“Shinx! Use [Bite!]”
The crowd “Oooh’d” as the Shinx bit down on the neck of a poor Cascoon, savaging it before victoriously throwing it to the side, howling in triumph. Felis was among the crowd, not so much wincing at the attack, but more so at the way the kid who brought the little cocoon mon cried out at his little partner’s defeat.
“Damn.” Felis hissed, as the ref called the match to be over, “Are battles usually this bad?”
“Not really, no.” Hazel said, grinning, “Normally in practice bouts trainers pull their Pokémon back out before they get too hurt.”
“That Silcoon should’ve been out after that first Bite.” It was Jaxon–one of the guys Felis didn’t pay much attention to-who said that. “Probably kept it in because of the audience.”
“Cascoon.” His sister, Elys, corrected. The first time it was mentioned the two were siblings, Felis did his best to hide the surprise, the two looked nothing alike. They were both on the shorter end sure, around 5’6 or 5’7, but they had completely different hair colors. Jaxon’s was jet black, his hair cut short to accommodate the blue wig, while his sister was blonde. How the hell did genetics even work in this world?
He’d found them earlier as he was searching for Aken. Hazel agreeing enthusiastically enough when he asked if they still had room for one more, and after finding Aken by Winton’s desk enjoying the poor Scientist’s stress, left for the Pokémon Arena. Felis still wasn’t sure just why they were excited to hang out with him, it wasn’t as if he had anything going for him. Maybe it was a Sinnoh thing, being kind to strangers. Like Scott, when he offered to room them at his house.
The Arena itself wasn’t too much to look at. Just a small stadium about the size of a soccer field, with three “zones” in the centre for battle. The paperwork behind it was pretty solid, trainers needing to check in at the front with their Pokémon, sign a waiver, and receive a special id card if they didn’t already have their trainer id’s. There were actual refs in the area too, whether they were volunteers or actual employees Felis had no clue, but they took their job seriously either way.
“Poor kid. Looks like he was trying to show off a little bit.” Emily sighed, watching as the kid cradled the Cascoon in his arms. His opponent seemed to feel bad as well, the young lady producing a potion from her bag and gently spraying it over Cascoon's wounds.
“That’s the way they usually are.” Hazel agreed, “You remember when we first started out? Saw a trainer probably a year older than us, and we were at each other’s throats!”
“Actually, if I remember correctly, you were trying to get her number, then cried like a little baby when you lost.” Emily teased.
“Ems!” Hazel fumed, “Not in front of the new guy!”
“You two know each other for a while?” Felis asked, as Ems continued to laugh, “Dating?”
That brought them both out of their zone, Ems choked on air while Hazel seemed to retch at an invisible ick.
“What the fu-NO!” Hazel wheezed, “Why would you even suggest that?”
“Well it’s not like you two were siblings or anything,” Felis defended, “You two look nothing alike!”
Hazel–like his name–had almost spiky brown hair, though with how short his hair was cut it was almost impossible to notice. His eyes likewise were also a chestnut brown, with a dash of freckles that ran along his cheekbones and across his nose. Emily on the other hand had an almost navy blue hair color that was more wavy than straight, round blue eyes that were currently narrowed with absolute disgust.
“What were you saying about them looking nothing alike?” Jaxon asked, raising an eyebrow.
Fuck. Right, weird ass genetics. “Damn. Maybe you are siblings, that’s on me.”
“Not siblings.” Ems managed to say, looking as if she’d just drank literal poison, “But honestly, close enough. Our parents were friends, sort of forced us to hang out with one another.”
“They probably wanted us to start dating, but I’m gonna be honest, if I have to spend another night listening to her snoring, I’m going to actually murder her.”
“Hazel! Not in front of the new guy!”
Felis laughed along with the rest, before the shaking of the arena had him turn his attention back to the real fight that was going on. A fight between a Geodude and a Buizel, both trainers a dozen times more experienced than the kids that had just thrown attacks at each other repeatedly.
“Buizel! [Swift!] then close the distance with [Quick attack!]”
