INTERLUDE - Preparations

Justin watched in awe as the weather above Gardenia’s gym— far in the distance— became overcast. He couldn’t see the individual raindrops, but he knew that it’d be raining, or at least that was what Louis’ informant had told him. He felt bad about skirting around the learning process that so many trainers seemed to go through religiously, but his heart just wasn’t in it. Louis’ father always paid people who already knew the ins and outs of the gym leader’s strategy and then tell them about it. It was a rather lucrative job that older, more experienced trainers tended to do. After all, the evolutionary stones, supplementary vitamins, and powerful TMs that were needed to thrive at the top wouldn’t buy themselves.

The teen shrugged and walked off toward route 205. Alas, even with an informant, he still needed to train, even though he somewhat disliked doing it. Watching his Pokemon practice their moves over and over was dull, but he couldn’t afford to lose. Plus, there was his Lotad to think about. The water type couldn’t move very well due to the overgrown leaf it carried, and it seldom listened to his orders. It was Justin’s first time having to train a Pokemon from scratch. Growlithe had been his family’s, but his father allowed him to take the fire type with him for the journey. The old canine was loyal and was the Pokemon he tended to use the most. Sandile had already been trained and was used to humans thanks to the breeders his father had bought it from. It was a little lazy, and it hated Sinnoh’s cold temperatures. His species was native to the hot deserts of Unova, so he couldn’t exactly blame him.

Justin sighed and released his team. Growlithe immediately barked and sat obediently. Sandile let out a lazy growl and blinked a few times, and Lotad croaked as he stumbled through the grassy terrain.

“It’s time to train,” He started. “I’d like to use mostly you and Lotad for the gym battle, but Sandile might see some action as well,” Justin finished, pointing at Growlithe.

He half-heartedly asked them to practice their moves. Growlithe would work on Fire Fang and Ember, and Sandile would need to improve the strength of his Bite. Justin scanned Lotad with his new Pokedex again, since he couldn’t remember his moves.

“Mega Drain, Water Gun, Growl, Astonish, Absorb, and Bubblebeam,” Justin recited. “You won’t be able to dish out that much damage, but you should be able to resist at least some of her grass type moves.”

A day had passed since the group reached Eterna city, and his gym battle was in eight days, as was everyone else’s except Grace and Denzel, who rushed to sign up while they were at the airport and checking in at their hotel. The young trainer wondered if it would be enough to win. From what their informant had told them, Gardenia was a surprisingly tough gym leader. That was for two reasons. Now that they all had a badge, gym leaders tended to hold back less, and Gardenia was apparently among the strongest of the new generation of gym leaders along with Volkner.

Justin quite liked battling, but not to the extent that he’d need to work this hard to get a win. He preferred the more casual approach that the group had had back in Jubilife, before setting off on their journey through the Circuit, but now, it seemed that only he and Emilia just couldn’t get their heart into being a trainer. The others were passionate, with their eyes full of life every time they spoke of the sport. He clasped at his coat.

Why couldn’t he be like them?

Justin’s passion lay in business. He dreamed of taking over Pherzen, his father’s company. There were so many avenues that his dad could use to improve the company’s profits, influence, and interregional reach, starting with getting involved in human medicine. Of course, the company sold some products intended for human use, but they could be doing so much more. Justin believed that Pherzen’s scientists could push the limits of human medicine and make healing human wounds and diseases just as easy as healing Pokemon, but his father kept saying that it was too dangerous. He was stuck in the past.

Now all Justin needed was to go through the Circuit twice, and he would be primed to take over the company once his father retired. He would endeavor to usher humanity into a new golden age. Cancer, Alzheimer’s, limb regeneration using Ditto cells. These weren’t theories. They were already proven to work. All they needed to do was finetune the process and get through human trials. If Pherzen wasn’t going to patent these technologies first, another company would, and they would become a major competitor.

But he was getting ahead of himself. There was no point in dreaming about the future if he couldn’t make it through the present.

“Lotad, please,” He groaned. “I asked for a Bubblebeam, not a Water Gun.”

The boy placed his hands over his face and groaned again. Maybe this was a waste of time, and he would be better off counting on Growlithe for everything, which was what he had done with Roark by using Sandile. He wanted a Lotad, but this one seemed to be very uncooperative.

Justin was about to give up and call it a day when an idea popped into his head. Why not call someone for help? Surely one of his friends would be available, although he wouldn’t call Emi, since she shared his same distaste for training Pokemon.

