CHAPTER 221

There had been a few wake-up calls in my short career so far. When I fought Gardenia and realized that every Gym Battle was going to be an incredible hurdle to clear from there on out. When I'd caught Sunshine and found out that I could not just figure things out without consequences when plans fell through. When I realized sometime in Hearthome that there was simply no way I was going to win the Conference this year.

This was another one of those. Craig and Jasmine had gotten my full attention, and I was wide awake now, and so were my Pokemon. Sunshine's destructive power didn't look that powerful next to Typhlosion's continuous eruptions. All of their Pokemon were faster and stronger, but the trainers themselves were also better. The entire family had been in awe for the entire battle, each for different reasons.

Honey's high from learning Thunder had been stymied when watching Gyarados use a Thunderbolt packing a bigger punch than the move and with so many Zap Cannons thrown around. Sweetheart's uncontainable excitement when she'd seen Salamence, Gyarados and Steelix duke it out with their respective opponents. Princess' awe at Metagross masterful control of everything around themselves, and every other Pokemon as well. Typhlosion had controlled lava like it had been a part of her body.

What had fascinated Angel was how Eelektross had beaten a monster like Metagross through overwhelming determination, sticking to their body through her suction cups like a parasite and taking them down one attack at a time. Buddy had been impressed at all of that as well, but he'd been the only one leaving the battle with a sense of something lacking. Gyarados hadn't used that many water type attacks and there had been no ghosts involved, after all.

As for me?

There were numerous moves and techniques I was dying to know and learn about that had gone on during the battle.

"Good battle, Craig," Jasmine said with an outstretched hand.

The pale man gripped it tightly, shaking it. Jasmine didn't seem to care about the fact that he was so sweaty it was like he'd been in a storm.

"I'm wiped," he sighed. "Dot, could you bring us back to the hotel, please?"

The Orbeetle nodded, and after I recalled my Pokemon, we were back to Sunyshore as quickly as we'd left. Craig shambled to his bed and dropped on it like a log, mumbling something to Dot before passing out. I bit down on the thousands of questions I was going to ask and turned to Jasmine instead. She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"You look like you're dying for answers," she said.

"I am."

The Gym Leader turned toward the passed-out Craig and pursed her lips. "Let's leave him to it, then. You'll take care of him, Dot?"

If I must, the psychic type said. I have to drop the rest of the team to the Center as well. Feel free to be on your way.

I thanked Orbeetle again with a slight bow before we left, and we rode the luxurious elevator down while I texted Cecilia that I was back and that the battle had been super duper cool. She answered right away, as if she'd been waiting with her phone in hand the entire time, and I told her I'd talk to her about it this evening when we met. The elevator doors opened with a ding when we made our way through the hundreds of tourists and their luggage in the lobby.

"Want to go back to that bar?" Jasmine asked.

"Um… should you still be drinking?" I hesitated.

"Probably not," she shrugged. "But I'd like it. Maybe I'd talk more over a drink."

"Well, okay," I said after a short pause.

Jasmine grinned like she was the happiest woman in the world for an instant. I hadn't known she loved drinking so much, and I supposed she didn't want to do it alone. I tried to pester her for answers while on the boardwalk, but she kept telling me to have some patience in that same soft voice that made it impossible to get frustrated at her. On the way there, Jasmine passed by a Pokemon Center and gave away her six wounded Pokemon. She did have eleven in total, so five still remained around her waist. We both sat in a booth opposite each other this time, which I honestly preferred because my feet could actually touch the floor.

"Can I ask? Yeah?" I hungrily said.

Jasmine nodded as she called out to a waiter. When she turned back to me, she spoke, "You've got potential."

I frowned despite the pride I instantly felt swell in my chest. "How do you know? You've never seen me battle. Is it just the fact that I have five badges in my first year?"

"No, no. I don't even know what your team's like except for Turtonator," she shrugged. "It's your mindset. You just saw destruction that only a select number of people in the world have access to in the palm of their hands. We're known and tracked by every government. Even good old Galar and Unova, despite them espousing their rights. Do you know why?"

