CHAPTER 201

I was deep in thought as Maeve's Staraptor swooped down with an Aerial Ace, aiming at a Crabrawler. The fighting type's boxing-glove-like hands shimmered with ice as he countered her attack, causing as much damage as he had taken. The battle had started a few minutes ago and Maeve was on the ropes, having lost her Monferno while Maylene had lost no Pokemon at all. Truth be told, I was focused on something else.

When Louis had used Confuse Ray on Maylene's Machoke, my gut reaction had been to tell myself that I wouldn't have done that due to the fact that any non-damaging moves pissed her off. It was an unfair practice that Maylene was famous for, and it didn't help with her already-tarnished reputation online. She was the most hated Gym Leader in Sinnoh by a long shot due to both unfair biases like her age and fair criticisms like forcing trainers to battle a certain way if they wanted an easier time against her. A Gym Leader's key purpose was to give trainers a challenge to overcome so they could grow, not to force them to conform to your fighting style. As it stood, despite her being incredibly skilled and a prodigy, I didn't think she made a good Gym Leader, at least on the Circuit side of things. Unfortunately, nepotism had given her the position anyway.

My friends cheered as Maeve finally took down that Crabrawler and Maylene sent out a Primeape in his stead.

"Keep your distance!" She yelled. "Air Cutter!"

Maylene countered the move with her usual Rock Tomb, and I returned to my train of thought. I was in one of the most opportune or misfortune positions depending on who I asked. I was possibly the kind of trainer Maylene would despise the most. She didn't mind it when people altered the field like I was planning on doing, but hiding with Jellicent and keeping to the skies with Princess would anger her, especially when it was the main crutch of my strategy. Plus, that wasn't even counting all of the psychological stuff I was planning on doing.

So the question remained.

Did I change what I wanted to do, or not?

I could probably do it. I still had at least a week until my battle and I could definitely figure out a way to switch things up without altering my strategy too much. There was also the possibility of only changing my strategy by slamming the brakes when Maylene grew too irritated.

But was that truly what I wanted?

No. No, it was not.

I had to be careful, however. I knew for a fact that I was not the first trainer going into the battle with this mentality. Many lost, but some still won despite Maylene pressing them. She was still a Gym Leader, and her people had a much tighter leash on her than Candice, so I didn't think she would pull out something like Galarian Darmanitan. Maybe something a single badge level higher, but even that was a stretch. What she usually did was change up her tactics to be more ruthless or pick a Pokemon that exactly countered yours to shut down any perceived weakness.

It would be risky, but I needed to do it. This battle would be the best opportunity to further evolve my style from a planner to something more advanced. I needed something that was mine and mine alone, and the faster I figured it out, the better it would be for my long-term growth. I wasn't planning on losing, but the main goal would be to see if something clicked for me in the battle.

"Both Staraptor and Primeape are unable to battle! Both of you, send out your third Pokemon!" The referee yelled.

Maeve sent out her Drapion while Maylene released a Pignite. The fire type jumped to surprising heights, becoming a ball of flames while Drapion sprayed him with poison and attempted to snatch him out of the sky. The Heat Crash had been heavy and the poison type was only barely able to stop it. Once Maeve realized that she was on the losing side of things, she recalled Drapion, swapping him for Starmie while Maylene did the same and released a Meditite.

Being this close to the field had another positive effect for me other than making it easier to study Maylene. From here, I could actually visualize the number of pillars I'd be able to raise during the battle bar any catastrophic circumstances. I had a plan B in case Maylene countered them too easily, of course, but I'd be starting the battle from a huge disadvantage. It'd be three… no, four across and fifteen down. Sixty? No, that was too many. Even if Angel was a monster in the stamina department, Princess wouldn't be able to follow up. I'd wanted to make them in a well-organized grid so it was easier for me to tell Princess where to strike with her omnidirectional Air Cutter we were still developing while she hid.

Then, as Maeve's Starmie went down, an idea struck me.

Pillars would harm both my and Maylene's visibility. I knew that had been the case since devising the strategy and I'd plan to make use of both my and my Pokemon's field of view to paint a fuller picture of what would be going on in the field, but what if I made the 'forest' more dense on her side of the field? It'd be less work for us, and it would screw her over more than me. I came up with a layout in my head and decided to sketch it out later today. It was a lot more convenient for me this way. Maybe in the future, I'd scoff at creating sixty pillars, but that day wasn't today.

"Victory to Leader Maylene!"

What?

I frowned, staring at the battlefield. A tired Pignite stood over Drapion's unconscious and burned body while Maeve bit her lip with her eyes downcast.

She'd lost?

I had always known any of us losing was possible and likelier the more we progressed, but… damn.