He dialed Pauline’s number into his Poketch and was surprised when she picked up immediately.

“Justin, not now. I’m busy,” Pauline said with her usual snark.

“Sorry, I was just wondering if—”

Ah. She hung up on him. Well, Pauline had always been like this, so he paid it no mind. Justin called Cecilia next. She took a while to answer, but after a few rings, she picked up.

“Cece! I was wondering if you could help me. I have issues with my Lotad, and I’m in need of some training guidance,” Justin said.

“Have you tried beating it in a battle?” She asked.

“Wait, what?”

“You need to win until it respects you.”

Justin stared at Lotad, who used Bubblebeam and was blown away by the force of the attack. He was stuck on his lilypad, with his six legs wriggling in the air.

“Tad!” He croaked in panic.

Justin sighed and helped the poor water type get back on his feet. “I don’t think respect is the problem here,” He said. “I think I need a softer approach.”

“Well, that isn’t how I do things, so I’m afraid I won’t be of any help,” She said with a saddened tone. “Maybe try someone else?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Justin smiled. “Thank you for your time.”

So Cecilia wasn’t going to work either. He wanted to call Louis, but the truth was that even if he liked him as a friend, Louis could get very irritating when explaining something. Plus, he still struggled with his Gible, so the boy probably wouldn’t be the best to take advice from.

“Alright,” Justin sighed. “Denzel it is.”

The Poketch rang a few times, but no one answered. Justin called another two times, but he didn’t want to bother his friend. For all he knew, Denzel could be deep in a training session after all. That left Grace.

“Justin?” She said in her familiar high-pitched voice.

“Grace, I hope I’m not bothering you. I might need some help to train my Lotad and get him up to speed.”

Justin heard a small yell that he recognized as Elekid.

“What’s up with you?” She told the Pokemon. “I’ll be right there, just hold on a sec,” She told Justin. He waited for a few seconds before Grace spoke up again. “I’m training on route 211 right now, but if you’re willing to come, I’ll help you out.”

“Oh, truly?” Justin smiled. He originally had just wanted advice, but him being with her would probably make the process easier. “I’ll be there. Where exactly on route 211?”

——

Justin watched as the small blonde girl waved at him from afar. It was his first time on this route, and he already hated it. The uneven, rocky ground made it a pain to walk through, and the wild Pokemon here weren’t scared of walking up to him due to their curiosity and being used to humans, since they lived so close to a city. She was surrounded by her Pokemon. Justin swallowed as Frillish glared at him behind her with that usual sinister look the water type always had. Tangela had so many of his vines wrapped around her right leg and arm going under her sleeves that it made him shiver. Elekid was at her side, working on some kind of punching attack, and Togetic lazily had her neck over her shoulder as she pet her head.

It still surprised him, how close Grace was to her Pokemon. It was a connection he had rarely seen in most trainers. The only ones that came even close were Denzel’s Eevee and Cece’s Fletchinder, but Grace was intimate with her entire team. Even the Tangela she had caught relatively recently.

“So where’s the little Lotad?” The blonde girl said, getting straight to the point. “My Pokemon are on a break right now, so I’ll help you out.”

Justin nodded and released the water type, who stared at Grace and her team before looking back at him.

“I’ve been trying to get him to use his moves correctly, but he won’t listen,” Justin said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

Grace frowned. “Well, first of all, let’s not be rude, alright? He’s trying his best.” She walked forward as Tangela unwrapped his vines around her before crouching next to Lotad. “Hey, little guy. Think we can work together today?”

Lotad let out a slight croak.

“Sounds good,” She beamed, before looking at Justin. “What moves is he struggling with?”

“Mostly differentiating Bubblebeam and Water Gun,” Justin sighed. “But there’s also the fact that he can’t walk very well.”

“Well, he’s an aquatic Pokemon, so that’s a given. C’mere bud,” Grace said, beckoning her Frillish. His eyes stayed on Justin the entire time. “Mind helping out Lotad here? You know Bubblebeam, and I’m sure you’re good enough to make some bootleg version of Water Gun.”

“Fri…”

“No? Not for me?” She said, pouting.

Justin watched in awe and confusion. This girl seemed to understand what her Pokemon was saying, and was having a full-blown conversation with it. It usually took months for a trainer to get that good at reading their Pokemon, and Justin still struggled with Growlithe, who he had owned for years. Eventually, she managed to convince the ghost type to help Lotad, and she sent him off with a pat on the back.