“Brace, Geodude! [Rock Throw!]”
Stars of pure energy buzzed to life around the orange otter Pokémon, singing through the air as it honed in on Geodude. The Rock Pokémon growled, slamming one hand into the ground as it lifted a boulder twice the size of itself, rather than throw it at the Buizel; however, it held it in front of itself like a shield, catching the stars and letting it shatter. Buizel was there a moment later, wreathed in white energy as it flew straight towards Geodude.
“[Tackle!]” The trainer called out, and Geodude rammed into its opponent, causing the Buizel to cry out in pain as it was sent flying upwards.
“Now! [Watergun!]” The other ordered. Buizel seemed to snap into focus, reorienting itself in the air, before spewing a concentrated jet of water straight towards Geodude.
The attack struck true, Goodude cried out, tumbling backwards from the force of the blow, catching itself a second later as it bellowed in anger. Felis cheered at the display, alongside a dozen others who stared excitedly at the match.
This is what Felis was looking for. The trainers were using the environment and field to their advantage, attacking, counterattacking, strategy. Sure, slugfests were fun to look at, but seeing real tactics being employed? He drank it all in eagerly.
“Let’s run it again!” Geodude’s trainer began, “[Magnitude!]”
The earthy arena rumbled, the sound of grinding dirt and stone filled the air, though strangely enough, the effect was localised into the field itself. Countermeasures, somehow?
Whatever it was, Buizel was clearly not happy about its predicament, dancing back and forth in order to evade getting swallowed by the churning floor beneath it.
“[Quick attack!]” The other trainer commanded, and Buizel was off, shooting towards Geodude like a ping pong ball bouncing along the gymnasium floor.
“[Water Gun!]”
“[Mud Sport!]”
Like before Buizel shot a jet of water, though this time, instead of straight up tanking it, Geodude rolled back, grabbing fistfuls of loose dirt as it did so. Just before the beam of water could hit the rock Pokémon, Geodude threw the mounds of dirt into the air, which seemed to almost liquify as it was thrown. The water gun struck, and was scattered into loose rain, harmlessly bouncing off the Pokémon.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“[Rock Throw!] Brace for impact!”
“[Sonic Boom!]”
Geodude hurled a boulder the size of Buizel, the Otter Pokémon snarled, rearing its head back before letting forth a cry that seemed to vibrate the very air around it. The sound coalesced into a translucent blade, blasting the rock into bits of gravel.
Only for Geodude to appear right behind it.
The Rock Pokemon barreled into Buizel, wrapping its arms tightly around its opponent as they both crashed into the ground.
“No! Get him off of you Buizel, [Quick Attack!]”
“[Magnitude!]”
Buizel wreathed itself in white energy, but it was no use. Geodude was too heavy for Buizel to squirm away, and the rotating earth beneath it made it even more difficult, especially when it appeared to be almost drowning in the dirt and stone crashing into it. The battle was done, Geodude had won.
“I surrender!” Buizel’s trainer called out, fortunately realizing it as well. “Return!”
Buizel was pulled away from his opponent in a flash of light, and Geodude collapsed back, a tired, but very pleased smile plastered all over its face.
“The battle is over!” The ref yelled out, to the cheers of the audience, “Buizel is unable to battle, Geodude is the winner!”
“Where are we going?” Felis asked, as his companions stood and began making their way down the steps.
“Tradition.” Emily explained, “You’ll see in a bit.”
Elys was the first to break off from the group, striding towards Buizel’s trainer, who was currently fussing over his Pokemon’s wounds. The rest followed, though Felis noted that nobody else seemed to come down with them.
“How you doing, kiddo?” She asked, smiling as Buizel did its best to seem like it wasn’t hurting.
“Ah, a bit upset if I’m being honest, sister. I had the type advantage and I still lost.”
“Sister?” Felis asked, raising an eyebrow at Emily.
“Not actually blood related.” She laughed, “It’s also a term given to someone older than you, but not that much older than you, get it?”