I still hadn't thought it'd come so soon. I hadn't paid that much attention to the battle, but I knew that Maeve had kept it simple and done her best not to anger Maylene and keep to attacking moves. It wasn't the end of the Circuit for her, but considering she'd have to wait two weeks to challenge Maylene again, she couldn't afford to waste any time.

"Mira should have come," Denzel winced. "Maeve's going to need her."

Pauline looked as our friend hurriedly shuffled to back to the waiting room. "Well, call her, then! Louis should still be somewhere down there since he didn't come back."

We all went down to the lobby and saw her talking to Louis, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She was clearly teary-eyed, although she didn't let that stop her from brainstorming a new plan. We all comforted her the best we could, and Mira said she was on her way ASAP. They might not have hung out as much in Veilstone, but they were still best friends. They were in the same situation Denzel and I were in.

"I don't know… I think I can't afford to wait," she said, sniffling. "I need to keep my head up. Use the time I have now to go off and challenge Volkner right away instead of waiting the two weeks here, otherwise I'll never make it. I need to catch my last two Pokemon as well, and to train harder, and— and—"

"Calm down," Denzel smiled. "It's going to be alright. For now, why don't you just get to the Center? Your Pokemon need it."

The girl timidly nodded. "I'll wait for Mira first. Something about the way I'm doing things isn't working, and I need to figure it out."

"Do you want my honest opinion?" Cecilia asked.

Maeve hesitated, but ended up agreeing.

"You keep things too simple," she said. "It might be a bit ironic coming from me… but even I've started to realize that I need to add some complexity to my strategy. Simple orders worked until now, but you need to hash something out. Something unique to you. You certainly have the firepower to work with."

"And leading with Monferno was a bad idea," Denzel added. "If there's one thing you want to do this gym, it's keep your distance unless you're sure you can go toe-to-toe with Maylene's Pokemon. Monferno's a fighting type, but he's not going to be as trained as hers."

"I was hoping he'd evolve and my risk would pay off," she said. "I messed up there."

I didn't miss the fact that Pauline was paying attention to everything both of them said. I would have given Maeve some advice too, but I had unfortunately not even seen most of the battle. When Mira arrived, she told Maeve to drop off her Pokemon so that they could spend their whole day together, and she also dragged Louis with them. Knowing her, she'd probably slip out at some point to leave them alone with each other.

"I'm going back to see some battles," Cecilia said.

"Ditto," Pauline said. "I'm gonna need to be on top of my game."

"Is that self-doubt I sense, Pauline?" I asked.

"No, I'm just taking precautions."

"I'd stay with you, but I've got to get going," I told them. We were in public and Pauline didn't know about my media training, so I omitted it entirely. "Denzel?"

"Gotta get back to the Game Corner," he sighed. "I swear, I'm seeing the flashing lights when I close my eyes, it's getting harder to sleep. My friend's waiting for me there."

"Right. Well, we'll be on our way, then," I told Cece and Pauline. "We can walk some of the way together?" I asked Denzel.

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"Sure thing."

I didn't miss the fact that two girls asked him to take a selfie as we got out of the stadium. From what I could tell, they weren't even trainers. Thankfully, Pauline was gone, and I had noticed that Denzel had avoided saying that his Game Corner friend was a girl too. He knew how to avoid triggering her antics, but they were going to talk about this at some point.

Right?

"I feel terrible for Maeve," he said, shooting a small pebble off the street. "She almost had it, but she panicked. Sucks."

I nodded. "Hmhm. She doesn't have much of a choice now. She'll have to leave for Sunyshore if she wants to use her time effectively, but that gym battle will be tough as well. Electric's not a good matchup for her when she has Starmie and Staraptor… honestly, she might be better off going right to Pastoria. Won't take that long either."

"We'll see," he shrugged. "I think Louis will go with her if she leaves early. Mira would have too, but, well…"

"She's coming with us," I finished. "What'll you do now? I won't lie, I thought it'd be easier for you since you'd travel in a big group."

"Go with Emi and Pauline," he shrugged.

"Emi's traveling on the route?!" I yelled, turning a few heads.

"They're safe as can be, so yes, it won't be too bad. Pretty sure she'll regret it on the first day after not having traveled for so long, but she's made up her mind. I don't think it'll be bad, though. I'll still miss the rest of you," he said with a disappointed look.

"I'm sorry. And I wouldn't be so sure about it not being bad if I were—"

"Holy shit, is that— it is!"

My friend pointed forward and I squinted, but I couldn't tell what he was directing me to look at.

"Use your words," I said.

"To the right, next to that mattress shop with the Komala on it. That's Barry Lane!"

Barry Lane… oh, it was that kid from Twinleaf that people kept talking about that was apparently really good. He was running off toward the south of the city. I expected this to just be Denzel being happy he'd seen someone else famous, but he grabbed my wrist and dragged me forward while he yelled out Barry's name.

"Hey, hey, you're going too fast!" I yelled.