“Thanks, Frillish! You’re the best!” The girl smiled. The water type turned and glared at her, and Justin flinched. “Aw, you’re so cute when you’re mad. Isn’t he the cutest?” She asked him.

“I don’t know about that…” Justin said, adjusting his collar.

“Eh, he grows on you,” Grace shrugged. “Now for the walking part, you can probably fix some of that by your battle, but does Lotad even have to walk?”

“What do you mean?” Justin frowned.

“Did you forget? Every gym arena has a pond for water types to fight in. You can just release Lotad in there during your battle, and he’s much more used to moving in water than on land.”

Justin slapped his forehead. How could he have forgotten such a crucial detail? Grace spent the rest of her break giving him advice on how to tackle the fight while Lotad was training with Frillish.

“Your Sandile, for example,” She started. “They can travel underground really well, right?”

“Correct. It’s like swimming through water for them.”

“Then he’s probably your strongest,” Grace quickly continued. “There aren’t many of Gardenia’s Pokemon that can counter Dig, and some members of her team have the poison typing. That means you’ll probably have to lead with Lotad to bait out one of her poison types to lock her into using at least one. That way, you’ll be getting as much leverage as possible from your Sandile. You could also try to bait out two of her poison types by recalling Lotad mid-battle and keeping it at the back of her mind and saving Sandile for last, but that’s a risker strategy, so that’s honestly up to you. So you’ll want Growlithe as your all-rounder to fall back on, Lotad as your bait and pivot, and Sandile as your ace…”

Justin’s mind swam. She was giving him more information than the actual informant that Louis had paid tens of thousands of Pokedollars for free. Grace’s green eyes were full of passion as she basically created a strategy for him to use. It was honestly scary.

“...and yeah, that should be it, but you’ll have to alter the way you tackle the fight depending on what Pokemon she uses, but I’m still studying that,” She said. “And hey, it looks like Lotad’s already done. He’s pretty smart.”

The boy looked as Lotad alternated between Bubblebeam and Water Gun, closely following Frillish’s example. He gave her a shaky nod and thanked her for the help.

Grace Pastel was overwhelming. Behind that small frame and unassuming voice was a monster that loved battling more than anything. Justin had no doubt now she was just as good of a trainer as Cecilia was, although she was probably still lacking in raw strength. Seeing her work this hard was inspiring, but it didn’t suddenly ignite an innate passion for Pokemon battling. He was still committed to his ambitions with Pherzen.

It did make him want to try a little harder, though.

——

Pauline tapped her foot repeatedly against the floor of her hotel room as she browsed the internet for interesting Pokemon to catch on route 205 and route 211. Down south was the Cycling Road, and there were no Pokemon on it, so that only left two routes as options. None of these Pokemon were catching her eye.

“Machop, Starly, Ponyta, Teddiursa… Arceus, all of these are garbage!” She yelled out.

On one hand, she didn’t want to admit defeat and get a Pokemon sent to her like Louis was. On the other, she wasn’t confident enough to be sure that she could beat Gardenia in a two-on-three. Charmeleon had the firepower to beat most of what she would throw at her, and Gothita would hold her own, but that fucking informant had instilled doubt into her.

Not that she would admit that to anyone. The King family valued strength above all, and admitting her inner doubts would be a sign of weakness. Suddenly, her Poketch rang. She clicked her tongue and picked it up.

“Justin, not now. I’m busy,” Pauline said, rolling her eyes.

“Sorry, I was just wondering if—”

She hung up and threw the device on her bed. After looking for a few more minutes, the redhead groaned.

“Whatever, I give up. I’ll try the fight with Charmeleon and Gothita,” Pauline told herself.

She started dressing up to go and train, but her phone rang again. She swore, answering right away.

“Justin, I thought I told you not now,” She yelled.

“What a rude way to greet your own mother.”

Pauline’s eyes widened. “Mommy? What do you want?”

“Can’t a concerned mother check up on her beloved daughter once in a while?” She asked with a humorous tone.

Pauline huffed. Her mother and her had never bothered with these pretenses of love and affection. She raised her well, and they sometimes lived in the same mansion, but that was it.

“Come on, mommy,” Pauline said, twirling her hair. “I know you fucking want something. Stop wasting my time and spill before I hang up.”

Her mother laughed. “I want two things, actually. First, it has come to my attention that you have completely abandoned the mission I gave you at the start of your journey.”

