flashed with recognition when he saw Louis, but then they were replaced with what had been there in the first place. Louis was nowhere as good as Grace at understanding Pokemon, but anyone would recognize that expression. Tired, almost human eyes glazed over with something.
Guilt. Unfathomable guilt that ate Arcanine up from the inside for failing Justin in his time of need. Unlike Toxapex, he had known what Justin was like before. He'd always been a loyal Pokemon first and foremost, and his guilt was soon overshadowed by duty.
He would never fail Justin again, including in this battle.
"Agility and Flame Wheel," Justin said.
Arcanine blurred forward, his body encased in blue flames that warped the air around them. Louis barely managed to recall Pawniard in time, and Arcanine stopped in a single, graceful step before retreating back to Justin. Louis swallowed and sent out his Gabite, who roared in fury when some of the Toxic Spikes dug themselves against his tough scales. Louis had hoped for Gabite's tough hide to protect him from the poison, but it looked like he'd underestimated Toxapex.
"Looks like you aren't too disappointing," Justin said. "Keep up Agility and Play Rough."
Louis' eyes bulged, but he reacted.
"Sand Tomb in front—"
The ground in front of the dragon type liquified, forming a Sand Tomb that stretched across the arena like a fissure, but Arcanine easily jumped to the side. The battle was going too fast for him to track, and Arcanine quickly rammed into Gabite, his entire body swarming with pink dust. The ground type bellowed, but he did not go down. He dug his two claws into Arcanine's flesh, digging at his shoulders with a powerful Dragon Claw.
"Bulldoze!" Louis screamed.
"Crunch."
Darkness spewed from the fire type's open mouth as he bit into Gabites neck, shaking his head and tearing some of his scales away. The floor under his feet shook and crumbled, opening a small chasm that the two Pokemon fell into. Gabite quickly recovered, angling himself forward and slamming head-first into Arcanine's hide, but the fire type did not stand still. He pawed and bit at him with Crunch and Play Rough with snarls that Louis had never heard.
"Now, Sand Tomb! Bury him!"
"Flame Wheel."
The floor turned to mud, but Flames engulfed his body, still shining with an incredibly vibrant blue and burning Gabite's scales and solidifying the mud before he could sink further. Still, they were at an advantage. His feet were stuck in solid ground, and Gabite kept tearing away at Arcanine's flesh. His claws raked against his already-bloodied skin, tearing chunks of flesh, but the blood boiled and flames cauterized the wounds as soon as they'd formed. Things weren't as easy as Louis had hoped, but they had the upper hand—
"Reversal."
Gabite's eyes bulged as Arcanine slammed into him with unbelievable force. He flew out of the small hole and rolled onto the floor like a ragdoll.
He didn't get up.
Louis swallowed as he recalled his Gabite and sent out his Prinplup, who honked in pain from the Toxic Spikes that stabbed into his skin and began spreading their poison. Both he and Arcanine had been friends, once. They were each other's first Pokemon and embodied loyalty to their trainers. Louis had shared many conversations with Justin while they were out and about. Arcanine no longer shared that warmth, and Louis' eyes teared up as he looked at Justin. It was only now that it sunk in that they were no longer friends. He gripped at his shirt and felt a stabbing pain in his heart.
It hurt.
"Water Pulse!" He snarled.
"Dodge with Agility and Reversal again."
The fire type blurred, albeit slower than before and easily avoided the ring of water. Louis' eyes narrowed as he attempted to track Arcanine, but he had no time to think. He could only react to what was happening.
"Whirpool!"
Prinplup honked, and gallons of water shot out of his small beak, swirling until it coalesced into a vortex. Arcanine stopped in his tracks, but Louis wasn't done.
"Freeze it!"
A thin ray of ice washed over the Whirpool, freezing the entire structure in a moment. It fell onto Arcanine, and it was heavy. Prinplup spat out a small Water Gun forward, then slid on his belly using the slick ground to go faster than he could run. He angled his head to the left and sent a final Water Pulse flying at Arcanine, finally fainting the beast.
Justin recalled him before he could even fall, his face still expressionless and sent out his Audino. The normal type did not twirl as he used to, nor did he smile. He only stared, ready to do what needed to be done.
"Simple Beam."