"Well, it's like you said, right?" I probed. "The power you hold is too dangerous to let you slip through the cracks."

"Correct. Only a few trainers at our level are off grid and off the radar. You wouldn't believe how much the Indigo League panicked when Red went missing," she smiled fondly. "But yes. Craig alone would be able to destroy a good chunk of Sunyshore before anyone could stop him. You saw it, and yet you push forward instead of worrying about what would happen if one of us went rogue. You smiled at every explosion, every display of power and destruction. Why?"

"Because I want that power for myself," I answered right away.

"One beer please," Jasmine said. "Amber."

I turned toward the waiter. "Cranberry juice, please."

Jasmine waited for the man to leave before she started speaking again. "It takes a special kind of person to see that and keep going. Trainers at the top, they're all a kind of unhinged, some more than others."

"I don't see how someone could call Craig unhinged," I muttered.

"That's because you don't know him well yet," Jasmine said. "It'll slip through at some point, but he's good at pretending to be normal. Notice how I called you unhinged and you didn't say anything? You don't care, right?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I mean, I do think you're wrong," I said. "I'm just a normal girl."

"Trust me when I say this, you will never meet a trainer at the top that's normal, and that's a fact."

"What about you?" I asked. "You know what, don't answer that."

Jasmine smirked. "Go ahead and ask your questions, but I can't guarantee I know the answer to all of Craig's tricks."

I beamed. "Yes! Okay, uh, I'd like to start with something that you did, actually. That invisible force pushing against Gyarados when you used Magnezone. What was it?"

"Magnetism. The same thing he did when stopping himself from being knocked away," Jasmine explained nonchalantly. "I see how confused you are already."

"Well, I'm working through a physics textbook right now and I don't think that should be… possible? I mean, he's no steel type."

"And yet it is. There are a lot of metallic content in a Pokemon like Gyarados. Hemoglobin and Ferritin, mostly. Magnezone can push and pull on those. It works a lot better on steel and electric types, obviously, but he can do it on a lot of others, including himself. Gyarados would have ended up breaking through anyway, though. There isn't enough magnetic material to hold him for long."

I licked my lips and furiously typed on my phone. This information could end up being useful against Byron.

"Uh, next I have something related to Craig," I said. "Typhlosion managed to stop Zap Cannon… using heat? Is that possible?"

Jasmine ignored my question and nearly snatched the beer out of the poor waiter's hand while he gently placed my juice down. She threw her head back and nearly downed half of the mug before she exhaled like she was in pure bliss.

"Jasmine?" I asked.

"Right. Sorry. It's a little trick trainers with powerful fire types love to use. Blaine loved it," she said with a fond smile. "I don't really know the specifics of it. It's not the heat that weakens the attack or just makes it miss completely, but a sudden change in atmospheric conditions. To be honest, it all sounds foreign to me."

"But could I potentially use it with Sunshine— my Turtonator?"

Jasmine shook her head. "Not hot enough. And even if you did reach the temperatures needed, you'd do it too slowly."

My lips went flat. "I'll keep a tab on it for future uses."

That had been a shame. I'd wanted to use the tactic against Volkner, but it looked like that would be impossible at our current level. I sipped on my cranberry juice and moved on to the next question.

"What the hell is a Miracle Eye?" I asked. "I couldn't even look at it."

"No one can. It's wrong," Jasmine explained. "It allows Metagross to peer through the world's veil and influence dark types and dark type energy with psychic moves."

"What about ghosts? Moves like Shadow Ball?" I continued as I typed.

"That too," she nodded. "It's a complicated move to learn. It took them five years to master, and they're Metagross. The smartest Pokemon there is."

So there was a way, I thought. Mira had told me about it recently, but I hadn't expected to see it so soon. The dark typing was not as infallible as it seemed when we were stranded in Shiftry's domain. Still, five years for Metagross? That meant it was off the table for the near future. There was a reason even Lucian didn't have access to it, I supposed. Otherwise he would have broken through Shiftry's domain without a problem. Or maybe he could do it, and Shiftry's domain had been too powerful? It was hard to know without asking the man himself.