For the first time, Pauline’s confidence faltered. “How do you know about that?”

“Spies, my dear,” Her mother simply answered.

“You’re spying on me?!” The teenager yelled. “Fuck you.”

“We are all spying. Our pockets run deep, and trainers tend to be desperate for money. That informant Louis Bianchi paid? He was one of mine. Once again, you are outwitted. Take it as a valuable lesson.”

“So all of our parents are paying trainers to spy on us?”

“Why did you abandon your mission?” The woman said, ignoring her question. “Answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”

Pauline waited a few seconds, then sighed. “I just couldn’t do it. I was on board at first, but Louis was too insufferable, and then much to my chagrin, I started to actually befriend him. I’m not that cruel.”

“And now our only hope to stop the marriage from within has been blown to smithereens,” Her mother said disappointingly. “You didn’t have to date him. All you had to do was seduce him once and expose him. The boy is as naive and dumb as a bag of rocks. He thinks he is doing as he pleases, but his father controls him like a puppet.”

“I couldn’t do that to my friends,” Pauline said, standing her ground.

“I respect that choice. It takes real strength to go against the current and to make your own decisions. Still, when the Obel Energy Company and the Bianchi Conglomerate merge, nothing will stand between them and unlimited riches, power, and influence. Are you saying your friendships are more important than that?” She asked.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Pauline said firmly. “Now answer my fucking question, mommy.”

“Your question actually has to do with the second thing I called you for today,” Her mother started. “Your two new commoner friends. I advise you to cease contact with them immediately.”

“Grace and Denzel? Why, because it pisses Harvey and Clarence off? I don’t care about that,” Pauline said. “And I honestly thought you’d have my back on that,” She continued, feeling a pang of sadness.

“I don’t think you realize the power these two wield and the danger these two are in. I am not telling you to cease contact because I care who you befriend, I am saying it to protect them.”

“They wouldn’t go that far. You said it was just spying, not anything illegal,” The trainer said with a twinge of nervousness. “Plus, the amount of negative press it would attract—”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“They won’t go that far yet, but when they do, I will be powerless to stop it. And enough about the press,” Her mother quipped. “I raised you better than a naive girl. The police’s silence can be bought, and so can the way the press covers a story.”

“So you’re saying they’ll murder them?” She asked.

“They might do something far worse than that,” Her mother warned.

Pauline pressed her head against her hand worriedly. She had hated Grace at first. The way she had beaten her in that battle during Floaroma’s tournament got on her nerves, and the way she wormed her way into their group through Cecilia had irritated her too. Pauline had been the only one to oppose her and Denzel’s addition to the group. She had been more neutral on Denzel, but that neutrality had aired on the side of dislike.

That had been before.

Now? Pauline thought the two to be good friends, even though they disagreed on a lot, and Denzel was always someone they could rely upon, especially in difficult times. Plus, he was funny, although she would never admit it to his face.

Her answer was already set.

“Mommy?” She said.

“Yes?”

“Tell Harvey and Clarence to fuck off the next time you see them. Tell them it was from me,” She grinned.

Her mother laughed. “Another hard choice made. Now I just hope you can live with the consequences,” She said before sighing. “I’ll do what I can to delay a response from them as long as possible, but be careful about the spying. Don’t take any new trainers into your group.”

“Obviously, I won’t, I wouldn’t just befriend anyone.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Her mother said. “I love you, Pauline.”

The redhead’s eyes widened, and she felt a sudden rush of emotion. Her mother almost never said those words to her, which made her realize how serious the situation was. She would need to warn the others soon, but first, she wanted to let them rest without worry for a week or two. Especially Emi.

“I love you too, mommy,” She sniffled, allowing herself a rare moment of weakness. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too. I’ll be busy for a few weeks, but why don’t I visit you when you get to Hearthome…”

Pauline beamed. No matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise, she was a mommy’s girl at heart.

——

Louis fiddled in anticipation. His Vulpix was about to be hand delivered by one of his Breeder’s employees. She was apparently a spectacular specimen, born to two Ninetales, which meant that her power would already be at incredible levels, and her potential for growth was sky-high. Any minute now, he would hear the knock on his hotel door—

There it was!

Louis rushed to the entrance, which took quite a while due to the size of the hotel room. They all rented a different penthouse to live in during their stay in Eterna city.