“Huh.” Weird. There wasn’t anything like that in the game, that was certain.
“Water Gun was your biggest advantage, I’m surprised you didn’t use it more.” Elys continued.
“It’s because Buizel likes getting close! Even though she keeps getting hurt doing it!” The boy continued, exasperated.
“This is advice, isn’t it?” Felis asked, as the group laughed at the boy’s rantings.
“Mhm.” It was Hazel that cut in, crossing his arms as he slicked his brown hair back, “We’re considered ‘senior’ trainers, so we are the first to go and offer advice.”
“How do they know we’re trainers? We’re not even wearing our uniforms right now.”
A fact that even Felis almost seemed to forget until he said it out loud. Everyone wore casual attire, jeans and shirts with strange logos and unfamiliar brands plastered across them. Felis himself wore the simple grey sweatpants and white tee Joy had given them a while back, enjoying how cool the wind felt on his skin as it passed through the breezy clothing.
“Well, we wouldn’t really come down unless we had something to say, right?”
“Hmm. That’s true.”
Felis didn’t really know how he felt about that, or how much a teenager would even appreciate advice coming from an adult. When he was 15 he rarely listened to his parents, even if doing so got him an ass-beating in the process. It was part of being a kid, you were rebellious, figuring stuff out, you were bound to try and strike out on your own before listening to people who seemed to only nag at you.
Though again, this was Pokémon World. There was probably some deep, rich, jaw-dropping lore as to why the kids here were so…nice. His eyes drifted over to Geodude’s trainer, a kid who couldn’t be older than 16, who was checking his own Pokémon for wounds as Elys tried to work out a way the trainer could have done better while also matching Buizel’s tastes. He seemed…not as happy as one should be after winning a battle.
“Hey.” He nudged Hazel and Emily, “Cool if I go talk to the winning kid over there?”
“Yea, sure.” Hazel answered, Ems nodding along, “Advice isn’t normally given to the winners, but maybe he’ll be open to listening.”
Felis hummed, turning from the group and making his way to the winner. “Yo.” He greeted.
“Hm?” The boy looked up, letting out a sigh as he saw who it was “I just won my fight, in case you weren’t watching.”
Ah! Sarcasm! Disrespect towards elders! Felis smiled internally, satisfied. Now he wouldn’t feel bad for all the stunts he pulled when he was younger.
“You don’t look too happy for someone who’s won.” Felis observed, noting the way Geodude rolled up protectively in front of its trainer.
“Should I be jumping for joy?” The boy snapped back, though he didn’t meet Felis’s eyes, “Yipee! I won, happy?”
“I think you’d be happier if it wasn’t such a close match.”
His head rose, eyes wide, “How–?”
“Do you wanna listen now?” Felis interrupted, “Maybe I have something useful to say, maybe I don’t.”
“Fine. Talk.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ah–I mean. I’d like to hear what you have to say, brother.”
“There we go.” Felis grinned, before turning to observe the stadium that was diligently being cleaned by a team of four Woopers. “Noticed you spent most of the fight reacting instead of acting. Only time you really made the first move was with Magnitude, and that felt more like a set up.”
“Well Geodude isn’t as fast as other Pokémon, and his speed is nothing compared to Buizel–no offence, buddy.”
Geodude grunted.
“Don’t you have Rock Polish in your kit?”
The boy sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Yeah, literally everyone keeps telling me to use it. Psh, Like they know. The second I Rock Polish Geodude’s going to take a hit.”
“Alright, alright, so you don’t intend to use Rock Polish then. In that case, we figure out how to slow the enemy down.”
“That’s what Magnitude’s for.”
“Magnitude is just the start. You have Rock Throw don’t you? Spam that shit more, add obstacles to the arena, make it difficult for the enemy to run circles around you. Or, if Geodude's aim is good enough, aim for legs, arms, anything that'll cripple their movement.”