"Eelektross melted Metagross' barrier with Acid. How is that even possible?" I asked. "I thought barriers were, well, they're a physical thing, but not really."

"That'd be a question better suited for Koga," Jasmine said. "But at its core, poison aims to ruin. It is insidious. A knife hidden in a cloak, ready to stab you in the back. And a dagger powerful enough can stab through anything. Even steel."

The frown on her face made me realize that there was probably some bias at play here. I would hold her to her word until Alakazam got further into his research. I kept speaking with Jasmine for another hour, asking her about the battle in great detail, but at some point she got so drunk that half her answers were nonsensical and she had her head down on the table. What I had gotten out of her was more valuable than gold, however, and I had her number. The biggest being that Honey would be able to mess with magnetism as he grew older and more powerful, especially when he evolved.

"Uh… what do I do now?" I muttered to myself.

"I want another beer!" Jasmine yelled, suddenly shooting up. She slurred her words and was barely coherent.

My friends had drunk before, but I'd never been with someone this drunk. Craig was wiped out from using mega evolution, Volkner was at work, and I had no idea if the two agents following her even knew where she was. I stared around awkwardly and realized I probably needed to drag her out of here and bring her…

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Wait, where the hell did she live?

"Jasmine. Psst, hey, Jasmine!" I heckled. It took ten seconds for her to pay attention to me.

The ashen-haired woman smiled at me. "Yeah?"

"I need to bring you home. Where do you live?"

"I live at Volkner's," she whispered. "You— you can bring me to his Gym. A Gym Trainer'll take care of me."

Well, at least she was lucid enough to understand the situation. I paid the tab and ignored Jasmine acting all embarrassed about having a kid pay for her or bring her back home. She didn't lean against me, but I did have to catch her a few times when she tripped over her own feet or a tiny ledge. Since the Gym was relatively far, I even had to pay for the bus fare, but I considered all of this worth it, especially when she'd given me a whole lot of information beforehand that I'd be able to use in numerous battles in the future.

It was my first time stepping inside of Volkner's Gym, and the stadium was actually smaller here than I was used to, and it had a thunder motif at the entrance and etched at the center of the carpet. The building's shape was generally the same— an oval-shaped building with the arena at its center. The Gym Trainers recognized Jasmine instantly and a buzz of activity started around the lobby.

"Um, I'll leave you here, okay?" I said as a pair approached us. "You rest up. Today was fun."

She mumbled something and slung an arm around a trainer's shoulder as they carried her to what I assumed was her room. We spoke for a little, and I explained the situation (minus the battle with Craig, since I assumed he wanted to keep that hidden). Apparently Jasmine was quite a heavy drinker and it wasn't the first time this happened, but she'd pulled back on alcohol recently, so this was actually not as bad as she usually got. It was one of the more positive aspects of her relationship with Volkner, since the man drank very little.

The Gym Trainers were quite friendly to me in a way that I hadn't expected. I'd honestly thought they would have been a lot angrier, but they were very appreciative that I'd brought her back safely. Maybe they'd put in a good word with Volkner?

I made my way back to the boardwalk and onto the private stretch of beach I had found, and I was happy to see that there was still no one in sight. Well, no one except a couple of Wingull that were resting there. It was late in the afternoon now and the sun would soon set. I released all of my Pokemon, who looked like they'd been dying to be let out.

"I'm sorry I couldn't let you out sooner, I was in a bar," I explained. "It was actually the second time today. That battle was… something, right? Let me explain how I even got to be there and catch you up on things."

I told them about randomly meeting Jasmine on the beach, since only Honey had seen her then, and also meeting her at the bar with Craig. Sunshine couldn't help but chime in that even though she was the steel type Gym Leader, she'd been challenging to beat when he'd been in Johto, and that of course had just been with Gym Pokemon and not her team.