“Finally,” He said before opening the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Bianchi,” The junior breeder said before grabbing a Luxury ball from a fancy glass container. “There she is,” He smiled.

“Thank you. Ah, let me write you a tip.”

Louis hurriedly grabbed his checkbook from his bag and gave the breeder 130,000 Pokedollars. His eyes bulged before he thanked him profusely.

“Thank you so much! I don’t know how to— how to repay this kindness.”

“Just keep breeding fantastic Pokemon, and that’ll be enough,” Louis smiled.

The breeder left after thanking him again a few times. Louis excitedly released his Vulpix. The red fox stared at him with a curious intensity, but other than that, she was docile. She would at least be easier than Gible. No matter how hard Louis tried, he couldn’t get the Dragon type to listen to him. It disappointed him to no end.

He grabbed his Pokedex and scanned Vulpix.

Vulpix, the fox Pokemon. At the time of its birth, Vulpix has one white tail. The tail separates into six if this Pokémon receives plenty of love from its Trainer. The six tails become magnificently curled. Inside Vulpix’s body burns a flame that never goes out. During the daytime, when the temperatures rise, this Pokémon releases flames from its mouth to prevent its body from growing too hot.

Type: Fire

Moves: Ember, Tail Whip, Disable, Will-O-Wisp, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, Quick Attack, Incinerate, Hypnosis, Flame Charge (click for more information)

Ability: Drought (click for more information)

The trainer couldn’t help but let out an excited yell when he saw all the moves that Vulpix had available already. Not only did she have incredibly powerful moves, she could also harass the enemy with status effects. Such wonderful versatility!

His eyes settled on the ability, which he clicked on since he had never seen it before.

Drought: The sunlight turns harsh when the Pokemon is in battle.

“Arceus!” He screamed in excitement.

“Pix!” The fire type yelled back.

That would be a crucial ability to tackle Gardenia’s mastery of the weather. Without Rain Dance, it would be impossible for her to stop fire type attacks. He had stuck gold with this purchase.

Still, he wouldn’t grow overconfident. Louis knew his Pokemon were the strongest, but his informant had greatly stymied that feeling. He needed to train to be sure to beat Gardenia.

“Let’s see what you can do, Vulpix,” He said, staring at her.

Hours later, Louis had never felt more elated. Vulpix was obedient and as powerful as he had hoped. She crushed any trainer or wild Pokemon that stood in her way. Maybe with her and Prinplup combined, he’d be able to finally get Gible under control as Cece had done with Deino.

Louis sighed when he thought about Cecilia. When his father had told him months ago that he was set to marry a fifteen-year-old girl, he had vehemently refused. It had been the first time Louis had opposed his father so strongly on anything. He had just turned eighteen. He didn’t want his life to be controlled by his father any longer.

But then he saw her for the first time.

And he immediately fell in love. It consumed his entire being. Louis had never been this love-struck so strongly by anyone before. Sure, he dated some girls before, but the relationships never lasted more than a few months. And then what was worse, is that he actually enjoyed talking to her! She took a while to open up, but when she did, oh Arceus, it made his love for her grow past mere physical attraction.

And yet… these days, he didn’t speak to Cece that much. Ever since that day at the outpost, when she caught him speaking to Amy. Since she was Cecilia’s best friend, he hadn’t thought she would react so negatively. She never explicitly stated it, but Louis was sure that Cece thought he was cheating on her. How else could he explain this sudden aversion to him?

And yet he never cheated! All Amy wanted from him was to know how Cece was doing, or who Grace and Denzel were. Louis thought it to be a mere background check from a worried friend. He too, had not trusted the two new members of the group when they first started traveling with them, but he had grown to like them.

“Hah…” He sighed. “I was in such a good mood earlier today, and now look at me.”

He grabbed his Poketch, and his thumb hovered over Cece’s number. His hand trembled for a bit before he resigned. There was no point in calling her. She was still angry with him. The trainer wallowed in self-pity for a bit until he got an idea. It was already nighttime, so surely Grace wouldn’t be busy, and she would be open to giving him advice. She had grown remarkably close to Cece in little time, so surely she would know how to get Louis back in her good books.

“Hello?” He heard her say.

“Ah, Grace, I had something to ask you,” Louis started, suddenly not knowing how to raise the question. He decided to be straightforward. “Has Cece talked about me at all recently?”

“Huh? A little, yeah,” She replied absent-mindedly. Louis thought he could hear a faint video in the background.