"Shit, my bad— Barry!" He screamed, cupping his mouth with his hands.

The teenager finally turned to face us and beamed when he saw Denzel's face.

"Wait, you know this guy?" I frowned.

"Know him? I grew up in Twinleaf, Grace. I knew everyone there."

Barry Lane wasn't particularly tall, and his most defining characteristic was his hair which was more golden than blonde. He wore a thick, khaki scarf and had a brown satchel around his shoulder that he carried along with the usual huge backpack that most trainers had. I did see six Pokeballs at his belt, however, so my interest was piqued.

"Denzel!" he yelled with a voice on the higher side of things. "I never thought I'd see you here. Who's your friend? Wait, don't tell me… is that the legendary… Cecilia Obel?!"

"Wrong one, buddy. That's Grace Pastel."

"Nice to meet you," I added. I extended my hand, and he shook it so firmly that I thought he'd dislocate my wrist.

"Sorry, I'm bad at all that internet stuff, so I only hear these things from word of mouth," he said.

"Do you want to hang out or something? It's been so long," Denzel asked.

"Hoho, sorry Denzel, but I was on my way out of Veilstone. You see, I've recently gotten my fifth badge from Maylene. Sunyshore awaits me!" He said with a huge grin.

"Bummer, then. Congrats on the badge though," Denzel said. "How're Lucas and Dawn doing? I thought you were traveling together?"

"They abandoned this Circuit thing pretty quick when they started working with Professor Rowan," he explained. "Battling isn't their priority anymore and they help him with research stuff. When I tried to help, I couldn't even focus on one task for more than five minutes! It's a shame, considering how good they were. Champion material, I tell you! Not as much as me, though."

"Damn. I'll see you around then? Maybe catch you in Sunyshore?"

"Sure thing, if you're quick enough! Knowing you, you'll be late and I'll have to fine you 100 million Pokedollars! You've always taken things too easily."

Denzel innocently raised both his hands. "Guilty as charged."

"I'm off then. It was nice to meet you Grace Pastel! I'll see you around!"

Barry ran off faster than I thought was humanly possible. Two minutes at this speed, and I'd be completely exhausted, but Chase would probably be able to keep up with him. I shot Denzel an amused look.

"You didn't tell me you had friends back in Twinleaf," I said. "Barry, Lucas, Dawn? What's up with that?"

"I wasn't actually that friendly with Lucas and Dawn. They were kind of quiet kids, and we don't fit in that well together. I had no idea they were working with Professor Rowan though. Did you know Barry was actually sponsored by Rowan?"

"Sponsored by a Professor?" I gasped. "Isn't that basically the highest honor a trainer can have?"

"Eh, not really," he shrugged. "It's a pretty high-profile thing, but the prestige that came with it isn't as high as it used to be. You can get a fuck ton of resources for your Pokemon though, so that's a huge plus. And he gave him his first Pokemon. Lucas and Dawn too."

"Which are?"

"Piplup, Chimchar and Turtwig. Piplup went to Barry, Chimchar to Dawn and Turtwig to Lucas."

I let out a pensive hum. So he had the same starter as Louis did, then? I wondered how their strategies differed. Despite being the same species, no two Pokemon fought the same, especially at the hands of different trainers.

"Don't underestimate him," Denzel warned. "He's sharp, despite how he looks. I've seen a few of his battles, although I haven't checked in a while."

"I wasn't. I've heard about him too."

After all, he was one of the best first years along with Lauren and us.

"Isn't his father a member of the Battle Frontier? I heard he was one of the few people that had a Rhyperior. Not even Roark has one."

Denzel scratched his head. "Yeah. Never seen him though. He's very absent as fathers go, and it's a bit of a sour point."

"Oh. Yeah, I won't pry," I said.

"Did you know I was actually supposed to travel with Barry?" He continued. "After my mom held me back for a year, we started planning our journey together. I realized pretty quickly that we didn't mesh well and it would have been a disaster."

"Really? You seemed pretty friendly."

"Oh, we are," he chuckled. "It's just that spending a few hours of the day together already exhausted me. You saw how he is, right? That was actually a good day for him. I'm pretty sure he has undiagnosed ADHD. I think he'd rather be off doing his own stuff. Plus, I know myself, and I'd rather be in a group that's a little calmer."

"I get that," I said.

"You get that? Have you seen your team?"

"Have you seen yours? It's a literal romcom, dude," I laughed. "Although I guess Milotic won."

"Touché. He ended up leaving early in the summer to go check things with Professor Rowan with Lucas and Dawn and get his first Pokemon. Anyway, just another guy to watch out for added to the list," Denzel said. "Gives you goosebumps, huh?"

"It really does."