If it were him, he’d have Aken strike first, aim to cripple before the opponent could get a move off. It was what he’d done in the Before as well, if he wanted to take someone out who was both faster and stronger than him, then the only real way to win was to hit before they knew what was going on. Cowardly? Absolutely. But being cowardly put food on the table, and here it would put money in his pocket, so he’d stick to that mentality.
Obviously, the same couldn’t be true for the kid, stubborn as they were. Setting up a field where an opponent couldn’t move around as much would be a much better option though, he had good reaction timing anyways, likely honed from having to constantly figure out counter attacks against faster mons.
“Huh…” The kid thought, brows furrowed, “I didn’t think about it like that.”
“That’s cause’ you’re still learning. You don’t ever play your enemy’s game, you hear? They either play yours or you make them play, got it?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Good.” Felis grinned, lightly patting the boy’s shoulder twice, “Alright go do what you have to do, next time I see you win, don’t look so down, yea?”
“Won’t promise you that.” He sighed, “The circuit starts in a year and I’m nowhere near where I want to be.”
“You seem pretty strong already, what’s the rush?”
“Are you kidding? At best I might be able to beat Roark, but then there’s Gardenia, Maylene, and Crasher Wake, they’re all crazy effective against rock types!”
“You didn’t have a problem with the kid’s Buizel back there.”
“Yea, but these are real trainers. Not some newbies with dreams.”
Huh. He was self aware, that was intriguing. Felis crossed his arms, glancing down at Geodude, “I mean no offense to your little buddy, but it sounds like you need another Pokémon.”
“Great advice.” The kid drawled, “I really should have thought about that years ago.”
“Ow, kid.” Felis laughed, “Seriously though, what’s up with you? You broke or something?”
“...”
“Hah!” Felis laughed again, this time at the red-faced kid fuming in front of him, “Come on man, it’s Veilstone! You can’t make a coffee or something?”
“I…it’s personal, alright? I don’t need you all up in my business.”
“Fine, fine.” He waved, before reaching into his pocket. “How much is a Pokeball anyways, 100?”
“200-wait, what are you doing?”
Felis made a show of flipping through his “hard earned” bills, before placing $200 in the kid’s hands. “There we go.” He said, smirking at the way the kid’s eyes rose, “$200. Just don’t fuck up and you’ll have a second addition to your team.”
“I…why?” The boy asked, dumbfounded, “I don’t…I don’t even know your name.”
“Oh.” Felis blinked in genuine surprise. He’d really forgotten to ask for names, that was new. “Felis, but for that you’re going to call me brother now, yea?”
“If you gave me another 200…?”
“Don’t push your luck kid.”
“Damn. And it’s Kellan by the way.”
“Don’t push your luck, Kellan.” Felis amended. “Now get out of here, wipe that frown off your face and get another Pokémon, got it?”
Kellan didn’t answer, already running out the gate with Geodude hot on his heels. Smiling, Felis paused as he felt Aken’s familiar presence descend over his shoulder.
“Why did you do that?” The little ghost asked, watching the boy’s form grow smaller, “You informed me of your predicament with lack of funds. Why do you spend now?”
“Did you see him, Aken?” Felis whispered, “What did you feel?”
“Loathing, though only directed at himself. A rare taste in a place like this.”
“Exactly. There is fire in his eyes, ambition, fueled by the drive to actually make something of himself. This isn’t me giving away my money, this is an investment. He’ll make it far, and I’ll be there to remind him just who gave him the boost he needed to climb that high.”
“And if he fails?”
“Then I take him under my wing.” Felis shoved his hands in his pockets, turning to walk back to his group, “One of these days, Aken, we’re going to end up with more enemies than the 4 of us can deal with. And when that happens, wouldn’t it be great to have a promising trainer stand beside us?”
Aken laughed, “It would, wouldn’t it? Very well, play your game, Pranav, let us see where it takes us.”
“Knew you’d have my back, buddy.”
Arun had told him to avoid looking at people like they were assets. And he was right, this wasn’t the Before, he wasn’t fighting to survive every day. He could take it easy, just for a bit, at least.
Still, it never hurt to have some sort of insurance, right?