“Great!” Louis exclaimed. “I was wondering if you were open to giving me advice to fix things with her. As I told you back in Eterna forest, I didn’t cheat on her—”

“Uh, I’m actually studying right now, sorry,” She apologized.

“Studying?”

“Gardenia’s battles. But I’ll give you this. Cece knows you didn’t cheat on her. She’s known all along, and she’s mad at you for a different reason. Try to figure it out on your own and apologize to her when you do.”

Louis breathed a sigh of relief. “So the relationship is at least fixable, you think?”

Grace sighed. “Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know,” She said. “Hey, I’m going to hang up. Sorry I couldn’t help you, I really am.”

“No! You’ve been a great help already. Um, good luck in your studies?”

“Thanks,” Grace said before hanging up.

“That’s one piece of the puzzle solved,” Louis said before sighing. “Women.”

——

“Buneary, Fire Punch!” Denzel ordered. “Eevee, Detect!”

“Bun!” The normal type acquiesced before lowering herself. She rubbed her ears together so fast they become a blur, and then one of them burst into flames. She launched the attack toward Eevee, but the fire quickly dissipated.

Eevee paid it no mind and waited until the last second before he moved impossibly fast to dodge the quick jab.

Denzel smiled. “Good attempt. Let’s go again.”

He’d been very delighted when he learned that Buneary could learn Fire Punch. It had been a headache to get started on the move, but he figured out that if she rubbed the fluffy part of her ears incredibly fast, it created enough static electricity to get them to burst into flames. Eventually, he hoped the Buneary would be able to use the move without the trick, but they all had to start somewhere.

For Eevee, he was working on teaching him Detect. Gardenia’s long-ranged moves were incredibly fast and accurate, so Denzel wouldn’t mind having something to fall back on if Eevee needed to be faster than Quick Attack. Unfortunately, the move was extremely draining, meaning that when Eevee actually perfected it, he would only be able to use it a few times in battle.

Budew was off doing her own thing. She was jealous that Buneary was hogging Eevee’s attention, but at least she was training Bullet Seed’s speed, and her newly acquired move, Mega Drain. She would be the last one he would fall back on anyway.

Feebas wasn’t able to come out during training, but Denzel was under no delusion that he’d be able to use him in battle if Gardenia decided to screw him and fight four-on-four.

He felt his hands tremble and hurriedly clenched and unclenched them. The information he had scooped up through the forums and her battle videos were extremely worrying. Gardenia was a long-distance fighter who liked to drag battles long enough until she won.

That meant she was Eevee’s exact counter. Sure, Denzel’s starter was reputable for his endurance, but he doubted that he could keep a battle going for fifteen minutes. It was in times like these that he couldn’t help but feel inferior.

Denzel had no doubt that he was among the weakest trainers in the group. It hurt to think about, but he buried it and learned to deal with it. But when he saw Grace beat Chase so convincingly… something broke inside of him. Questions wormed themselves into his mind.

Could I have beaten Chase at that moment?

The honest answer was no. Grace was progressing so fast that she was leaving him behind. Still, he wasn’t angry with her or anything. She was his best friend, and he was happy for her so he learned to deal with it.

Denzel winced as Buneary’s Fire Punch dissipated again.

“Try again,” He said in a fake upbeat tone.

Denzel had learned to deal with it, but he had also learned to mask what he was thinking. He was the group’s comic relief. He joked around, bantered, and he liked doing that. He just wasn’t in that mood twenty-four-seven like he acted he was, but it was the only way he had managed to hide his problem. Luckily for him, Grace hadn’t noticed. They had already dealt with this situation on the way to Oreburgh, where his silly issues almost got her killed, so there was no point talking about it again.

And these issues were stupid. Completely mundane and irrelevant. Grace had been kidnapped by team Galactic and almost tortured by Mars, who was now looking for her. Cecilia’s father was an abusive prick who treated her like an object he could control, and yet they progressed all the same, faster than he could ever hope to.

What did he have?

He was angry about how slow he was improving.

That was it.

And yet he felt the weight of it all the same. It pressed on his shoulders like a ton of bricks, always present. Always distracting him, and no matter how much he tried to deal with it like he had learned, the thoughts kept coming back.

“Try again,” Denzel told Buneary. The normal type nodded fiercely and his stare lingered on the discolored patch of skin on her ear. Her scar. Denzel had explained the concept of gym battles to Buneary, and he could tell the normal type was anxious. To go from living in a forest to fighting in a place packed to the brim with humans? It was understandable.