"You saw that battle," I spoke as I paced in front of them. "You saw how powerful every single one of their Pokemon are. Now the question is, what can we do differently to reach that point faster?"

Training the way I was had worked for me this entire Circuit, but I felt like I'd grown complacent. All of the team agreed (even Buddy, who didn't care for battling), we needed to fight more people. The answer had been obvious. I called my friends rivals, and yet I only fought them once every few months.

That couldn't be the case any longer.

It wouldn't have to be full-fledged battles like the one I'd be doing with Denzel soon. Just doing it like Louis and Maeve were was perfect. A series of one-on-ones that pushed our Pokemon to the brink while we were in cities, over and over. Sunshine grumbled about the fact that he'd actually have to interact with more people and Buddy let out a slight sigh, but the rest of the team was excited about this new development.

And it all started with Lauren.

Who of course, hadn't answered me yet.

I sighed as I placed my phone back in my pocket. That was the first step. Complacency would be the end of me. I was under no illusion I would win at the end of the year, but I'd still give it my darndest to get as far as I could.

"Mira's busy with the psychics, Cece's training Erin and Louis and Maeve are battling each other, so I guess we're doing low-intensity training today," I said. "We don't want to ruin the beach for Jasmine when she comes back."

Of course, the training derailed and I started to nerd out about the battle with Princess and Sweetheart.

—

"It was so hot the air caught on fire and shone white?" Cecilia scoffed. "And you saw all of that? I'm so bitter."

It was evening now, and Cecilia had treated me to a nice, healthy meal. Now, we were back in her room and getting ready to sleep, but it was kind of impossible with the excitement of the battle still fresh in my mind.

"I'm telling you, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen!" I exclaimed. "It was— it was awesome! Every time I close my eyes, I see it all replay in my mind. Every single one of their Pokemon could take down six of ours without breaking a sweat. Oh, and I forgot tell you about that weird move Roxie used at the end. It was like she was engulfed in draconic flames, I had no idea what the hell that was and Jasmine doesn't either."

Cecilia drew a shaky, excited breath as she smiled and got up from the bed. "Maybe it's one of the new moves he was working on in Mount Coronet. I'd love to pick his brain about it."

"He'll never spill," I said. "I know he doesn't think much of us, but he'll still keep his techniques hidden for sure."

"Do me a favor, Grace. The next time you meet some incredibly powerful trainers that are about to battle, please call and take me."

I nodded. "Yeah, my bad, I just got so swept up in things. But what do you think about my idea? The battles?"

"I think it's good," she shrugged. "I'd have to stop them a few months before the Conference, though. Maybe after the seventh badge? I'd also want to keep things hidden."

"Oh, yeah, of course," I nodded. "You can join me and Lauren for the battles, I guess. I asked Chase about it and he said no. Mira doesn't care, and Denzel isn't here yet."

"He arrives in two days, right?"

"Yeah."

The day before my birthday, meaning that if everything went according to plan, our battle would be the day after the joint party. It'd be a shame if my Pokemon were all at the Center during the party, after all. They were family and I wanted them to be here too.

With all my planning against Volkner, I'd put the strategy against Denzel on the backburner a little, but I'd change that tomorrow. I joined Cecilia next to the open window and affectionately bumped her shoulder.

She turned toward me and smiled. "Could you recite the battle to me again? With an emphasis on the destruction this time?"

I chuckled. "You don't have to ask me twice. Craig sent out his Gyarados and Jasmine her Skarmory…"

—

It was my turn with Erin today, and she looked quite happy when I picked her up. Mira's psychics were still with her, but she was actually going to lend us Gardevoir today. I didn't know what exactly she was working on so intensely, but it was definitely substantial. After all, she hadn't seen Maeve and Louis that many times, and even Chase was surprised at the lack of contact. And this was all happening in her room, so I knew it couldn't be something destructive. Erin spoke to me about the clout New Wave had now, and that thanks to us, people were joining them in droves. She'd had to streamline the application process and she'd already gained fifteen new members since we'd arrived.