Louis clicked his tongue as an almost transparent beam washed over Prinplup's body. It appeared harmless, but now, he couldn't rely on Torrent as he had hoped to. Louis waited for Justin to do something, but his old friend simply waited, and after all, why not? The poison was running its course. Prinplup had to act, not Audino.
"Ice Beam!" Louis yelled.
"Light Screen."
Audino's eyes shone pink, and a thin barrier appeared around him. The ice made it through the Light Screen, but only after being severely weakened and barely hurting Audino.
"Make a path and Drill Peck!" Louis ordered with a sweep of his arm.
Again, Prinplup wetted the ground before him and slid, continuously providing himself with wet ground by keeping the Water Gun going. His beak slowly elongated and shone with a bright white, then he stood up and jumped as high as he could, twisting his body into a vicious spin.
"Reflect."
Prinplup slammed into the hastily erupted barrier, spinning and spinning until it cracked, but Justin did not stand idle.
"Mega Punch."
Audino's entire arm bulged, shining as bright as Prinplup's Drill Peck, and the moment Prinplup broke through the Reflect, he struck the water type's cheek right as he stabbed into his chest. Audino slid onto the wet floor while Prinplup flew backwards, landing on top of more Toxic Spikes. He struggled to get up, but Audino finished him off with a loud Disarming Voice that brought a harrowing feeling into Louis' heart.
"You did well."
He bit his lip and recalled Prinplup right as Justin ordered a Life Dew. The water Prinplup had sprayed onto the arena spun and coated Audino's skin, healing his wounds. As Louis sent out his Pawniard, Justin immediately recalled Audino and sent out his Krokorok. Louis felt terrible for the ground type. He looked the most affected of them all. After all, he had been the one to bury Justin underground during the Darkest Day. Louis didn't have many options. Both Vulpix and Pawniard wouldn't do well here, but he couldn't lose hope. What he did know was that Krokorok would bury and that Pawniard had no way to counter that, so he used his last swap of the battle and sent out Vulpix. The Toxic Spikes again poisoned her. Was there truly no easy way to counter them? A strange light began to bear down into the arena like a second sun, letting him know that Drought had been activated.
He'd waited to use his Fire Stone, but Justin had not.
They had a single opening, and he needed to make it count.
"Confuse Ray!"
A strange, otherworldly bulb of light appeared above Vulpix's forehead. It galivanted around the arena as if it had a mind of its own, but Vulpix focused and the Confuse Ray listened. It stopped zigzagging and began beelining for Krokorok.
"Dig and finish her off," Justin said.
The dark type didn't even move. He simply sunk into the floor with his arms crossed, and the Confuse Ray had been too slow. Their first opening was out, but there was still a way to force the ground type out. Vulpix had learned more fire moves, but what they had focused on was manipulating the flames themselves, tapping into the Vulpix's line talent for elemental control.
"Burn the ground as hot as you can!" Louis yelled.
Fire emerged from every inch of Vulpix's body and washed over the ground, warping the air around Vulpix. So long as they didn't let Krokorok get close, then he would be forced to surface to actually hit them with their usual Sand Tomb—
Louis' face fell when the ground under Vulpix fractured and shook. No, it was more than the ground under Vulpix. The entire arena was shaking, and it threatened to collapse onto itself. This was too powerful to be Bulldoze. This was Earthquake.
There was nothing they could do. Krokorok's range had apparently improved and he was nowhere to be found, even when Vulpix had worked so hard to make staying underground untenable. The fire type fainted when the attack finished, and Louis dejectedly sent out Pawniard, who was subject to the same fate. There was no secret trick, no evolution to save him.
He'd lost, and it hadn't even been close.
"Disappointing," Justin said. "But I'm still nowhere good enough for Victory Road."
That was it. That was the extent of his words.
"Wait, I battled you, so please stick around—"
"No, you didn't give me what I needed," he said, not even bothering to look at him. "I thought someone I used to consider a rival would be better than this. Perhaps Pauline would be a better match…"
Louis ran in an attempt to catch him but lost Justin in the crowded street. Just like that, he was gone.
What in the world had just happened?
He felt Maeve's hand on his shoulder.
"You should call the others. At least— at least you know he's physically fine," she said, trying to offer him sympathy. "Do you want to go back to the Center? Get your Pokemon healed up and rest?"
Louis dried his eyes with his forearm and took a shallow, shaky breath.
"Yeah," he nodded.