If Buneary was going to push through, Denzel would bring himself to do so as well. He suddenly felt his Poketch vibrate and saw that Justin was calling, but Denzel couldn’t bring himself to answer.

Denzel’s dream was looking more distant than ever.

And he would deal with that shitty feeling just like he learned to deal with everything else.

——

Emilia stared at the huge red eye, who looked back at her intently. Aipom stood on her head, and Rockruff was sleeping on a pillow at the foot of her bed.

“Why won’t you speak to me?” She asked Beldum. The huge metallic Pokemon only let out a grinding sound to answer. “I wish I could understand you.”

Emilia Lussier wasn’t nervous about her incoming gym battle. That was how little she cared for Pokemon battling. This fate had been forced on her by her parents, and to her, it was like a prison sentence. She liked her Pokemon, but battling? She found the practice to be barbaric. The only fun she ever had during this journey was when she and her friends stayed in a city and went on different activities together, but they were all training.

There was nothing to do.

“Beldum, please!” She said, a little louder. She brought her hand to the cold metallic surface. “Is it me? Am I too much of a coward for you to speak to me?!”

“Ai!” Aipom yelled out worriedly.

Emilia’s hand slumped away from Beldum. “Sorry.”

Aipom and Rockruff were gifts her parents had given her for her twelfth and fourteenth birthdays respectively. That was the thing with her parents. They always showered her with gifts and then ordered her around like she was a lackey. As if that was an equivalent exchange! Still, she had learned to love her Pokemon, which was why Beldum’s deafening silence hurt her so much.

She wanted to call Pauline, but Emilia didn’t want to rely on her best friend too much. Pauline had always been there to defend her from bullies at parties or events, and now she was the main thing that kept her going through the hell that was known as the Circuit.

“There’s a Pokemon contest a few days after her gym battle,” Emilia said as she fell onto her bed. “Maybe she’ll want to go with me?”

Emilia sighed. At the back of her mind, her interest in Pokemon contests lingered. She knew that the sport also had battles, but what she was most interested in was the beauty of it all. Attacks weren’t dealt to meaninglessly strike at an opponent. There was style, glamour, and amazing combinations of moves that Emilia hadn’t ever thought of before. It wasn’t just attacking for the sake of causing harm.

She had no grand dreams, no motivation, no aspirations. Or at least that’s what she told herself to cope with the fact that her true passion might forever be out of reach.

But most of all, all Emilia wanted to do was to never go through a place like Eterna forest again.

The nightmares.

The nightmares kept her up at night, even though she never woke up screaming like Grace did.

This was going to be a long week.

——

The next day

Just like every morning, Cecilia got up at 5:30 am. She dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast down at the hotel’s restaurant, and made her way to route 205. The young girl’s life had always been about routine. Dancing lessons, violin, etiquette, arithmetics, history, geography— every day of her life. And it was something she still struggled to stop. Another part of her father’s influence which had inevitably corrupted her.

She released her team with a sigh. Fletchinder flew on her shoulder, more gently than she had been when she first evolved. Deino roared, sending spittle toward her, but then bowed his head in respect. Slowpoke stared.

“I’m releasing him,” The trainer said. “If he attacks, you know what to do.”

Cecilia released her Scyther and he was immediately on edge, expecting her to attack. She had truly made him understand his position throughout these last few days. He was weak, his fate was permanent, and the only way for him to get stronger was to listen to her.

“Good morning,” She said with a slight smile. “I’m not attacking you today, since you haven’t done so either.”

Scyther screeched and rubbed his blades together menacingly. Cece just smiled.

“In a few days, I’ll be battling the most powerful trainer I’ve ever faced. Don’t you feel frustrated? Furious? Don’t you want to let it all out?”

The bug type screeched again.

“Then you have to listen to me,” She said. “First, you need to use whatever moves I tell you to use—” He screamed in protest, but she ignored him. “Second, you need to give up killing. I feed you enough.”

That was too much for the bug type. He screeched and blurred forward, but Cece didn’t even flinch. Death had never scared her. Slowpoke immediately sprung alive and locked the Scyther with Confusion. It wouldn’t last long, but it lasted long enough for Deino to Bite Scyther’s neck and restrain him on the ground. The bug type thrashed and squirmed, but Deino’s scales were too hard to pierce from his position.