So many trainers to face, and these were only the first years. Even Lauren didn't have five badges yet, although I knew her battle was tomorrow. I wouldn't go to see it because I'd be busy training now that I was repurposing my strategy, but I'd probably look at the recording. A few minutes later, I split off from Denzel and looked up Barry as I walked. None of his Pokemon were what newer trainers would consider 'overpowered' (which was a trap many had fallen into, including me during my first fight against Cecilia). He kept it simple, although I couldn't help but notice his newest addition, a Munchlax.

"Empoleon, Staraptor, Roserade, Heracross, Rapidash…" I muttered. "Professor Rowan probably gave him the Shiny Stone for Roserade."

A simple team that he had pushed to excellence, and that Munchlax of his would grow to be a monster, if Craig's own Snorlax was anything to go by. They were deceptively quick and could take an incredible amount of hits. Taking one down was a whole ordeal in itself and would take an extensive amount of planning, at least for me.

His father, Palmer, was one of the best trainers in the world. Some said he was more powerful than the Elite Four, and apparently, his Rhyperior could collapse small mountains and his Dragonite was even faster than Cynthia's Garchomp. The problem with describing a Pokemon's power level this way was that I never knew if people were exaggerating or not. If I had to guess, there was probably a hint of truth to it.

With the amount of power that top-level trainers threw around, I wondered how the hell the League kept their barriers stable. Maybe they used ten Kadabra instead of one? Or fifty? The question simmered in my mind as I entered the Poketch Building.

—

"Actually, Mister Horn, That's a very interesting point. Do you mind elaborating further on that for the people at home—"

The television paused, interrupting Mallory's interview.

"Do you see how she jumps on anything that she thinks the person on her show doesn't know much about?" Melody asked. "That's why you've got to be as prepared as possible."

"I know, I know," I sighed.

"You know, but I can tell coming here's getting on your nerves. Even if the Poketch Company caters good relations with her network, there's only so much we can do to stop potential damage," she said. "All we can do is make her come at this interview in good faith and give you the questions. Don't worry about being perfect, just memorize the answers we came up with together."

"I feel the need to add that that politician in that interview went on to lose his election by eleven points when he'd been the frontrunner beforehand," Rene said.

"Rene. Not helping," Melody snapped. "Plus, you're omitting a lot of context. It wasn't the only thing that sunk his campaign, it was just the start of a series of scandals. Anway, we're done for today, Grace. We'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded. "Yep. I'm off to train. See you guys—"

"Wait, wait!" Gregory yelled, raising a hand as he typed on his laptop. "We've got a new question coming in from Mallory."

"I thought we sealed the deal on the questions," Melody frowned. "Read it to me."

"I know you're dating a Unovan, which begs the question. Have you heard of the Plasma Organization? [Explain if no]. What do you think about their message?" He read out.

"Plasma Organization? What's that?" I asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine, kid," he shrugged. "I can look it up."

"No need. I know what it is," Julia said. "Some fringe political group in Unova that's been demanding all Pokemon to be freed from trainers. It started up a few months ago and it's seen some growth, but not enough to rock the boat. Some of them ran for elections last November but they didn't get any seats. They're basically a ragtag group with very little funding."

Melody nodded. "They've got limited support of a few congressmen, Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius chief among them. He says that he doesn't exactly support their ideals, but he wants to lower the percentage threshold for the party to get in parliament from five percent to three percent because it'd be good for their democracy to have the people represented."

"Harmonia Gropius? Weird fucking name," Rene chuckled. "Leave it to Mallory to know about weird shit like this."

"He's a very respected Congressman and leader of the current opposition. People were freaking out when he didn't denounce the organization right away," Melody shrugged.

"Enough about politics, I hear enough about them at home already," Greg sighed. "Are we taking the question or not?"

Melody frowned, placing a hand on her chin. "I think we could take it, but our answer would be opposed to their message. I'll have to ask the higher-ups for permission. Unless you're against it?" She asked, turning to me.

"No, no, it's fine," I said. "Let me know tomorrow, okay?"

I bid them goodbye and left the building toward route 214 to train. Freeing every Pokemon from their trainers? That was such a radical message that I was surprised they were politically relevant at all. If I had to answer, I'd say I disagreed, but I certainly thought there could be some sort of middle ground. People like Bellatrix's trainer still existed and were rarely punished. I'd seen them a few times, like the pair we passed in Mount Coronet with a Wartortle, a Sawk and a Bibarel that were way too wounded to be out, and yet were still out of their Pokeballs and not being rushed to the Center. The rules were there, but the system was broken.

Now, I had no idea if it was the same in Unova or not, but the organization couldn't have formed in a vacuum. They seemed to be a much more human-centric region than Sinnoh, with their enormous cities that dwarfed ours and the routes being so safe.

Still, taking away all Pokemon from every trainer? So many bonds torn apart by the hand of the state? Just imagining my family being taken from me made my heart wrench.

Utter madness.