To think she and the others looked up to Cece and me that much. I was pretty sure she would have passed out if she'd witnessed the battle between Craig and Jasmine.

Gardevoir had already been waiting in front of the Center and Teleported us to route 214 right away. It was actually great that she was there, that way she could check up on Princess' progress with barriers.

"Okay, Erin. I'm actually going to have my Pokemon train here. I'm on a bit of a time crunch and I have an important battle in a few days," I told her. "Don't worry, they'll be a bit away from you. And there won't be anything involving lava."

"Lava? Oh. Oh. Did Cecilia tell you— oh, I'm sorry," Erin said with a slight dip of her head. "I was just worried. I mean, with that title—"

"No worries," I said. "You just keep working on what you know for now, and I'll be with you in a bit."

I released Princess first and let her go with Gardevoir after soothing her worries about Erin. I'd spoken about her, but it was their first time actually meeting. Erin called her cute, which assuaged her fears some. The fact that Princess had been that easily convinced forced me to restrain a laugh, and the flying type told me that she approved of this new friend.

The rest of the team knew what they had to work on. Buddy was on the cusp of mastering Water Spout, while Low Kick and Screech were already dealt with. Now, it was just a matter of actually getting them to a more powerful level. Now that Sweetheart knew how to draw upon Dragon Pulse, she'd moved on to Stone Edge, but it would be a bit for her to learn the move when the closest thing she had to work with was Rock Slide. She essentially needed to combine the control she had over Rock Slide with Smack Down's incredible speed. Angel, meanwhile, was still working on Solar Beam. Drawing upon the sun was one thing, but concentrating all of that power into one giant laser was another. I was sure he'd get there for Volkner's Gym Battle, but probably not for the fight with Denzel.

Needless to say, Erin was immediately terrified of Buddy. Sat's hair stood on end as she hissed at him while Comet ground his teeth together to create a cute, threatening sound. Of course, Buddy ignored them and moved onto his training. I did ask him not to do his usual shapeless horror thing in front of her.

I was a little way away now, and I unclipped Sunshine's Pokeball from my belt. When I released him, he did not hesitate to let his disappointment be heard. He seemed to love the beach very much, even if he relentlessly trash-talked it every time we were here. It was the closest thing that reminded him of Alola, no doubt.

"You ready to start?" I asked.

His expression grew serious and he instantly agreed. We both knew what we were here to do. We were attempting to have him fly— or at least jump in the air for a few seconds. If we solved his mobility issues, he'd be a huge threat on the battlefield.

"Give it your best try right now," I said. "I'll take cover— actually, that's stupid. I'll just stand really far."

The dragon disagreed and told me it'd be best to have Princess raise a wall for me. He wasn't worried about the temperature as much as the debris the Shell Trap would cause.

"I can't see how you're moving if I have a wall in front of me," I sighed. "But fine, if you're so worried. I'll have Princess take a little break and create a barrier instead. Princess!"

Gardevoir frowned at me from afar for interrupting Togetic's focus, but she was too far to speak into my mind. I apologetically raised a hand at her and Princess quickly floated toward me.

"Sunshine's going to use Shell Trap in an attempt to move himself around. I'd like a barrier, please."

The fairy type acquiesced right away and wished Sunshine good luck. The dragon thanked her under his breath, and it was at times like these that I could appreciate how close they'd gotten.

Turtonator's shell glowed with a sinister red, then his tail shone bright white as he slammed it against himself. The subsequent explosion was as impressive as always. Even after seeing Jasmine and Craig battle, I could appreciate the power my family brought to the table. Chunks of rocks flew and slammed against Princess' barrier and I felt hot wind slam into my face.

And I facepalmed as I heard Erin scream in the background. I had told her no lava, but I hadn't told her about explosions.

"What the hell was that?!" She yelled.

"Sorry about that, Erin! It's just a Shell Trap, don't worry about it!"

I returned my attention to Sunshine and noticed that the wind had been less hot than I'd expected. I patted Princess on the back and congratulated her on her progress with barriers.