“Disappointing,” She said. “You don’t understand yet, but you will in time. If I can’t use you during the gym battle, I will win with three Pokemon. You are not a necessary part of my strategy, but you would be a nice boon to have. A shame.”

Cecilia recalled Scyther and decided to train with the others this morning. She would try again tonight.

Repetition. Again and again, she would do it, just like how her life had been structured back in Unova. Routine was dull, but it defined a person. If Scyther decided to be defined by being repeatedly humiliated, then so be it.

She finished her first training session at nine on the dot. Cecilia had extended it by an hour to better prepare against Gardenia, and then she would practice for another three hours in the evening. For now, it was time to get back to her hotel and shower. The elevator felt impossibly long. She had gotten used to the quickness of Pokemon Center stairs.

Cecilia showered, changed her clothes, and was about to take her one hour break before her Poketch rang. It was Grace.

She grabbed the device and waited a few seconds to prepare what she would say before answering. There was a twinge of nervousness that the girl couldn’t explain, but she was also incredibly happy that her friend was calling her.

“Grace!” She said. “How are you doing?”

“Hey Cece,” The girl said. “I need you for something, can we meet up?”

The twinge of nervousness turned into full-blown panic. This wasn’t new. She had felt this way since Grace defended her from that Chase thug, but it was never this pronounced.

“Cece?” Grace said again.

She coughed. “Of course. Where should we meet?”

“I was thinking your hotel since I live close by.”

“M—my hotel, you say? Sure! I’ll be down to greet you, when will you be there?”

“I’d say ten minutes?” Grace said.

Ten minutes?! Cecilia thought as panic spread through her body. This place was a mess! She was a mess! She hadn’t done her hair since getting out of the shower!

“That sounds good,” She simply answered, using that stoic tone that had gotten her so far. “I’ll meet you at the lobby.”

“Alright, see you soon!”

Grace hung up and Cecilia immediately sprung to action. It took three minutes to put the dishes in the dishwasher, two to put her clothes back in the closet, and another eight to make herself look somewhat presentable. Dread filled her entire being when she realized that she was late.

Cecilia ran to the elevator and cursed the length of the ride. Even though there weren’t officially any skyscrapers in Eterna, buildings could still be tall. She ran into the lobby and saw Grace waiting on one of the couches. She adjusted her hair one last time.

“Grace, I’m so sorry I’m late!” She apologized, bowing her head slightly.

“Ah, that’s no problem. I haven’t been waiting long, the trams were slow. I hope I’m not intruding?”

Grace had her usual long hair tied into a tight ponytail, and Cece’s eyes wandered toward her pale neck.

“Sure, let’s go,” She said.

They rode up the elevator in deafening silence.

“Woah, this place is huge!” Grace exclaimed. “I feel like I could get lost in here.”

Was that criticism? Did she not like the room? Cecilia thought anxiously.

“Please sit, I’ll go get some drinks. I have soda, juice, or water, what do you want?”

“Ah, just— just water’s fine, I guess,” Grace said, scratching her neck.

Cecilia practically ran to the kitchen. What was happening to her? Was this some kind of cardiovascular disease?! She quickly grabbed two glasses of water and brought them to the living room, where Grace was yawning.

“I’m sorry, I must be a boring host,” Cece said sadly.

“Oh, no, no, no, not at all! I just haven’t been sleeping much. I’ve been studying Gardenia and training a lot.”

“Oh,” Cecilia said, breathing a sigh of relief. She watched Grace’s lips as she downed the entire glass of water in one go. “W—well, you should make sure to rest, at least. I know you can’t sleep with the nightmares, but you can’t work all the time.”

“I’ll take a big break after the fight against Gardenia. Anyway, I actually came here for something regarding Gardenia. I thought, uh, I thought that we could maybe watch some of her battles together?”

Cecilia beamed. “I think that’s a great idea. Hold on, I can set them up on the 4K television screen so it’s easier to see.”

Cecilia quickly linked her Poketch to the T.V. screen and started playing the first video.

“Holy crap, the quality on that is insane!” Grace said with a huge grin. “You can even see her body language! This’ll be a huge help, thank you so much, Cece!”

Cece sat next to her friend— but not too close. Her break that had been supposed to be one hour had turned into an entire afternoon, and she spent most of it looking at Grace instead of the screen. She was so fixated on the battles that she hadn’t even noticed.

Cecilia didn’t know it, but another one of her father’s puppet strings had snapped.