My eyes had been on Sunshine's feet, and he'd only slid around a foot. A far cry from the flight we'd been hoping to achieve like that old arch-rival of his on Mount Wela. Normally, he would steady and square himself in order not to slide, but since he'd been trying to move, he wasn't doing so.

"That was a good first attempt—"

Sunshine interrupted with a grunt and told me not to patronize him. This was where he'd been stuck at for the last two years.

"I'm serious. It's a good base to build up from. We'll figure it out," I said, approaching to pat him on the arm.

Turtonator's shell was angled slightly downward, so the force from the explosion pushed him against the ground. There was also the fact that the explosion itself could be more powerful, but it would damage his shell, so we needed to make his shell more sturdy if we took that angle. Iron Defense was a way of doing that, and he knew the move, but that would weigh him down way too much.

"Let's start by angling yourself more toward the sky," I said. "Princess, another barrier please—"

"Grace! Grace help!"

My head spun toward Erin so quickly my neck hurt, but I remembered that Gardevoir was here and that she was in no danger. I ran up to her with Princess while Sunshine complained about wasting time and saw what she'd been screaming at.

I couldn't tell her he was harmless, or I would have given her a headache, Gardevoir said.

"No problem. This is what you're screaming about?" I sighed. "He's a little cutie."

I crouched, ignoring Comet and Sat's worried selves and held out a hand toward the Pokemon in front of us. He was only three feet tall and walked around like he was drunk all the time. I didn't know much about Spinda, but it was true what they said about their eyes. They really did look like they'd been drawn on there with permanent marker, and if I stared for too long it looked like they were spinning.

"He just wants to say hi," I said. "Look. Come here."

Erin blinked. "Are you— are you sure?"

"Erin, I'm literally petting him right now."

Angel had joined us and was rubbing the little guy's head with a few vines, and Erin finally did the same. Her hand had been trembling at first, but she was smiling from ear to ear soon enough.

"He likes you," I said.

"How do you know?" Erin asked.

"I can tell."

Not only just because of Mesprit's blessing, but also because the normal type kept holding onto Erin's sleeves anytime she stopped touching him. He was rather young, if I had to guess. Maybe Honey's age? Spinda stumbled forward and grabbed onto Erin's leg, and her Bidoof seemed to now trust him while Sat just stared with an ample amount of suspicion. I could almost hear her silent disapproval.

"Why don't you catch him? Would you like that, Spinda?"

Spinda answered with a small grunt. Even his voice sounded… swirly, somehow. I turned to Honey and remembered our first encounter fondly. It was almost a mirror of what had happened back then, except he'd been louder and more bombastic.

"I've never actually caught a wild Pokemon before," Erin muttered as she grabbed an empty Pokeball. "This is so exciting. It's like I'm the real deal, now. Are you ready?"

Spinda nodded, although due to how much he moved all the times it was barely recognizable. Erin tapped the normal type's head with the Pokeball and he was absorbed into the device, which dinged instantly.

"I wonder what his deal is," Erin said. "I didn't know wild Pokemon just did that."

"Learn to know him, and one day he might tell you why," I said. "Why don't you release him, and you two can start bonding? Oh, and by the way, do you want to come to Cece and I's birthday party?"

"W—what? The one with all of your famous friends?"

"Yeah. You're lending us your club building, and we're friends, so I thought it'd be nice," I said. "Why don't you come over? Meet the others?"

Erin drew a short breath. "Yes! Sure! I'll be there! I'll even be an hour early! Do you need cookies? Because I can help my mom make some! What about the cake? And what sort of gift would you both like?!"

Of course, I answered each question right away and we kept speaking until she froze and teared up. Sat and Comet began to hiss, but their bravado melted away in seconds.

When I turned around, Sunshine was looming over me with flames in his snout.

"Sorry, he just does that sometimes," I said. "Stop it. How did you even get here without me noticing?"

The dragon huffed and told me to get a move on.

"Sorry, Erin," I smiled. "Duty calls."